Dont be afraid to drop the ends of your antennas or bend them.  ie the 80m dipole as high as possible and then drop the ends  to get to resonance.

Inverted Ls are another great way to get on 160 or 80.  Put up the vertical part as high as possible adn then run the remainder out, and drop it down as necessary or bend it.  Put in a ground rod and couple of radials as long as possible and you will work ok. 

Ive worked a fair bit of DX with a 15 ft high 160m inv L.  The far end is 6 ft off the ground.  I use a ground rod and 2  qtr wave radials.

More short radials is better than a few  qtr wave ones.

Horizontal loops are fun,  and do a great job for rag chewing NVIS contacts within 1000-1500 miles .  Getting them up as high as possible  makes a significant difference but they work pretty well at 15-25 ft if thats the best you can do.

The classic 80 or 160 m loop  up at 45 ft or so  is a terrific radiator on all bands that are multiples of the fundamental freq.  ie  160-80-40-20-15-10.    SWR is  in the 2:1 range on most of those bands so a tuner helps the rig. 

The weight of the wire is a factor but being wire, if it falls down its usually not a big deal to shoot another string or rope up and rehang it. 

Larger loops  with lighter insulated wire go up easier but go much below 14 gage and you may have breakage/stretching/ issues. But again, no big deal in fixing it.

The 40-45 ft ht is especially nice for multiples of the fundamental freq.  since you get a lot better lower angle radiation and work  more DX on those bands.    So the higher you go the better  DX radiator it is, with many small lobes some with gain.

Ive fed it with OWL, ladder line and coax.  All worked fine.  No problem  with  9:1 balun to coax for entering the shack from outside.   Coax  all the way is ok but your losses will climb on higher hf frequencies ut are no big deeal on 160-80-40 for most lengths.  Multiples of 100 ft runs makes  owl/LL more appealing.

No real sweat with number of sides.  Jut fit it to your lot and the best trees,  and GO!  Ditto  horizontal, or sloping.  Use the highest trees.

It's usually overcast around here so looking up in the sky doesnt work too often.

So usually its one of the propagation forcasts  or DX Sherlock that announces aurora.   Then you go to 6 and monitor for buzz saws.

Or in my case, its blind luck

What are  recommended 6m mobile antennas?  

Any dual band 6 n 2?

How about triband 6, 2 n 440?

And finally,  what are good reasonably priced  6m rigs.....ie hf + 6m.

It's getting tougher and otugher to find space   for my hf rig in the new cars/suvs.    Ive got a 2011 Toyota  Highlander. and Im still looking for a place to mount one!   Maybe even go with an hf+6+2 rig?

thoughts?

Sorry to hear about the inactivity Dick.  That's one heckuva 6M repeater you have there in SC,  Im tempted to drive down just to use it.

Im surprised none of the local clubs have set up  a club weekly net on it.  Or that the ARES boys dont use it for wider range comm purposes.

I think the time is coming....or has already arrived ... for much heavier usage of 6m.

Thanks to all who  contacted W8TNX and inquired about Johnny Clem.  We met a guy who had a grrandfather who was in the Michigan  Army about the time JC was there.  Another fellow  - a 4 - reminded us we were on opposite sides in that particular effort.   And quite a few history buffs impressed me with their knowledge of the Civil War.    You can check out the Licking County Historical Society for more info on General Clem....or Sargeant Clem the 14 yr old.

Thanks to all.   Self- printing certificates will be available  in a few days.  Just need your  QSO number on the  website referenced on QRZ.com.

Hope you enjoy it.

See you next year!

looking for ACTIVE ones.....glad to hear there are a few out there.  I think they will grow in popularity.  We can nake them grow....

cant find one in central Ohio.  Lots of new rigs now have 6, so it seems a repeater would link a wider area and be important for a metro area to have access to.  Thoughts?

The COOKEN ARC will set up and operate  W8TNX at the Licking Historical Society in Newark, OH., on 7240 khz + or -,  SSB,  to celebrate the  amazing accomplishments of native son Johnny  (nee Klem) Clem, the Civil War era  boy soldier and eventual General in the US Army.

You will be given a contact number. A nice  certificate is available.  See the QRZ posting for details.

1. PDF self printing certificates  confirming your August 13, 2011 40 meter SSB contact with our special event station W8TNX ( Licking County, Grid EN89sb will be available ( on or before September 1, 2011 ) to those operators listed.  Remember your QSO number to help find your certificate.  Find your call in the alphabetical list and click the contact number link next to it.
 
2. Cooken will also upload all the QSO's to LOTW for eQSL purposes. 

3. Paper QSLs are only available by contacting the QSL manager listed on the QRZ.com page for this callsign.  We no longer send routine paper QSL's due to postage costs.  Thanks for supporting this special event station and our public relations endeavor.

 I love it! 

To be sure we are  putting out a clean signal, run the rig through a washing machine! 

Chimney mount:  Long term chimney mounts expose mast, clamps and antennas/coax to accelerated corrosion especially  but not exclusively from hot flue gasses. 

After seeing what can happen over a few years, I now choose less appealing  sites away from chimney and other flue vents, for better long term survivability.  It may not blow down for a long time but the corrosion induced  rf losses can hurt you far sooner.

My Onkyo suround sound system picks up my audio but only on the subwoofer.  and only  when Im on 75m.    Since the subwoofer is only  of value on movie dvds, I shut it off for tv use.

Lazy way out.

Our own garage door started opening and closing  seemingly on its own.   turns out I had left the  remote control in my summer shorts.  The xyl decided to wash them.  And as it tumbled around, the falling weight of the wet clothing would  press the button from time to time. 

Amazing.

Share your successful ways to  increase participation at contests....ie  finding more ops and loggers

Keep your buzz saw tuned up.  Nice to work you on Fri!