6 Meter E's

My radio plans for tonight were to do some military aviation monitoring, but a 6 Meter E-Skip opening changed things. Throughout the day I checked 6 Meters to see if it was open but each time I found nothing. After dinner, I decided to make one last check and I'm glad I did. 6 Meters was wide open into the north and northeast and it made for a productive radio evening. Taking advantage of the conditions, I worked 19 stations over a 3 hour period, several of which required patience because it took awhile to get through the pileups. Throughout the evening I worked stations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario, Canada as well as stations in Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. I also picked up some new grids: EN82, EN83, FN11, FN54, FN66, and FN74.

About 20 minutes after turning on the radios this evening I worked Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. My contact with VE9SIX was my first 6 Meter contact in New Brunswick on 6 Meters although I have worked New Brunswick before on 20 Meters.

After numerous attempts, I finally worked KB3RHR/W1 working portable in Cape Naddick, Maine. Craig had quite the pileup and it took me a long time and a lot of patience to get through.

Similarly, it took me quite awhile to get through the pileup that K1RQG, Joe in Bucksport, Maine had going. Joe is in EN54 and that was a new grid for me, I kept on trying an patience finally paid off; now all I have to do is send off a card.

Another good contact was G6DHU/W1 in Buxton, Maine. I didn't realize it until after I ran his call through QRZ after the QSO, but it was Mike Chace-Oritz, the well known utility monitoring expert. I wish I would have known it at the time!

At the end of the evening, I was hearing N7JW in Utah on 50.139 USB. Utah on 6! I'd never heard that far west on 6 before. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make a contact despite numerous attempts, I had him at 51 at best and he was giving reports of 58-59 to the stations he was working.

Nevertheless, it was a great evening on 6 Meters and I truly had a lot of fun on the radio tonight. It never ceases to amaze me that you can work DX with 100 watts or less and an antenna not very much longer than your arm span. I'm looking forward to a great 6 Meter E-Skip season on 6 Meters.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

6 Meter E's

I've been enjoying a morning on the radios as there has been a 6 Meter E-Skip opening today. I've been working the occaisonal station on 6 Meters since shortly after 0800 local this morning. For me, the band has mostly been open into the midwest: IA, IL, IN, MO, and WI. I also worked a station in MS as well as working Ryan, AJ4MY and KS4K, Dennis both mobile here in Savannah. I also heard several stations working Larry, N5FPW, but I couldn't hear him - maybe one day our signals will cross!

Maybe this is an indicator of good conditions to come for the June VHF QSO Party this weekend.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

6 Meters Open to the Caribbean

This evening, there has been a good 6 Meter E-skip opening to the Caribbean. I've worked three Puerto Rican stations, 2 Dominican Republic stations, and a US Virgin Islands station since 1730 local this evening. All stations were received with an RST of at least 57. The MFJ-1764 performed poorly this evening, so I immediately switched to the JTB4 vertical and had much better signals. The first station I worked, KP4YI went from S1 to S7 on the FT-897's S-meter.

1933Z - 50.135 USB - KP4YI - Puerto Rico
2250Z - 50.115 USB - HI3/LY3UM - Dominican Republic
2333Z - 50.110 USB - WP4AZT - Puerto Rico
2336Z - 50.140 USB - NP4A - Puerto Rico
2353Z - 50.107 USB - HI3TEJ - Dominican Republic
0025Z - 50.120 USB - KP2BH - US Virgin Islands

Tonight, by the way, was the second time I've worked Ted, HI3TEJ. I just sent off a QSL card to his QSL Manager last week in hopes of eventually getting a QSL card for the contact.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net