10m lately (early May 2014)?

Status
Not open for further replies.

wbswetnam

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
1,799
Location
DMR-istan
I've been getting some success on 15m lately but I've heard nothing on 10m in a while. Is the band closed most of the time, or is my crummy attic-mounted dipole to blame?
 

Twister_2

Member
Feed Provider
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
617
Location
Dauphin County, PA
Well, a dipole in the attic is not ideal for ten, but it has indeed been on and off lately. Why do you chose 15 over 20??
 

wbswetnam

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
1,799
Location
DMR-istan
Well, a dipole in the attic is not ideal for ten, but it has indeed been on and off lately. Why do you chose 15 over 20??

I've been working 20m also, but my int'l contacts have all been on 15m. I admit, though, that I'm brand new to HF. I just got my first HF rig last week, a Kenwood TS-480SAT. I can't have an outside antenna so I am limited to a three-band wire dipole I set up in the attic. It is for 10, 15 and 20 meters. I have been working 20m too, of course and I've made several contacts on it as well as 15. So far, though, nothing on 10m I'll keep trying.

I think next week I'll crawl up in the attic again and set up a second HF antenna, with elements for 40m and 17m.

I had been monitoring 10m with an ICOM R20 wideband receiver and I had heard some great signals from Europe and Latin America. Now that I actually have an HF rig to work with, though, now of course 10m seems to have shut down. Just my luck...
 

davenlr

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 31, 2014
Messages
638
Location
North Little Rock, Ar
Why cant you have an antenna outside? A multiband vertical only takes up about 1 sq foot of ground plus the radials which can be underground or buried in the thatch of the grass.

I dont believe HOA's can ban ham radio antennas.
 

AK9R

Lead Wiki Manager and almost an Awesome Moderator
Super Moderator
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
9,293
Location
Central Indiana
I dont believe HOA's can ban ham radio antennas.
Yes, they can...and they do.

When you buy a house in a neighborhood that is protected by covenants or restrictions that are recorded as part of the deed, you are signing a contract that you will abide by those covenants and restrictions. In other words, you are signing a contract which says you agree to the HOA's rules. The FCC has routinely said that they will not get involved in private land contracts when it comes to amateur radio antennas. They take this position even though they have enacted rules for over-the-air TV antennas and small satellite dishes that they say take precedence over private land contracts.

All that said, I live in a covenant-restricted neighborhood. I have found that by being creative, and a bit stealthy, I can still put up an effective antenna.
 

AA6IO

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
1,511
Location
Cerritos, CA (LA County)
If you want to know if 10 meters is open, listen between 28,200 and 28, 300 where all the CW beacons are. If you hear quite a few of them, the band is open. Lately, 10 meters has had a few beacons that I can hear, but conditions seem to be down compared to a few weeks ago.
Steve AA6IO
 

hamstang

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 27, 2002
Messages
513
Location
Charlotte NC
If you want to know if 10 meters is open, listen between 28,200 and 28, 300 where all the CW beacons are. If you hear quite a few of them, the band is open. Lately, 10 meters has had a few beacons that I can hear, but conditions seem to be down compared to a few weeks ago.
Steve AA6IO
Another way to tell if 10 meters is open: try 28.121 to see if you can hear digital modes such as PSK.
 

khooke

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Messages
54
Location
Davis, CA
I've been working 20m also, but my int'l contacts have all been on 15m. I admit, though, that I'm brand new to HF. I just got my first HF rig last week, a Kenwood TS-480SAT. I can't have an outside antenna so I am limited to a three-band wire dipole I set up in the attic. It is for 10, 15 and 20 meters. I have been working 20m too, of course and I've made several contacts on it as well as 15. So far, though, nothing on 10m I'll keep trying.
Based on my limited 1 yr of being on HF, similar to you on 20/15/10m with attic dipoles, 10m seems to be either on or off. When it's open, for what I can hear, mainly South American stations, come in incredibly loud and strong. 15m seem similar too. I usually hear more though on 10m when its open. 15m for me only seems to have activity during contests. 20m on the other hand in comparison with these two, there's always something going on there, and the propagation seems to open up more gradually, you hear stations coming in from a general area, and slowly you notice the areas you can hear move through the day.

Maybe 10m just suffers from 'everyone listening, no-one transmitting' that I've read elsewhere, but it definitely seems to be on/off, all or nothing.
 

Tech792

Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2003
Messages
2,911
Location
Central NJ
The past 2 or 3 weeks 10m has not been open as much as it was in late winter/early spring was. In winter, I was talking all over the world on 25 watts from my mobile. I had stations from Great Britain and Germany almost pegging my needle. Today was only able to hear a few South America stations but weak.
Here is a good propogation map that will tell you what bands are open and when.

http://www.dxmaps.com/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=28&ML=M&Map=W2LN&DXC=N&HF=N&GL=N
 
Last edited:

wbswetnam

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
1,799
Location
DMR-istan
The past 2 or 3 weeks 10m has not been open as much as it was in late winter/early spring was. In winter, I was talking all over the world on 25 watts from my mobile. I had stations from Great Britain and Germany almost pegging my needle. Today was only able to hear a few South America stations but weak.
Here is a good propogation map that will tell you what bands are open and when.

QSO/SWL real time maps - W2LN - 28

Wow the link is terrific, thanks!

If I turn off all other electronics in the house (especially the televisions and computer!) there is a lot less QRM on all bands, so that helps a lot. Even so, I'm not hearing much of anything on 10m. My dipole is pointed directly east-west so not much chance picking up Central and South America, although I did hear a very weak station from Brazil on 10m today. Mostly I am picking up the US East and West Coast, and Europe, on 15m.
 

mass-man

trying to retire...
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 15, 2004
Messages
1,870
Location
Parker Co., TX
From Dallas, TX, with an attic mounted antenna, I worked 3 New Zealand stations, a Brazil station, and several other S. American stations with 50w this afternoon! Just prior to grey-line!!!!
 

KD0BSS

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 7, 2010
Messages
15
Made my first ever HF QSO on 10 yesterday with a station in mexico. Heard several south america stations that were good 59s here. Today was nothing, no beacons or anything.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 

k9rzz

Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
3,162
Location
Milwaukee, WI
The guys on FB have been reporting 6 meter openings to Florida from all over, so I guess that means 10 is open somewhere too. E's up to FM BC Texas to New Mexico I guess too. If the band is OPEN, then a dipole in the attic is plenty.
 

LtDoc

Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2006
Messages
2,145
Location
Oklahoma
This whole thing is so silly! Do you honestly expect 'miracles' every minute of the day?? Being able to contact whoever you want when ever you want, every second? All I can say is that you are going to be soooo disappointed! There's a thingy called 'time' that you have to factor into this stuff...
- 'Doc
 

Kc9fje

Member
Joined
May 23, 2014
Messages
5
Location
valdosta ga
I've had pretty decent luck with 10 meters lately. I mainly run psk though. Seems to be around 19-2300z I have my peak times for an opening here. I'm up around 18 countries this month from just 10m psk with mainly South America and a few European stations.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top