I very much appreciate the genuine exchange of on topic information also. I'm slowly grasping the theory and terminology associated with 6m. I definitely need to do more studying. I fear that one of my downfalls is that I don't have a receiver sensitive enough to hear the weak stuff and I get very little monitoring time during the day since I'm still a blue collar guy. But I will prod on and do and enjoy what I can.

73, Roger

I would also recommend the Astron 20A. That would leave you room to grow in case you want to add additional optional equipment. It's got plenty of overhead. I've got some that are 20 years old and they just keep on perking.

73,Roger

I used 6" pvc in the front corner of the closet. Once I had my runs in, I just stuffed it with a rag. Make sure the pvc is long enough to extend above the attic insulation.

73,Roger

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and not only do I live in a small urban development, my view of the horizon is 20+ degrees. I already have a 5 element yagi @ 55', but I've been modeling and am toying with the idea of building an Eggbeater 2 for omni-directional use. Varying dimensions can provide varying take-off angles plus vertical and horizontal polarity, not to mention some significant gain over a dipole.

Guess I'll keep working with my model to get best performance @ lowest elevation.

73, Roger

Not being expert in the 6m band at all, if one was designing a 6m antenna and installation, what would one want the take off angle to be?
I'm thinking the various types of atmospherics might dictate what the angle should be at any given time, so if the antenna could actually change take off angles, what might be the most productive?
5 - 15 degrees ?
10 - 25 degrees ?
30 -50 degrees ?

Thanks for any and all input.
73,, Roger

Well, I certainly don't claim to be expert at EZNEC but modeling the EB2 including reflectors and experimenting with some values generated some very interesting results.
I don't have a means or place to post the results of the model but Average Gain is 2.7db with as much as 10dbi gain at 10 to 15 deg elevation, 6dbi from 35 to 65 deg elevation and slightly more than unity gain to the zenith.
There are some minor nulls here and there but in general it's quite omni-directional and surprisingly not NVIS.
I modeled it using 1/2" copper pipe feeding the loops 90deg out of phase.
Guess I'm going to have to put it on my list of projects to build.

73,Roger

My very limited experience with 6m over the last 3 years in the Pacific Northwest has been during the day, typically early to late afternoon.

73,, Roger

Has anyone played with this idea? My thinking is that it would replace both a vertical and a halo for omni directional monitoring and it should work well for local 6m activity. I haven't modeled it yet, but plan to attempt that soon.

73,,Roger

Has anyone played with this idea? My thinking is that it would replace both a vertical and a halo for omni directional monitoring and it should work well for local 6m activity. I haven't modeled it yet, but plan to attempt that soon.

73,,Roger

I'd be interested to know if you found your problem. I have a 680s also and although it's working fine now, you never know what could go wrong tomorrow.

The 140/680 series radios have a ton of relays and the circuitry, filtering and detectors, in many cases are applicable to the individual modes of operation. So there's lots of things that can cause your loss of SSB.

73,Roger

I agree with the MFJ 259B crowd. Not to mention, you'll not find many analyzers that will cover the 160m band. Even the high dollar units will generally only go down to 2 mhz. Treated with care it will last a long long time.

73,,Roger

Matt,
Thanks for the feedback regarding resolution on your voltage issues.

The tx relay should be on the power supply side upper inside rear wall of the amp and fairly accessible. Spray the contacts,  the spring and hinge area with some cleaner and carefully drag a piece of heavy bond paper between the contacts. It may take more than one application. If you don't have contact cleaner, wet the paper with alcohol. (not as good but will help).

Also, do the same with the SO239s and PL259s and make sure the pins of the PL259s are not sloppy when inserted.

73,, Roger

There is a series of crystals accessible from the top lid on the right. These are not for the fixed channel selector. Use the manual and make sure they are plugged into the correct spot. Pull each and check the pins for contamination.
Good Luck.
73,Roger

Your best option is probably going to be perpendicular to the noise source and obviously as far away as possible. There is also the possibility of increased static charge, so I'd make sure to include some form of a discharge device.

73,,Roger

Since you have a computer, go to echolink.org for all the answers.

73,Roger