"Wayne" wrote in message
...

# Are you doing CW and SSB at the bottom of the 6 meter band?

Yes.


Now we are getting somewhere. For 6 meter ssb you normally want the antenna
to be horizontal. There is about a 20 db differance if the antennas are not
the same. You are not going to be able to work very far on 6 metes with
simple, low antennas unless the band is open. When the band opens, it is
possiable to work thousands of miles with low power and not very good
antennas. I worked from North Carolina to Canada with 10 watts and an
antenna that was a 40 meter dipole during one opening.
As for vhf you first want to get the antenna as high as you can, and then
make it as big as you can. Height is usually beter than size for local
work.