Hey folks,
The ARRL 10-Meter Contest is this weekend. I'm not sure what the propagation predictions look like, but overall 10m activity has been very high over the past 1.5 months. I would anticipate a LOT of activity on 10m. Everyone who has been waiting for things to warm up after the last solar minimum is going to be on 10m playing this coming weekend.
Summary Info: http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/weeklycont.php#3604
ARRL Website: http://www.arrl.org/10-meter
A great logging app (for PCs): http://www.n1mm.com
This is an SSB and CW contest. Any ham, anywhere, works any ham, anywhere. All contacts count for points, and [if you care to log it and turn in a log] there are all kinds of multipliers.
If you have a license and a radio capable of operating on 10 meters, jump on from sunrise to sunset (and perhaps a little before and after). Don't be looking for much if any activity once you are in darkness, and especially if both you and the DX are in darkness.
For nearly the past month and a half 10m has been open to europe from sunrise into EU and has been open to somewhere during all daylight hours. I've worked over 80 new countries on 10m in the past month and a half with 100w and a horizontal dipole up anywhere between 20-40 feet. With the same setup, I worked a RTTY contest on 10m this past week and worked all over EU, many states and Canadian provinces, down into Central / South America, Cyprus, Guam, and New Zealand as well as Niue. A very simple setup will make you a lot of contacts in a big contest like this.
Get on the air. Don't be shy. Read the rules. Either play casually and don't keep a log, or keep a log and send it in as a checklog, or keep a log and submitted as a valid log for the contest. Jump on for half an hour or 48 hours [minus the periods of inactivity during most of the darkness]. You'll really have a blast if you're a new ham and haven't witnessed what kind of propagation is possible on 10m when the sun cooperates.
Disclaimer: I don't control the sun. It is entirely possible [although improbable] that 10m will be closed completely [no propagation at all for US stations]. So if you plan to jump on and you hear nothing, don't cry to me. On the other hand, if you decide not to check out 10m this weekend based upon my disclaimer and then you read here after the contest that everyone and their mother was on the air and making hundreds or 1000+ contacts, don't cry to me.
It's winter [at least here in the US], it's cold [at least here in the midwest], and those are great reasons to turn on the radio this weekend and have some fun!
Mike
PS: I hear mobile stations on 10m working DX almost daily. If you only have a mobile 10m radio, make some contacts on it. You'd be very surprised what you can work mobile -- pretty much anythign I can work with my wire you can work from the mobile if you get in the clear [high up, away from close local obstructions, etc].
The ARRL 10-Meter Contest is this weekend. I'm not sure what the propagation predictions look like, but overall 10m activity has been very high over the past 1.5 months. I would anticipate a LOT of activity on 10m. Everyone who has been waiting for things to warm up after the last solar minimum is going to be on 10m playing this coming weekend.
Summary Info: http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/weeklycont.php#3604
ARRL Website: http://www.arrl.org/10-meter
A great logging app (for PCs): http://www.n1mm.com
This is an SSB and CW contest. Any ham, anywhere, works any ham, anywhere. All contacts count for points, and [if you care to log it and turn in a log] there are all kinds of multipliers.
If you have a license and a radio capable of operating on 10 meters, jump on from sunrise to sunset (and perhaps a little before and after). Don't be looking for much if any activity once you are in darkness, and especially if both you and the DX are in darkness.
For nearly the past month and a half 10m has been open to europe from sunrise into EU and has been open to somewhere during all daylight hours. I've worked over 80 new countries on 10m in the past month and a half with 100w and a horizontal dipole up anywhere between 20-40 feet. With the same setup, I worked a RTTY contest on 10m this past week and worked all over EU, many states and Canadian provinces, down into Central / South America, Cyprus, Guam, and New Zealand as well as Niue. A very simple setup will make you a lot of contacts in a big contest like this.
Get on the air. Don't be shy. Read the rules. Either play casually and don't keep a log, or keep a log and send it in as a checklog, or keep a log and submitted as a valid log for the contest. Jump on for half an hour or 48 hours [minus the periods of inactivity during most of the darkness]. You'll really have a blast if you're a new ham and haven't witnessed what kind of propagation is possible on 10m when the sun cooperates.
Disclaimer: I don't control the sun. It is entirely possible [although improbable] that 10m will be closed completely [no propagation at all for US stations]. So if you plan to jump on and you hear nothing, don't cry to me. On the other hand, if you decide not to check out 10m this weekend based upon my disclaimer and then you read here after the contest that everyone and their mother was on the air and making hundreds or 1000+ contacts, don't cry to me.
It's winter [at least here in the US], it's cold [at least here in the midwest], and those are great reasons to turn on the radio this weekend and have some fun!
Mike
PS: I hear mobile stations on 10m working DX almost daily. If you only have a mobile 10m radio, make some contacts on it. You'd be very surprised what you can work mobile -- pretty much anythign I can work with my wire you can work from the mobile if you get in the clear [high up, away from close local obstructions, etc].