So… I’ve just created a 10m dipole in a similar vein to my SOTABeams QuadBander 20m/30m/40m/80m - had my first 10m QSO’s today.
The MCHF SDR transceiver supports 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m - my question is, if I were to choose three out of the four bands to make a linked dipole, which two others would it be - given I have a 10m dipole to start with?
I’m thinking it would be 10m, 15m and 17m, but open to advice. I do use these dipoles to do general HF work as well as SOTA. I only do SSB.
This time of year, 12/10m will work due to it being Northern Hemisphere Es season.
You can probably get your 40m dipole working FB on 15m for little effort which leaves you wanting 17/12 for the full set
We’re at the bottom of the solar cycle, I’d add 17m to the 20/30/40/80 dipole and some tweekers for 15m and put 12/10 on the other one. You can leave the 12/10 unit at home for a while once Es dies out.
Similar question - would a dipole work on 6m and get any contacts (5w SSB) or would 6m need something with gain? (Sorry my knowledge of 6 is limited - after having a 20 yr break it is an exciting new band…!)
Yes, a dipole will do a good job in a sporadic E opening. Another good choice would be a GW0GHF antenna (A Long-wire Aerial for Six Metres), using one of those and an FT817 I worked 34 entities in my first sporadic E season. Oddly enough, you will get good results from a G5RV, too!
