"Brian Connors" wrote in message
...

Don't the Japanese farm it out to China these days like everyone else
anyway?

Or Taiwan or Korea, who knows? Although all my Icom stuff seems to say
Osaka.

That's good to know. Essentially, my situation is that I can afford a
very basic HT; 2M is not so much a big deal as 6M, which would seem to
be somewhat easier. Basically I can't afford a triband radio, so I want
to build one for 6M. 2M would be gravy, but apparently it's not worth
the trouble to try to build. I won't worry about it -- I'll just go
shopping.

Depending on where you are, a 2M HT can be pretty handy. Actually, single
band mobiles are probably cheaper than HT's. If you have a number of
repeaters nearby, then the HT may be more flexible. If you need a little
power to reach out then the mobile might be a better choice. (Although if
you're not going to mount the mobile in a car then the power supply does
almost double the cost).

Very good to know. In that case, I won't bother until I know what I'm
doing. At least not on 2M.

Actually, you can get on 6 meter CW pretty simply with homebrew stuff, but
recognize that QSOs are going to be few and far between. 6 meters is only
open occasionally, and even less frequently to low power. In most parts of
the country there is relatively little local 6 meter operation, so your QSOs
are going to be largely limited to band openings, unless you are in a major
metro area.

Well, I got my ticket for the tech. I didn't know going in just how
complex it would be, expecially given how simple something like a Pixie
is.

Yeah, well, as I said. You can build a Pixie-like thing for 6 meters, in
fact, I did such a thing relatively recently to try to get a friend upgraded
(no such luck, he seems to have a block for the code). But the problem is
that 6 is open so rarely, and 6 meter CW operation is pretty scarce. SSB or
FM add a whole pile of complexity, although SSB receive on 6 meters could
be pretty simple since the band is rarely crowded.

*BUT*, to get the frequency stability you either need to go with crystal
control or a DDS. Now crystal control may not be as much of a disadvantage
on 6 as it is on most other bands, since probably 90% of the operation is on
50.125. But it will be frustrating to be unable to move away from the QRM
on that one day a year that the band is open and you happen to be there!
DDS can quickly put the cost up there.

Now, if you have a buddy nearby and you want to get your code speed up for
the general, I have a circuit you can build for around $25 that will get you
on the air. But it's CW, fixed frequency, and low power. Given the
infrequency of 6 meter openings that are friendly to low power, that means
the QSOs are going to be limited to a nearby station.

I should add, I don't mean to imply that 6 meters is a big power band.
Indeed, the noise and absorption are both low o 6, which makes power less of
an issue for "traditional" openings. But on 6, traditional openings are
rare, so you look for other modes more frequently. There are basically 4
kinds of openings on 6 that are fairly common.
- F - very rare, friendly to low power
- Es - somewhat less rare, very unpredictable, friendly to low power,
although you will often be competing with high power stations
- Aroura - getting unusual with the sunspots going down, high power
- HSMS - common, predictable, high power

If you want a QSO on 6 almost every day, HSMS is a good bet. *BUT*, you
need a good antenna, preferably with an az-el mount, lots of power (a few
hundred watts, anyway), and a computer.

Hunting QSOs on 6 is a lot of fun, but if it's your only outlet, it could
get pretty frustrating because they are pretty rare, and getting tougher as
the sunspots decline. With low power and fixed frequency it will be even
tougher.

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