In reply to M1EYP:
I don`t know! PVA, DSP, KPO, PXW all banned, now poor old magic is band. What did he do wrong?
I’m not sure if I’m anticipating any “magic” on 50MHz this evening. There are hints of an opening to the NE (Scandinavia) about at present, but what the situation will be come 8pm tonight who knows?
Anyway, I’ll be out SOTAing on 6m CW & SSB 2000 to 2230z (or earlier if I get cold / fed-up) this evening. I rebuilt my SOTABEAMS SB6 Moxon the other day. It had become very used, battered and bruised! SOTABEAMS does not sell the antenna any more, but I was able to get the spare part I needed from there, and the full instructions for making up the SB6 are still on the SOTABEAMS website - including the exact lengths for all the sections of wire. Fortunately the spacers are all still in good nick.
I tested the antenna the other day, and it’s working perfectly. Yesterday I tried out my SOTABEAMS Bandhopper 4, which I’d also repaired after damaging it in bad wx on G/SP-004 at the weekend. That is now also working perfectly - it’s been a good week for this particularly “practically-challenged” op!
I’m hoping this afternoon to try a few things to get PSK working again from a portable set-up. I had reasonable success a few years ago running this from an Android phone with a Wolphi-link interface - but I did have to take measures to combat the RF feedback issues. I’ve now got Fldigi on my Windows 10 tablet, but not had a satisfactory PSK / RTTY activation yet. It took a while to configure the program correctly, and then the feedback issues were back with a vengeance. So I’ve got some ideas to try this afternoon as I don’t really want next month’s Datamode Challenge flavour to be conducted exclusively on FT8.
Hope to work a few datamode chasers (maybe also preparing for the first week of February) this afternoon, and a few 6m chasers this evening.
Hi Tom @M1EYP 
On 6m you can try FT8 (50313) and also MSK144 (50280) as you using WSJT-X or MSHV software !
You can put an alert on 50/70 Mhz chat at http://www.on4kst.info and if you got Web in your W10 tablet on your summit you can speak with many guys who are interesting on try with you ! Good luck.
73 Éric
P.S. : 6m is my favorite band since long time
Hi Eric,
I’ll only be on SSB or CW tonight but feel free to meep me on KST for a QSO.
Not sure about magic bands, but there is definitely a Magic Mound 'o Dirt on Joe Mountain (W4G/NG-055). On different days, myself and another activator were struggling for a 4th VHF contact from that summit. After walking over and standing on The Mound, we both immediately received our 4th.
A very unmagical evening.
Switched off and started to pack up 15 minutes early at 2215z having not had a QSO for over 20 minutes. Before then just 53 QSOs on 6m SSB, which is pretty dismal on a UK activity night. Only G, GD and GW worked. Only locator squares IO74, 81, 82, 83, 91, 92, 93, 94 worked. Very very poor.
And it was bitterly cold. 
Went on 2m FM with the handheld before descending. Got deliberately jammed by, I believe, a licensed amateur in the Warrington area, who dislikes a couple of the chasers that worked me - but who effectively disrupted my activating on the frequency by repeatedly playing recordings of the chasers in question.
This in addition to the daily drunken monologues from M1DCG in Stoke-on-Trent on S20. It seems CB is alive and well - on the 2m amateur band round here. Anyone still jealous of the activity in IO83 square???
If the magic was there all the time it would not be magical!
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If I activated a summit on 6m in the middle of Canberra’s winter, I wouldn’t even make 1 contact. 53? Stunning.
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It’s even worse than I thought. Just typing up my logs - and found there’s a dupe. While I was running, a station called in that I had already worked earlier…
So it is in fact only 52. Botheration.
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We were on an activation one time and as we were finishing up a guy started calling CQ DX on 146.52. WTH? After a minute we realized it was a recording loop. Not sure if it was intentional or if he had his radio on the wrong frequency, but it went on until we were halfway down the mountain.
Hi Tom, my interest in the 6m band has gone up 30dB [that’s 30dBi, “i” for interest, of course] since I installed a Diamond V2000 6/2/0.7 collinear at home recently and 6m came alive whilst actually in the shack this weekend [hearing lots of southern EU beacons and working some strong SSB/CW stations in OE, EA and F on what was a ‘dead’ band for weeks earlier].
I have a homemade 10/6/2 linked dipole but fancy something with more gain and rotatable like a moxon for 6m-only activations.
I watched the YT video on the SOTAbeams SB6 Moxon - it seems lightweight, packable and quick to assemble – a pity it’s been discontinued. Would you recommend using the aforementioned instructions for building one from scratch, or go with any of the many on-line 6m moxon descriptions?
regards, Andy
P.S. If anyone wants to sell their SB6, please let me know.
Some good stations worked last week in the 6m UKAC.
I had thought about a 6m + 10m dual band Moxon to get me further into the HF spectrum.
regards,
Stuart
6m was very good last night, outwith SOTA. The band was open to USA/VE for hours. It was tailing off after 2300L but hams in the south of England were reporting QSOs as late as 0030L. Earlier than that even hams without beams were working USA/VE stations. 100s of USA/VE seen on screen using FT8, but just a small number operating CW and SSB. Its a wee bit sad, but as a DXer hunting countries on 6m you cannot afford to ignore the machine modes.
73 Phil
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Sri for being a week late.
May I remind everybody of the Euro activity nights? 50 Megs is every second Thursday of a month. In summer, it’s so much fun to join from a summit.
Ahoi
Pom
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If you need a good antenna for 6M may I recommend the Hawkins Thunderbolt 5/8 wave antenna, basically it is a flowerpot but works brilliantly, I also have one for 10 meters you can either use a 10M pole or get them lofted up in a tree!
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Yes.
I’ve inserted a reusable cable tie in place of one of the spacers in mine which means one of the stress-points can be better managed.
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6m night tonight. Possibility of some MS propagation as well just a few hours after the peak of the 2023 Geminids. Anyone else heading out /P? Anyone chasing on 6m from their shacks?
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Thanks for the reminder.
I don’t think I’ll be on a summit but I’ll chase from home and I’ll try and find you on the band.
Tom, I will be on /P as usual, but not on a summit.
I don’t finish work 'till 1700 and the 40k drive home before I set out.
The choice of local summits isn’t great, considering Gun & Cloud will be OOB.
They’re all just too far for a winter’s evening activation.
No MS to UK stations; far too close