We tried using 6 meters for a "local" voice net, but few members had adequate capability and almost no one had horizontal polarization. We thought that we would be able to attract the Technican class hams but no luck with that. Our nets are heavily promoted on the local internet reflector and by word of mouth.
We have had the best results with 10 meters where most of the members are using omnidirectional vertically polarized antennas. One ham uses an 80 meter dipole and has one of the strongest signals out 25 miles or so from a very difficult location, but the antenna is very high. Most stations don't tend to move the S meter much, if at all, and a number of them are just at the noise level and I have very low noise. For those of us outside the immediate area, it is not very satisfactory. Nothing like NVIS 80 or 160 meter groups. We tried 15 meters one night and it seemed to work better. This may be related to the capture area of the antenna? But other times 10 still seemed better. One other reason for selecting 10 meters was that Novices and Tech + could operate there. Not one has ever participated from our area:( I think that this tells you that giving hams privileges doesn't necessarily translate into activity. It will be very interesting to see what happens when no code Techs can also use these frequencies. Some have suggested that many Technician class hams may be upgrading to General or even Extra and it could impact the VHF and higher bands. None of the voice net members has been willing to try digital communications in my area. I have to say that round table digital contacts are not something that I am particularly interested in as the communication rate is so slow compared to voice and you have to be really careful to not double with another station. This is one time that break-in CW totally blows away other digital mode. We really don't have any other QSK digital modes, do we? 73, Rick, KV9U Bill Aycock wrote: >Andy- My recommendation would be 6M. We have a local net thatcovers a >radius of over 50 miles, at night. Sometimes MUCH more. The antenna I >find most effective is a Yagi with a low F/B (Normally considered to >be a lousy antenna) I point toward the center of the net area, and >only move if someone wants a relay. Of course, with a single station >sked, more focus will help. >Actally, 10M seems to be better here than your experience. When I >scan the beacon frequencies, I frequently see low power stations at >50 miles or more. I DO have a low noise area, though, at the highest >point in several miles. >Good luck-Bill-W4BSG > > >
