I just got a new rig that includes 6M. Does anybody ever use 6 M FM simplex calling freq of 52.525 any more ? I was considering getting my 6M GP put up here...but maybe not.
Somebody must be using it - they have a facebook group with 1000 members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/567778670402295/ But around here, I don't often hear much at all on 6m outside of FT8 and contests Dave W7UUU
I use it regularly. I don't get many responses, but I'm out there. I did get a VA to GA QSO during this year's VA QSO Party on 6m FM using my VX-7r HT and a ladderline j-pole. Later in the year, KE8OKM and I had a Summit-to-Summit QSO during our respective SOTA activations on 52.525. This time I was using one of my homebrew EFHW antennas. Distance was about 62 miles IIRC. I'm going to OBX next week and intent to set up the EFHW and call CQ with my little HT from time to time while fishing from one of the piers. I wasn't aware of the FB group, I may join... Chris
Except that they are probably all on Facebook talking about it instead of being on the radio!! Some years ago I bought an Alinco 6 FM mobile. Nice little rig but I hardly EVER heard anyone on the repeaters other than the same two guys once in a while. The repeaters did have really good coverage over a wide area but very few users. I took it out of my truck after a couple years and sold it. Never bothered with 6 FM after that.
I joined the group and the first post I saw was a guy announcing his presence on 52.525 in a town not far from me. I posted my plans to be on 6mFM from OBX and got a response from gentleman asking for more details so he could possible tune me in. Sounds like a lot of activity or planning for activity. I've had modest luck with 6mFM on simplex. It won't replace 2m or HF, but it's fun to play around with, especially with homebrew antennas an an HT (the idea of a 6m HT tickles me to no end). I'm going to set it up this week while fishing from the OBX piers and see what activity I can generate while I fish. Chris
I will Echo what KI4POT said. In my adventures activating SOTA I usually call out on 6m FM simplex with my FT818(EndFedz 6m). In maybe 20 attempts, I have made 3 unscheduled QSOs and 12 with planning. I think that is pretty good odds actually. It is always a thrill to have a CQ answered unscheduled or scheduled. One ham mentioned I was his first simplex in years of monitoring! Good luck in your endeavors! Erik KE8OKM
I have a 6m ground plane connected to an FT-857 which is set to 52.525 which is on when ever I'm in the radio room. Seldom do I hear anything.
Called CQ on 52.525 today while fishing on one of the OBX piers. I had my EFHW suspended from 20' crappie pole lashed to the railing of pier, putting the feed point about 30-40' above the surface of the water. I called periodically while fishing, but didn't hear a thing. Also didn't catch anything except a solitary skate, too small to harvest the wings, so I threw him back. I did get a question from a curious fisherman who, after watching me set up my antenna, said "I have to ask, what is that?". I explained it was an amateur radio antenna for 50mhz. He asked if it was receive or transmit and receive, said it was for both, then said under the right conditions it could go hundreds of miles. He thought it was cool and that was that. Chris
My thing abut 6M is I had my first fone QSOs on 6M AM with an old used Heathkit lunch box. Had been all CW for my 7 months as a novice and another year as a general on CW too.
I do. Not that I have many folks to talk to, but some locals get on once i n a while, and band openings are fun when you catch them. It works very well, but very under-used.
Maybe. Way back when, when I was getting started in amateur radio and lived in Jackson, there was a lot of activity on 52.525. This was the early days of FM and some areas had 6M activity and others had 2M. And many had neither. Besides Jackson, I could hear some activity in Toledo. There was also activity in Kalamazoo and northern Indiana. The radio club at Angola College sponsored a FM oriented hamfest each year. FM activity in Detroit area was on 2M. So I decided to do a little Google searching to see if any of that activity remains after all these years. There are a couple of clubs in northern Ohio (Lucas (PDF) and Fulton counties) that advertise that they have regular nets on 52.525 FM sometimes alternating with 50.4 AM and 50.125 USB. Of course, a listing in a newsletter is no guarantee that there is actual activity.
I am always listening to .525 when I am in the shack. 6M openings are the only time there is activity that you can hear in Vermont, and that is only in July when the SFI is this low. Hopefully when the numbers pick back up there will be more activity I can actually hear...
I could just set the freq and squelch and monitor all day, but I am having too much fun on HF CW I have set it on the one scanner I have that will work on 52 mHz, but never heard anything .
Depending on your region, 52.525 MHz FM simplex is most active during the three primary 50MHz+Up ARRL Contests in mid-Jan/June/Sept. These months also coincide with the Winter and Spring/Summer Es Season..You didn't buy one of those 1990's quad-band FM only rigs did you? Or one of the newer Chinese quad-band FM only rigs? Elmers have explained the limitations of these specific rigs for 30 years now..Hi.. On 6, users will benefit most with a multimode base or mobile rig. ~beacons below 50.08, cw .09-.11, phone .125+up, rptrs, eme/meteor/tropo, band openings: ft8 .313, hi.. I've 'seen' a few stateside reports of 50.4 AM nets too.. The short answer to 52.525 MHz activity is yes. A vertical antenna on FM simplex/rptrs is popular, and there is a benefit to having both- Horiz and Vert antennas on the other modes too.
