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Author Topic: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm  (Read 607 times)

KC6RWI

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Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« on: January 23, 2023, 05:12:09 PM »

Finally got some activity on 29.6 fm, and made a contact in the midwest, I left the radio on squelched and quite a few qso's going on.
I heard a station in a distinct british accent calling cq, I couldn't get back to him, his signal was up and down, strong and then weak or gone.
Is it possible for an fm signal to propagate that far? Of course he might be in the states,
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K2AR

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2023, 06:42:19 PM »

Definitely! I worked TN8K on 29.050 MHz FM.
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K6SDW

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2023, 07:29:36 PM »

Propagation for FM is no different from CW or SSB...but CW and FT8 can communicate at 50 -300hz bandwidth. SSB much wider bandwidth and of course FM. The wider the bandwidth the more RF ya gotta deliver to the receiver.

I'm gonna try 29.06 FM, its been many years I tried that mode on 10meters

GL/73
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KC6RWI

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2023, 07:41:37 PM »

Did you mean 29.6 ?  It made my day, I was using te 7300, there were straight lines in the noise, signals below the noise level, there was no other lines except on 29.6, when the station came in it was strong with quick fades.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2023, 07:49:09 PM by KC6RWI »
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WB6TIX

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2023, 09:25:11 PM »

About 16:10 MST, I was driving home from Show Low, AZ and talked to JA7WND, a station in Japan.

Earlier in the day, while driving to Show Low,  I talked stations in Florida, Tennessee, Illinois and Minnesota.

All of this was on 29.6MHz FM, using a Yaesu FT-8900 in the car with a Diamond CR-8900A antenna.

It's not necessarily the mode, but more the propagation.  SSB, CW, FT8 and so on, are better for ionospheric propagation than FM, but...yes....FM can make the distance.

Eric
WB6TIX
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KC6RWI

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2023, 07:31:18 AM »

OK great news, I did hear a Ja station on 28.455, I am going to listen again today.
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WB8VLC

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2023, 09:03:50 AM »

10 Fm is as good or better than the openings were back in the late 70's and maybe even better than the year 1989 when it was open 24/7.

Just the past 2 weeks, the TN8K on 29.05 FM in the Congo was in for over 2 hours.

 50 or more Japanese stations on 29.28, 29.3 and 29.6, one HL in Seoul South Korea, 2 LU stations in Argentina in several days straight, a 8P6 in barbados, 2 WP4's in Puerto Rico, a PU brazil in several days, HR honduras, HK columbia, YV venezuela and just about every state and Canadian province in the past week on 29.6 not to mention some New zealand on 29.6 FM, Hawaii on 29.6 and a one of the Australian repeaters on the sunshine coast above 29.6 MHz.

All of these have been worked at a sea level black hole RF location in Northwest Oregon with a little 60 watt Motorola Maxtrac and a small OWA yagi at just 30 feet on the roof or a 67 inch mobile whip while in the truck.
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KC6RWI

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #7 on: January 24, 2023, 10:52:45 AM »

Hi, on your first line you said that 10m Fm openings were a good or better than the late 70's, were people using fm on Hf at that time? ssb probably.
I was around in the 70's and the conditions then are what kept an interest in radio although I fell away for awhile.
When I came back to radio again I expected conditions like I had seen before, that was a little disappointing. 
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KU4UV

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #8 on: January 24, 2023, 03:08:15 PM »

I have a President Ronald 10 meter transceiver and Wilson 2000 antenna that I use when mobile.  I have been having a lot of fun on 10 meter FM as of late. 
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WB8VLC

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2023, 09:46:43 AM »

10FM has been around for over 50 years, certainly before my time and I have been using 10FM around a year after I was first licensed back in the mid 1970's.

There was a surplus radio dealer in Illinois who sold Motorola and General Electric land mobile radio strips on all bands from 29 to 440 MHz and I had some tx and rx boards that I bought from them that were on 29.6, 29.5 and later on 52.525.

I even bought some General Electric PE 6 watt 6 and 10 meter handhelds from them later somewhere in the 1980's which I still use.

« Last Edit: January 26, 2023, 09:49:06 AM by WB8VLC »
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N1AUP

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Re: Lots of activity on 29.6 fm
« Reply #10 on: February 17, 2023, 02:25:04 AM »

I think we are one year heading out of the bottom of the solar cycle.  It's going to get better.
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