Trevor Hawkins M5AKA

Six Metres is not as dead as you think

The email below from Stuart M1SMH shows that 6 metres can still provide good DX contacts even though we are close to sunspot minimum.
The trick is to actually call CQ on the band rather than just tune around 50.100 and then assume the band is dead just because you don't hear anything. The trouble is everybody's listening and no-one's putting out CQ calls.

73 Trevor M5AKA

The SSB portion looked dead so I decide to go down below
50.100 and see if any cw. A large signal appeared on my 756's spectrum display which could only be G3SJE or G3HBR.

Well it was G3SJE and who was he working? 5T5SN - Mauritania - an all time new one for me. John signed and the 5T worked another UK station whom I couldn't hear. After his TU to close that qso I dropped in my own and
he came back straight away with M0SMH? After resending M1SMH we exchanged reports and that was an all time new one in the log. 30 seconds latter and the 5T had faded into the noise.

So the answer to when is a dead band not dead is when you monitor and listen and occasionally put out a CQ.
Sporadic is the key word - the 6m band is sporadically open and if you aren't there when it opens you won't work the DX.

Stuart
M1SMH

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