No worries... with 30 Watts output FT8, into a halve wave wiredipole, I worked 41 DXCC on 6m, confirmed by QRZ/LOTW!

Good dx hunting and 73 de Wim, pa0wjg

Interesting. I have DXCC on 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters,
but I've only worked 15 DXCC entities on 6 meters. That was using FT8
with 100 watts and a hex beam. I guess DL is the farthest I've worked. 
Not F2 propagation?  Doubt I'll get DXCC on 6 meters in my lifetime.

Don't be so sure about that! I started on 6m in 2005 with a 6M5 Yagi at 35', and using SSB and CW, I managed to get to about 70. I went QRO to 1500W, changed the 6M5 out for a 6 element LFA, and this season not only did I hit 100, but I'm up to 111 entities and just shy of 850 grid squares. If you can get even a little 3 or 4 element Yagi or preferably a Loop Fed Array, and a bit more than 100W there's no reason you can't hit 100 entities in a few years with typical seasonal Es and a bit of luck and time at the radio. You can do it!

Interesting. I have DXCC on 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters,
but I've only worked 15 DXCC entities on 6 meters. That was using FT8
with 100 watts and a hex beam. I guess DL is the farthest I've worked. 
Not F2 propagation?  Doubt I'll get DXCC on 6 meters in my lifetime.

Don't be so sure about that! I started on 6m in 2005 with a 6M5 Yagi at 35', and using SSB and CW, I managed to get to about 70. I went QRO to 1500W, changed the 6M5 out for a 6 element LFA, and this season not only did I hit 100, but I'm up to 111 entities and just shy of 850 grid squares. If you can get even a little 3 or 4 element Yagi or preferably a Loop Fed Array, and a bit more than 100W there's no reason you can't hit 100 entities in a few years with typical seasonal Es and a bit of luck and time at the radio. You can do it!

Hi Franco,

On 7/31/22 06:41, 3a2mw Franco Lucioni wrote:

Stan, you can do it !
You have your "home garden" of Carribean and South America, and it will help very much increasing the number.
I work 6m since the year 2000 with a 1/4 wave vertical and 100w, and I have already 86 DXCC confirmed in the band.
My "home garden" is Europe, but with the help of TEP (Trans Equatorial Propagation) Southern African DXCCs and some S. American Countries are confirmed.
Asia is not so far, and the result is in the 87/86 DXCCs.
The FT8 mode helped very much in the last years, giving us the 15/20 dB advantage to CW.
So, go on and try !

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll try to make DXCC on 6 meters.  It
would be good to work you on 6 meters. I'd have Monaco on 5 bands if we
are able to have a QSO :)

One of my current projects is modifying a Larcan 1Kw lo-lo band (VHF TV
channel 4) amp to 6 meters. It's based on worked done by K1WHS. No real
hurry on that project, but I'm making progress slowly but surely.   My
old eyes have a hard time doing surface mount work anymore without 6 or
8x magnification. Eyes and hands aren't what they were 30 years ago.

73

Stan
KM4HQE

+ AA6YQ comments below

the 30 day history, can that be configured to any 30 day period, or only the last 30/31?

+ SpotCollector's "Solar History" window can display SFI, A, and K values for the most recent 31 days. Information from more than one solar revolution ago is not useful in forecasting SFI values for the current solar revolution.

73,

Dave, AA6YQ

the 30 day history, can that be configured to any 30 day period, or only the last 30/31? 

# more AA6YQ comments below

Dave - I tried what you said in Spot Collector - History Button, then uncheck A & K boxes w/ SFI checked and I get a Blank graph. I must be missing something. Pls advise.

+ That means none of your spot sources are conveying "WWV spots". Some DX clusters may require you to enter a command to enable WWV spots; other may simply not convey them.

# see the "WWV Spots" section of

https://www.dxlabsuite.com/dxlabwiki/CollectingSpots

      73,

            Dave, AA6YQ

 

+ AA6YQ comments below

Dave - I tried what you said in Spot Collector - History Button, then uncheck A & K boxes w/ SFI checked and I get a Blank graph. I must be missing something. Pls advise.

+ That means none of your spot sources are conveying "WWV spots". Some DX clusters may require you to enter a command to enable WWV spots; other may simply not convey them.

      73,

            Dave, AA6YQ

I am watching and hoping for the 27 day repeat.  I erected my 30 ft FD tower and new 5 element yagi on July 2nd.
I am using RAT to follow my progress.   Since July 2nd I have worked 45 states, 10 Canadian provinces,  21 Countries on 4 continents!

Steve WA8Y 

Stan, you can do it !
You have your "home garden" of Carribean and South America, and it will help very much increasing the number.
I work 6m since the year 2000 with a 1/4 wave vertical and 100w, and I have already 86 DXCC confirmed in the band.
My "home garden" is Europe, but with the help of TEP (Trans Equatorial Propagation) Southern African DXCCs and some S. American Countries are confirmed.
Asia is not so far, and the result is in the 87/86 DXCCs.
The FT8 mode helped very much in the last years, giving us the 15/20 dB advantage to CW.
So, go on and try !
73
Franco 3a2mw

Hi Dave,

On 7/30/22 14:22, Dave AA6YQ wrote:

As we approach the peak of the 11-year solar cycle over the coming years, maybe we'll see the solar flux increase enough to support
F2 propagation on 6m - a phenomenon I have never experienced during my 32 years as a ham and DXer.

Interesting. I have DXCC on 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters,
but I've only worked 15 DXCC entities on 6 meters. That was using FT8
with 100 watts and a hex beam. I guess DL is the farthest I've worked. 
Not F2 propagation?  Doubt I'll get DXCC on 6 meters in my lifetime.


73

Stan
KM4HQE

As every DXer, his/her immediate family, and close friends know, radiation from our sun -- the "solar flux" -- ionize atoms and
molecules in the earth's ionosphere, making it more reflective of HF signals, reducing path loss, and thereby enabling more DX QSOs
on 20m and up.

If you click the History button in the WWV panel in the upper-left corner of SpotCollector's Main window, you will see a window that
can display a 31-day history of three parameters:

SFI - the Solar Flux Index

A - the geomagnetic A-index

K - the geomagnetic K index

Check the SFI box in this window's lower-left corner, uncheck the A and K boxes in its lower-right corner, and you will this graph
of the solar flux index:

www.dxlabsuite.com/spotcollector/SFI%202022-07-30.jpg

As the graph reveals, the solar flux increased from the low 90s at end of June to a peak in the mid 170s in mid-July, and then
gracefully fell back to its current value of 93.

The solar flux increases with the number of sunspots on the sun's surface. New sunspots continuously form, and old sunspots
continuously disappear. The sun rotates at the rate of one revolution every 27 days. Many sunspots survive for longer than one solar
revolution. Thus a reasonable prediction of future solar flux can be made from the solar flux of 27 days ago; that's why the "4" in
the date axis in the above graph is rendered in red font: it shows the solar flux one solar revolution ago.

It will be interesting to see if the solar flux again rises over the coming days as it did during the first half of July.

As we approach the peak of the 11-year solar cycle over the coming years, maybe we'll see the solar flux increase enough to support
F2 propagation on 6m - a phenomenon I have never experienced during my 32 years as a ham and DXer.

73,

Dave, AA6YQ