Presentation: DX'ing on 6 Meters With FT8

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while will know that I have a special passion for 6 meters. It has been so for many decades. Nowadays my primary focus is on 6 meter DX. When sporadic E season rolls around each year you'll find me on 6 meters, and not on HF.

In early 2019 I did a presentation about 6 meter DX'ing using FT8 to a local group of contesters and DX enthusiasts. I was subsequently invited to repeat the presentation to several local clubs. If you've heard more 6 meter activity from FN25 and surrounding grids I may be partly responsible.

For the RAC AGM this fall they took the advantage of it being done by video conference to organize a few hours of presentations preceding the business segment of the AGM. It was a learning experience for all and for the most part it went well. There were a few technical problems related to running several concurrent webinars using Zoom. My webinar was abruptly interrupted halfway through.

I recorded the audio of the second half of the presentation which was coordinated with the slides by one of RAC's technical gurus and spliced onto the first half video. It is now available for viewing on YouTube. For those interested it is embedded below, or you can find it on the RAC YouTube channel. It's just over 1 hour long.

Since I rarely put my picture anywhere on this blog it is an opportunity to see what I look like, if you care. I deliberately avoid including pictures of myself on the blog so that the focus is on the topics being discussed and not on myself. Too many people, hams and others, turn blogs and their social media channels into vanity projects. That I disdain.

Be sure to watch some of the other interesting presentations from the conference. One in particular that is especially interesting to me is by my friend Chris VE3FU/VO2AC about their DXpedition to VO2 for the CQ WW 160 meter contest. That was quite the adventure, and they didn't do it just once. Expect to hear them on again, if not this season then perhaps next.

The Zoom conference was open to all and there were participants from at least several countries outside Canada. A benefit of virtual conferences, because there is no travel required, is that every conference can be global. Most are of course of local interest only, such as the virtual meetings by a large number of clubs. 

I see no reason why the trend won't continue when the pandemic is over and hamfests return. The one thing I miss from hamfests are the flea markets and those don't work well virtually. Online swap shops are poor venues for buying and selling small items and browsing for the unexpected gem that you absolutely must have.

With regard to 6 meters, we are approaching peak sporadic E season in the southern hemisphere. Don't spurn the small winter peak north of the equator since, although DX opportunities are uncommon, the possibility of TEP to connect to southern stations is ever present. You should at least watch the DX spots for signs if you prefer not to monitor 50.313 MHz. You may be surprised.