The Six Metre vertical is full of surprises!

With the IARU Region 1 50MHz contest over the weekend, I heard a few grumbles that conditions weren’t that good. Certainly it wasn’t end-to-end Es but I thought it was interesting.

For me, I worked a few 9A, YU, E7 and S5 stations at the outset and then it went quiet. Actually, that was interesting as I could concentrate on working some of the more distant UK stations on ‘tropo’. GJ6YB/P was a nice one – I waited for signals to fade up and worked them on CW on a peak of QSB. Typically, their signals were much louder on Sunday! Whilst I was listening to them GM2T called and worked them. What propagation was that? Not Es or MS, but very solid. Tropo scatter? Impressive copy on the vertical.

GW2OP/P in IO71 was another nice one over a decent distance, as was the Five Bells Group, G5B.

On Sunday morning IF9/I2ADN came up and caused a stir (and some not great operating from people who clearly spend their time in HF pileups. Nuff said).

By the time we got back from family visiting, the contest was over, but there was a little Es with 4O3A, 4O4A and IW4AOT worked amongst others and a weak IK4 heard on 70MHz.

And the birds find the vertical useful too.

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

One Response to “The Six Metre vertical is full of surprises!”

Leave a Comment

Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter
News, Opinion, Giveaways & More!

E-mail 
Join over 7,000 subscribers!
We never share your e-mail address.



Also available via RSS feed, Twitter, and Facebook.


Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter

 
We never share your e-mail address.


Do you like to write?
Interesting project to share?
Helpful tips and ideas for other hams?

Submit an article and we will review it for publication on AmateurRadio.com!

Have a ham radio product or service?
Consider advertising on our site.

Are you a reporter covering ham radio?
Find ham radio experts for your story.

How to Set Up a Ham Radio Blog
Get started in less than 15 minutes!


  • Matt W1MST, Managing Editor




Sign up for our free
Amateur Radio Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address: