6m propagation can be very sporadic and very specific. Even a few kilometers/miles can make a huge difference. Besides that type and height of antenna is important. I only use a 5 element directional antenna on 6m at a height of about 14m. So far I think I do very reasonable. But today I saw many stations around me in the Netherlands making QSOs to the USA and Mexico. I didn't see anything from that direction at that time. So I decided to monitor since sometimes propagation is getting to a specific area in waves. I wrote about that before. The only problem is that it's like I'm always just a few meters from the surf. The difference between me and some other DXers in JO33 is sometimes large and very frustrating, To compare here are some pictures:
This is what I received this evening. Started monitoring around 17:30 UTC. In the end I received some from the west-coast and one station from Mexico.
To compare:
PA0O is a neighbour station about 20km south-west from my QTH also in JO33. I believe Jaap is using a 7 element monoband beam on about 20m height. He was heard in Hawaii with a strong signal. It is unknown to me if he worked Hawaii.
Hallo Bas, met 6 meter moet je inderdaad zo veel mogelijk elementen hebben en zo hoog mogelijk. Zelfs op de korte golf 20 m en hoger zijn directional antennes in het voordeel. Ik heb soms wel het idee hoe hoger de breedte graad hoe lastiger het kan worden. En de condities op de banden zijn altijd weer een verrassing. 73 Paul
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