6 Meters: Survivalist Magic

1005161506These days, nearly exclusively, when someone brings up survivalist communications, the default always resigns to some sort of chinese dual bander with the added justification “because its cheap!” Nevermind the fact that the build quality is not the best and the thing might fail the person using it sooner rather than later, they keep being bought because the personality cults of the Internet tell them to…only because they’re cheap. But if you thought critically, all those folks having the ability to listen to hi band VHF and UHF might be a bad thing- especially if you’re looking for any sort of security.

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The VHF/UHF Basic Bandplan. Note the pink sections are for CW operation on 6 and 2 (50-50.1 and 144-144.1 MC, respectively). Although a bit dated, the diagram gives a good breakdown of the frequency ranges. Consider what your equipment is capable of, the potential OPFOR, and how to maximize capability to both effectively communicate and intercept.

Your area may be different, but around here there’s next to no activity on some of the other bands…you know, the ones Baofeng doesn’t make a radio for. Especially interesting for Survivalists is the capability the 6M band offers- with little to no overall traffic, great capability in rural terrain and many older repeaters sitting idle, 6M really needs more consideration for those actually concerned with creating a capable net versus those just cosplaying. Also nicknamed the “magic band” for it’s unpredictable long range qualities especially on SSB, 6m is just below the FM radio broadcast band (88-108mc) and the VHF television broadcast band (54-88mc); 6m occupies 50-54mc, with 51-54mc supporting FM mode. The band’s properties make it a very good performer in the hills with simplex use, and with repeaters can cover a broad area networking Survivalists spread near and far. The best part? Little traffic and well built equipment.

Here in central NC, many of the 6m machines were built by the same great group of folks, mostly retired engineers, and emergency communications was a significant

Ge-master-ii-2-uhf-repeater-base-station-photo

Most 6m repeaters are robustly built from older equipment. Even a motivated newcomer with a Tech license can garner the good graces of an older owner of such a machine, adding a huge capability to both your skills and your area of influence.

focus when the systems were designed. Favoring converted GE Mastr II  and other converted commercial mobiles, these have been hardened and are designed to function when everything else fails. Although our 2m and some 70cm machines are similarly constructed, those operators on 6m are likely to be more proficient and not of the Baofeng-bandit category. Making it work in the field with simplex and not relying on repeaters, 6m has lots of options for those looking to embrace it. The old Cherokee AH-50 handhelds are a great find for those browsing local hamfest fleamarkets, as are the excellent Yaesu VX-5R and 7R, the later being a strong candidate for the most versatile and durable Survivalist radio ever made. All of these sets mentioned are incredibly well built and durable units; for those more serious about having great capability for years to come, these are excellent choices. Since they’re usually much higher priced, even a decade old, than their chinese imitations, many dabblers get scared away in lieu of the material satisfaction of buying junk…er, inexpensive stuff. Mobile and base options are plentiful but curiously underutilized; three of the most popular Survivalist radios, the Yaesu 817, its bigger brother the 857d and the old workhorse the Icom 706,

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Even an inefficient antenna such as this Maldol 50/145/440 duck have their advantages. Keeping a signal within a mile or so in the terrain as well as on a band not in common use is a good, cheap way to keep things somewhat bubba-proof.

each include all-mode 6m support providing a built-in capability for an excellent all-mode 6m station. Keep in mind that every operating option you have on HF, be it CW, Phone or Digital, you can do on 6m base to base.

Working the “magic band” is not without its issues however- there are drawbacks despite all the positives. For one, efficient antennas are large. Carrying a much higher signature than their hi band VHF or UHF counterparts, the antennas can be more visible to onlookers or get snagged up while moving through the bush due to size. Compact antennas can be found for the handhelds while moving or working, but are severely limited in the efficiency department. Not to say they don’t perform, they simply are a compromise between size and efficiency that some brands accomplish better than others. In certain situations this is not a bad thing. Another drawback is the positioning of the band itself. 50-54mc sits right within the military ground VHF band, as any user of the PRC-77 to SINCGARS can attest, and may be prone to interference from those users. Good gear and experience can both mitigate and turn this into an asset.

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One cool thing about 6m being sandwiched right in the military VHF low-band is that all of those cool diagrams from FM 7-92 and 93 all work perfectly. Those are two Army FMs that serve potential irregulars a good bit better than just thumbing through SH 21-76.

Although looked upon as a fun band by experimenters, 6m signals sometimes, especially in summer mornings, can be heard at incredibly long distances due to sporadic-E propagation, tropo scatter and meteor scatter reflection. This might get confusing especially if you’re hearing stations from several states away randomly, even on FM. Because there aren’t that many users, often people will lose interest unless there’s an active net, and encouraging activity locally can be tough. It’s also tough to convince newer operators to jump on board with new equipment, especially if they took the advice of a few and bought a boatload of cheap 2m/70cm handhelds simply because…they were cheap. But that being said some of the radios previously mentioned are not going to break the bank used, quality gear is worth paying for, and great deals can be found for those actively looking.

Despite a few minor drawbacks, 6m presents an option off the beaten path for the Survivalist group looking for something different; it’s cool to do something others ain’t. While low-band VHF might not solve all your issues, it’s versatility definitely goes a long way. Anyone in your group can take advantage of it with only a Technician license and it doesn’t parallel any of the license-free paths others are likely to be trafficking along. Between much better quality equipment and better operators on the band itself with limited users and great rural coverage, it might just be a Survivalist’s “magic” option.

If you’d like to learn more about this and a whole host of other communications topics, consider coming out for the RTO Course, where we learn about not just radio theory in a field environment but how to build our own networks out of all sorts of improvised materials. Read some of the reviews and feel free to contact me direct at [email protected].

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By Published On: June 21, 2018Categories: NC Scout20 Comments on 6 Meters: Survivalist Magic

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20 Comments

  1. Anonymous June 21, 2018 at 12:36

    4.5

  2. […] You will need alt comms as things move towards Spicy. […]

  3. Sam Adams June 22, 2018 at 13:12

    I have to plead guilty to being a Baofang buyer. Not just because it was cheap but because I wasn’t ready to dive in after getting my Tech. The Baofang was my toe in the water and, after getting briefly active in a few local nets, has now been sitting in a drawer for the last year and a half. I am not afraid to spend money on my firearms and other hobbies, so money is not a big issue. Your recent articles have rekindled my interest in ham. What do you recommend to a relative newbie who is serious about getting squared away for the “interesting times” ahead. I’ve heard high praise for Yaesu radios, so I’ll check into that. I was always intrigued in QRP, too. Thx. Bravo3

    • NC Scout June 22, 2018 at 13:19

      I use them as the training radio in class. They are what they are- a cheap radio. They do a lot of things (and as people find out in class, a heck of a lot more than what they think they do) but quality and durability are not in the same sentence. There’s a lot of radio-oriented prepper sites (or were at the time this was authored a little over a year ago) that suggested buying them by the case and putting burying them for some projected time in the future- which is both a waste of money and pretty stupid if you think about it.

      That said, they’re a good ‘gateway drug’ and just like with firearms, it’s good to establish the fundamentals and work your way up. There’s nothing wrong with only a couple and getting some good practice in, even experimenting with building your own antennas and finding out what you can REALLY do with a little power and a little know-how.

      Yaesu is a good brand. In the article I suggest the VX-5R and 7R, both of which are discontinued but can be found on the used market pretty easily.

      • Sam Adams June 22, 2018 at 13:55

        Thx for the reply. In fact, I have an open tab on Amazon looking at the Yaesu VX-6R. Any comments? It looks halfway decent, but I just started checking its specs.

        • NC Scout June 22, 2018 at 14:13

          It’s a great radio, but doesn’t include 6m as it comes from the factory. You can do a MARS/CAP mod to open it up for 6 or get Gigaparts to do it.

  4. Doc June 22, 2018 at 13:53

    Hey Scout,

    Great article. I took your advice a while back regarding buying quality equipment and paying more. Turns out it’s true, you actually get better equipment. Whodda thunk! I got a Yeasu VX-6R and I love it. I remember not too long ago you said there is a way to modify the 6R to work on 6m. What can I do to make that happen???

    I think you may have said we would need a 6m antenna for it, as well.

    Thanks for all you do!!

    • NC Scout June 22, 2018 at 14:15

      The 6R is a good radio. It’s a very good receiver also. The MARS/CAP mod opens it up to be used on 6 (and elsewhere). You’ll need a 6m-specific antenna also. Look into Maldol. That’s what’s pictured on the VX-7R in the title slide.

  5. John Pittmann's ghost June 22, 2018 at 17:04

    Baofeng, yeah, got a few.. Got a KT 8900D too.. Gateway drugs for sure. I did splurge on a Home Patrol 2 scanner though. Worth every penny.. NC Scout, if I didn’t stumble on to your site a couple of years back, via danmorgan76 I think, I probably wouldn’t have any of them, SDR (with a bunch of random wires nailed to my deck) or my Tech License. Any words of wisdom on the Czech 50MHz RF-10 radios I see all over Ebay?

    • NC Scout June 22, 2018 at 17:10

      Awesome man! I don’t know much about the RF-10 other than it’s a low band VHF set. I’ll have to check them out.

  6. sparks31wyo June 22, 2018 at 17:59

    Six meters is where down-grid types should be going.

    73,
    Sparks31

  7. Anonymous June 22, 2018 at 19:21

    5

  8. dangero June 24, 2018 at 11:20

    6 meters is great for sure, also while not able to do many of the things 6 meters does the 1.25m band is typically similarly underused in most areas since most “dual band” radios only transmit on 2m and 70cm. This is an area where survivalists looking for line of sight communications without the traffic of 2m and 440 might want to invest in equipment to take advantage of also. I thought I recalled the FCC at one point looking to take the band allocation back is was so little used by amateur radio operators.

  9. PRCD August 3, 2018 at 22:35

    Are there any digital HTs that can be modified to support 6m so that we can send data? DMR radios could use the old 6m FM repeaters also. Those of us in suburbia might not have the need for an HF mobile radio to work 40, 80, and 160 m since we don’t have enough property to build antennas suited for DX or NVIS and don’t need to radiate out to 300 miles to reach our neighbors and friends. Realistically, the only place I could practice a lot of other HF communication below 10 meters is a local state park and I wouldn’t do it often. OTOH, 6 meters looks very attractive for suburbanites for the reasons in your article. Antenna sizes at 6 m are small-enough that they can be put up in a suburban backyard and experiment with some “HF-like” propagation with a technician license

    • NC Scout August 3, 2018 at 23:45

      Actually yes. The Yaesu VX-5/6/7 can with a coupled Signalink interface. :)

      • PRCD August 4, 2018 at 02:38

        Thanks! What about a 6/10m solid-state transverter for VHF/UHF HTs? Seems like it’d be a fun design project and would work for any digital or analog HT at pretty low cost

        Trying to convince suburbanites or even rural bubbas to buy an HF rig that covers 6 / 10 meters seems impossible. I can see how the conversation will go, “Hey, I want to be able to reach you in a grid-down situation. You have a great garden and guns but what about talking to people? It’ll only cost $800 and you’ll need a general class license to talk back” “Sorry man, I can’t afford it.” “What about that new Mathews bow/AR-15/dual-suspension mountain bike you just bought, your second one this year?” “Yeah, that’s WHY I can’t afford it.”

        • NC Scout August 4, 2018 at 12:45

          You could do that or look into what Signalink is doing with their interfaces for many HTs. FM can do many interesting things aside from simple AX-25 Packet or APRS. :)

  10. Roave October 2, 2018 at 07:14

    I have a 817ND, played with it for a couple of times on 6m and noticed I can only use about 6 pre-selected freq’s on it… . Is that normal, or is that a sign it was ( possibly ) pre-used ?

    • NC Scout October 2, 2018 at 13:22

      Someone probably pre-programmed it. Switch it over to VFO mode (versus memory mode) and it’ll be good to go.

      • Roave October 3, 2018 at 09:43

        Roger, we’ll give it a try.

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