http://www.eham.net/forums/Elmers/36304
http://www.eham.net/articles/5071
Also search on other articles by WB2WIK/6 Steve Katz.
You're bound to find the tip that you need in these forums and articles because they've covered the subject very throughly

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

In my previous comments, I mentioned pictures. They are up now at my radio clubs website - http://www.erarc.com/
Click on the 'On-Line Photo Album' link, then click on 'VHF Contest 2005'.

My 'shack' is the cheap Blue/Silver Chevy S-10 pickup. Picture 'C' is the cab with my cheap ft-857d, cheap ratshack p.s., cheap kenwood speaker. But don't you dare call me cheap! Hi Hi

73
Dave - KG4MCC

I'm not saying anything bad about either of these companies.

However, some Internet companies will have low prices on specific items, but then make up the difference by charging higher prices for shipping!

For instance, I purchased a Yaesu FT-857D a few months ago from Texas Towers. Their quoted price was similar to other companies, but after adding a couple of accessories (which some companies add more shipping cost for), they had the better deal. When all the costs were added, Texas Towers had the best deal for those items at that time!

Moral of the story...ALWAYS CHECK THE TOTAL COST (items + shipping) BEFORE COMMITTING TO AN ORDER!

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

To all,
I was using 6-m ssb. It seemed like things were winding down in the contest, and I was actually considering shutting down for the day so that we could pack our stuff (we were literally 'mountain-topping').
Anyway, I had not been dialing down below 50.125 because I didn't figure that I'd hear anything in the DX window.

For whatever reason (boredom I guess), I dialed down to 50.120 and barely heard the VP5. I was excited, because at first I thought I'd heard a Canadian, but when the op gave his grid, I just went "Huh?", because I knew that FL-41 had to be south & east, not to mention that's where the beam was pointed. Just then, the signal came up out of the noise just like I had turned up the volume. I figured 'what the heck' and answered his CQ. I about fell out of my chair when he answered, but managed to complete the contact.

Well, I just couldn't leave well enough alone, so I dialed down to 50.110 where I heard the S9+ HI3 station, and made that QSO too.

WA6BFH asked: "What VHF clubs or societies do you belong to, and how long have you been an active VHF�er?" --- I am a member of the East River Mt. Radio Club. That is generally a repeater club, although we do participate in Field Day and sometimes the VHF contests using the clubs callsign W8MOP. I obviously don't have much experience with 6-meters, but hope to have my station set up at my QTH before long. I just had to try out my new antenna, and since my QTH tower is not up yet, the contest gave me the opportunity to try it.
 
WB2WIK/6 - "That kind of 6m enhancement over a path of only about 1000 miles or so when you're operating from a good hilltop is not only normal, but expected." --- I hope that my QTH is half as good. My home is located on a hill, but it is not nearly so high as the nearby mountain peak (the same mountain that we worked from during the contest). - Do you think that the opening was the result of Es or tropo? I'm not very experienced with either, but I'd guess it was Es the way it just suddenly appeared. The signals stayed up for at least 10 minutes, then seemed to fade. I wonder if it had anything to do with tropical storm/hurricane Ophelia that had just been 'meandering' around in the Atlantic for days, and was inbetween me and the Caribbean?

K7VO - Did you notice any unusual noise to your north on Saturday? I contacted K8GP & W4IY from my northeast, who always have strong signals during contests. But all of my other contacts on Saturday were to the south. On Sunday, those two stations were much stronger on receive, plus I made a few other contacts to the north. I was just wondering if the recent solar flares were causing aurora or other phenomena on Saturday?

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR REPLIES! When I get my QTH station setup, I'll try to find some '6-m net' activity, and get more experience on 6-m openings. Who knows, maybe someday I'll catch an opening to the west coast and have a QSO with one of you!

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

I participated in the VHF CONTEST this past weekend using a brand new antenna, a M2 6M5X, and my FT-857D from EM-97 at an elevation of about 3,400 ft. I operated under my radio clubs callsign of W8MOP with two other operators (N8GK & KC8TES).

I took some pictures with one of those disposable cameras, and still have a few frames left, so maybe I will get some pictures up in a couple of weeks at www.erarc.com

The conditions were terrible on Saturday. When I pointed the beam to the north, it seemed like the noise floor was high.

Conditions were not so bad on Sunday. I heard many more stations, even to the north, and not so much noise.

I was not expecting to work DX, but that's exactly what happened! I made contacts with VP5KE & HI3TEJ (grids FL-41 & FK-49) around 17:15Z on Sunday. Those surprise dx contacts on 6 certainly made my weekend!

That may not seem so great, until you consider that this was on 6-meter vhf, where we are in the sunspot cycle, and the recent solar flare activity.

We didn't put on a serious contest effort, and therefore didn't make a lot of points. However, given the conditions on Saturday, I think that we did pretty good.

I wonder if anyone else noticed the noise to the north on Saturday? Could it have been due to the recent solar flares? If anyone knows or would care to speculate, I'm just curious.

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

TAKE THIS FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH
I ordered a 2M9 and 6M4 in the latter part of May. Pete charged my credit card for the 2M antenna on June 1. I received the antenna on July 13. Not great, but not bad either. I haven't assembled it yet, but it shouldn't be all that hard to do.

Pete did cancel my order for the 6M4 (and never charged my CC for it), stating that he is trying to fill his backorders, and that he doesn't see having the time to make those antennas anytime soon. That is a 'new' model which only appears by name on his website, and he said from the beginning that it would take longer to build that model because he hasn't officially made it a part of his lineup.

I'll save any further comments until after the 2M ant. is assembled and OTA

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

Well, we did pretty good from this location on field day.

I was wrong on the elevation at the site, it is closer to 3,900 ft (I think I said 2,900 ft in my first posting).

Believe it or not, we probably set a record (for our club) on 15m contacts, even though we are getting 'low in the sunspot cycle'.

We also made a few 2m contacts, which we have never been able to do from our previous FD location, and that's with only spending a very few minutes on the band.

I don't think that we did as well on 40m or 80m, about par for 20m. We really didn't set up the 80m dipole as well as it could be. If we go back next year, there are better places for it.

The mt. top location is way better for West coast contacts than our previous location, especially when using the 10-15-20m beam. We got KH6 on 15m & 20m, I don't think that we've ever done that before!

Check out the pictures from the top of East River Mt. on our club website: www.erarc.com

Thanks to everyone who commented on my original question.

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

I'm no expert, but I'd check for cable TV leakage.
Got any BPL in the area?

WOW, talk about some quick replies! I really appreciate it because we happen to have a club meeting tonight and I'll tell everyone about the replies so far.

Let me review some of the points made so far -

WB2WIK/6 - Steve asked, "Has anybody operated VHF up there, listening for weak signals? Did they hear any?" **Yes, sort of. We have participated in some VHF contests from a public park (East River Mt. Overlook) that is about 1/3 of a mile to the east of our intended Field Day location. We did fairly well on 2M & 6M, but if you had the beam within about +- 5 degrees of the transmitter you got some overload on narrow portions of the 6M band. 440 was dead that day, but I didn't notice an unusual amount of radio energy on the S-meter. I don't know how the radios will do being so much closer to the transmitter. Hopefully, the 6-bay radiators on the transmitter are not radiating straight down. We might have been getting more direct energy at the overlook location, hard to tell.

K0BG - Alan, I was stationed in Colorado Springs in 1987-88, so I know the difference, these are EASTERN mountains (what you might call 'foothills', small ones). The HAAT of the FM transmitter is approximately 472 meters or 1,548 feet, so that would put our ham antennas at least 1,000 ft above average terrain (the valley). That could be significant on some bands. **I'll have to remember to carry a florescent bulb to see if it will glow that night, could be fun! That reminds me of the time someone threw flashbulbs in front of a wideband tropo 'billboard' reflector while I was stationed in Spain. Yes, all the bulbs flashed, and yet communications to Majorca and Italy were maintained. HI HI In the winter when they really 'cranked-up' the power, birds would sometimes drop if they were too near the focal point, but most just stayed close enough to keep warm! Cool stuff, but I digress...

WA6BFH - Tofu? We'll have none of that, unless it is on a 4-meat Pizza! (our alternate location is too far away for delivery, but they will deliver to the mountain). We will probably have to wear boots at this location. Hopefully we won't need snake-guards because the RF from the broadcast tower will have driven them off. By the way, does anyone know of a good snake repellant? - HI HI

W3JJH - We will listen for K3PZN. My club goes by W8MOP, and is located on the WV/VA state line in grid EM-97 at the southern tip of West Virginia. We will literally be straddling the state line, so one ham band may be from WV, and another from VA. Hopefully we will QSO with you on some of them!

73 - Dave

My radio club (www.erarc.com) has received permission to operate near a 100kw FM broadcast antenna on Field Day (within 500 ft of the base of the antenna).

We are considering the site because it is on top of a 2,900+ ft. mountain, and gives us a 'take-off' advantage compared to our alternate location. This location will also open the possibility of significant VHF/UHF operations, which were practically impossible from our alternate field day location.

My question is related to RF safety. I know that there are programs where I could plug in the appropriate values and get a number:
WHAJ 104.5 MHZ BLUEFIELD, WV
Radiating elements *159.4 m AGL* (523 ft.)

                   POL   H      V
ERP:                    93.    62.    kW ERP
ERP w Beam Tilt:   100.   80.    kW ERP

assuming antenna gain of 1 (I know that's probably not right), then the safe distance is approx. 387' according to a RF safety calculator.

Since they specify ERP w/beam tilt, then can I assume that the elements are directing most of the energy away from the ground beneath the tower?

Most of the Extra's that are in the club say don't worry about it for the day or two during field day. The quick RF safety calculation seems to back them up. But it seems to me that we may not have all of the variables needed to make an accurate assessment.

If there are any broadcast station engineers (especially high power FM) that could give me any more information or tips that could be useful I would appreciate it.

Also, I was just wondering if the FCC requires, or is it common practice, for the station engineers to position the radiating elements at a specific tower height just for RF safety purposes?

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

Sorry, but I sensed some sarcasm by WA4DOU on June 1, 2005 post. So I will have to reply:

WA4DOU - No knowledgable person uses N connectors outdoors in the weather without several layers of additional weatherproofing. KG4MCC<Never said that I would use them 'bare'>

WA4DOU - These is no practical benefit to using N connectors below 300-400 mhz and only a very minimal benefit at 420-450 mhz. KG4MCC<There's no rule saying that you should not use them - Besides, there are people who use N-connectors on their HF antennas BECAUSE OF THE ADDITIONAL RESISTANCE TO WATER>

WA4DOU - At 6 and 2 meters it cannot be demonstrated that an N connector has any measurable benefit. KG4MCC<never said that they do (electrically)> but it can be demonstrated that N connectors cost 4-5 times as much as good quality silver plated teflon dielectric UHF connectors. KG4MCC<pay $12/ea instead of $3/ea to extend the life of coax that costs much more - >

Sorry guys, WA4DOU took a shot at me, so I had to counter.

73,
Dave

AB3BK

I didn't say so in the original post, but I was going to purchase the antennas through Texas Towers.

M2 evidentally increased the price to Texas Towers (who didn't have any in stock) after I placed an order.

Then I found out that they want $50 more just for an n-connector on a 6M beam (6M3)

I really don't blame Texas Towers, although they were slow in updating their website to the new prices posted for the 2M9, which I was also planning to purchase. I see that they have since made the update.

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

WB2WIK/6,

The reason that I'm trying to get a n-connector on a 6M antenna is that those connectors are generally more water-resistant, and they operate over a wider-range-of-frequencies (for possible re-use of coax).

As you know, coax ain't cheap. I doubt that my financial situation will improve anytime soon (unless I win a lottery), so I have to make my system work as long as possible. Even if the n-connector is not perfect at keeping water out of the coax, it generally thought to be better than the 'uhf' types.

Plus, my finances probably won't allow a kw or greater amp in the foreseeable future, so the kw power limitation is not a big deal for me. I have read comments that you made in the past (WB2WIK) stating that if finances are tight, money is better spent towards antennas rather than amplifiers. I tend to agree, and the coax/connectors are a crucial part of any antenna system.

Also, the n-connector makes it possible to reuse the coax with higher frequencies in the future if I want.

That's why I'm making such a big deal about n-connectors, at least on my vhf-uhf ants that use higher cost coax (of which 6M is one).

73,
Dave - KG4MCC

N6AJR on May 14, 2005 submitted the following:
The difference is that M2 uses a CNC machine to "carve" the connector out of a solid block of metal as an integral part of the antenna, not a connector added after the antenna is built. So the feed point ( be it for a beam or a halo etc) is actually the feedpoint, the mount, the connector, and sometimes complete driven element of the antenna.
------------------------
My reply:
THAT SOUNDS GREAT...BUT...

>>>$50 MORE JUST FOR A 6M w/n-connector???
(on top of the regular cost of the antenna)

I'm only have a B.S.E.E.T, but that sounds a little over-the-top to me.

N6AJR, I do appreciate the info though. Thanks!

73
Dave - KG4MCC

 by N6AJR on May 14, 2005
The difference is that M2 uses a CNC machine to "carve" the connector out of a solid block of metal as an integral part of the antenna, not a connector added after the antenna is built. So the feed point ( be it for a beam or a halo etc) is actually the feedpoint, the mount, the connector, and sometimes complete driven element of the antenna.

THAT SOUNDS GREAT...BUT...

>>>$50 MORE JUST FOR A 6M w/n-connector???
(on top of the regular cost of the antenna)

I'm only have a B.S.E.E.T, but that sounds a little over-the-top to me.

N6AJR, I do appreciate the info though. Thanks!

73
Dave - KG4MCC