I was first licensed in 1956 as a Novice. In 1957, I got on 6 meter AM with a Gonset Commuter II. Later that same year, I obtained a Gonset 6 meter amplifier and became hooked on 6 meters!
In the mid-60’s I used to work WA1OUB on the east coast. I was in Indiana at the time. I worked Bob, now K1SIX, several times per week. Most people thought I was talking to myself.
In 1963, I bought a Clegg Venus 6 meter SSB rig. I then built my first 6 meter amplifier (pair of 4CX250B’s) and started working meteor scatter. I was really hooked. In the mid-to-late 60’s, I built many 6 meter amplifiers….to name a few: 3-1000Z, 4CX1000A Stripline, and the “King Daddy”, a 4CX5000A Cavity. In the 70’s, 80’s, and early 90’s I built repeaters.
In 1967, I built a 90-foot 13 element Yagi for 6 meters. We put it up in Ohio on a Vesto tower that I had bought in Richmond, Indiana. We operated from WA8PLZ Drake Radio Club station. We operated VHF contests and hoped that the band would NOT open.
In 1968 I bought a new Volkswagen microbus. I ran the Clegg Venus driving a converted Drake L4 amplifier for 6 meters. I drove to the Chicago Hamfest running the amp on a 120V Genset. At the fest, my 6 meter Squalo on top of the bus caught fire. Frank, K9HMB, was there and witnessed it.
After moving to Florida in 2000, I got back on 6 meters with Software Defined Radios. Yes, I have worked 6 meters and still do!
Osprey sitting on top of antenna mast in Punta Gorda, Florida (EL86) 7 Element 31-Ft. Yagi over 7 Element @ ½ wave stacking with a height of 45-ft. center point in Punta Gorda, FL (EL86)
This is my home in Punta Gorda, FL (EL86XV). The Heights aluminum tower base is 6 feet above sea level. Antennas are a pair of 7 element Yagis with half-wave stacking at an average height of 45 feet. Surrounding this location are saltwater canals and mangroves which help ground gain of antenna system. Rig is an SDR5000 and HB amplifier.
W8IF’s signal (SSB) in Ohio as received on an SDR5000 panadapter in Punta Gorda, FL (EL86). Notice my receiver bandpass set at 3100 Hz and Mike’s transmitter “brick wall” filtering of his IC7700.
This is a “screen shot” of the USA beacon band segment (50.060 MHz to 50.080 MHz) using an SDR5000 receiver panadapter with a feature called Peak/Hold. The band was NOT open. What this does is record signals over time. The peak signal of each of these beacons was being propagated by meteor scatter over time. Many times one of these beacons will be propagated by the same meteor. Typical record time for this screen shot is about 1 minute. The best time to hear beacons via meteor scatter is right after the sun has come up.
This is a screen shot of the SDR5000 receiver while the band was open on 6 meters. Notice the signal waveform of the sideband signals versus frequency and the waterfall that is associated with the signal below the panadapter. The panadapter is recording 15th second of time (real time) while the waterfall from top to bottom is about 20 seconds of time.
Guess who this is? This was taken during a band opening. This shows the station’s broad signal. It not only sounds broad, but as you can see, it is broad. No doubt a legacy radio.
This is my mountain home in southwest North Carolina (EM75XA). It is at 3000 feet above sea level. This picture is looking south with a clear view of 20 miles. Looking north or west has about the same view. Antennas are a pair of 5 element Yagis with half-wave spacing at 45 feet center point above the ground. You can see the W9DR/B beacon omni antenna (50.061800 MHz) below the Yagis. No legacy radio here! Just an SDR5000 and amplifier.
