what time is best for 10M
- Thread starter obrien135
- Start date
- Status
WB4CS
Member
10 Meters can be sporadic, but best opportunities for band openings is during the daylight hours. 10 Meters is highly effected by the sunspot cycle, so conditions on 10 meters will start to decrease in the next few years as this sunspot cycle winds down.
More info on HF band conditions and when they are most active is here:
HF BANDS - WHAT TO EXPECT - ALL ABOUT OUR HF BANDS
More info on HF band conditions and when they are most active is here:
HF BANDS - WHAT TO EXPECT - ALL ABOUT OUR HF BANDS
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1_4 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B350 Safari/8536.25)
Most recently I've noticed 10M best from about sunrise to noon here in NE PA. I keep a couple of 10M FM repeaters in my always-on scanner, and that's the time of day they roll in.
Most recently I've noticed 10M best from about sunrise to noon here in NE PA. I keep a couple of 10M FM repeaters in my always-on scanner, and that's the time of day they roll in.
Last edited:
If you have a beam antenna, it will help quite a bit on 10 meters.
I pretty much live in a VHF/UHF hole, mountains all around me. I have yet to hear one single transmission on 10 meters unless I drive to the top of one of the mountains here.
Thank God HF on 15 meters on down gets out just great.
I wish you the best of success on your 10 meter contacts, John KF7VXA
I pretty much live in a VHF/UHF hole, mountains all around me. I have yet to hear one single transmission on 10 meters unless I drive to the top of one of the mountains here.
Thank God HF on 15 meters on down gets out just great.
I wish you the best of success on your 10 meter contacts, John KF7VXA
If you want to run mobile, a quarter wave whip works really well on 10 meters. From Southern California, I've worked Japan, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and all across the U.S. without using a beam. Many of those contacts were done at the solar minimum.
N0IU
Member
Go here: Propagation
Scroll down to "September 2013" and click on "East Coast"
This will bring up a PDF of several propagation prediction charts from the East Coast to various parts of the world. The frequency is on the left side and the time (in UTC) is along the bottom.
Just look for lines that go above 28 Mhz.
But remember, these are just predictions... NOT promises!
Scroll down to "September 2013" and click on "East Coast"
This will bring up a PDF of several propagation prediction charts from the East Coast to various parts of the world. The frequency is on the left side and the time (in UTC) is along the bottom.
Just look for lines that go above 28 Mhz.
But remember, these are just predictions... NOT promises!
would a magmount work as a 1/4 wave whip?
Does it have to be grounded to the chassis or can you get away with a mag mount or even a bottom or top loaded whip that is shorter than around 8'?
Does it have to be grounded to the chassis or can you get away with a mag mount or even a bottom or top loaded whip that is shorter than around 8'?
You only need to ground it if you want it to actually work.
nd5y
Member
Most CB mag mount antennas can be cut down to work on 10m. Many hams use them. I worked a lot of DX from my vehicle over the years using modified CB antennas and various HF radios.
Yes, a 3 element beam and it does help a great deal. If the band is open, a dipole will work, but a beam always helps on any 2, 70cm, 6 or 10 meter band quite a bit.
You can make your own or buy one. There are some good designs in the ARRL books as well as on the net and making your own, it's easier to set the middle frequency you want.
A bucket with a pole larger than the pole on your antenna and some guy rope if there is wind, holds the antenna about 15' off the ground. I just turn it by hand, works great. I have a pick up truck, so everything just goes in the back. I use deep cycle batteries and a couple solar panels (if I'm going to be there a longer time) for power as well as a MFJ voltage booster to keep about 13 volts to the radio. The batteries last longer at 13 volts than 13.8 volts and the radio works almost as well, well enough as not to really make a difference. I have a 10 watt Yaesu 6 Meter with side band also for 6 meters if I want to take a smaller radio and just work 6 meters. I have not been doing it for very long, but have made contacts. No DX yet.
Having an antenna analyzer is a big help when building your own. I use my analyzer on every antenna I have to peak it up to be the best it can be and you can also tune up thru a antenna tuner without using power, less QRM for others.
I got a MFJ 259B analyzer, but sometimes wish I had spent more for the one that does the UHF band also.
73's John KF7VXA
N8IAA
Member
Back when I had a great QRP (low power-5 watts max) rig, I used a Larsen 27-30MHz NMO antenna on a hatchback mount. Used to work into England all the time. Now, take into consideration that was 26 years ago when the bands were outstanding! Made a homebrew 10m quarter wave ground plane from a Hustler 10m stinger, a 3/8-24 CB mirror mount bracket and three wires for the ground plane. Best was my Ringo 1/2 wave antenna on the roof of my house. Only mag mount I ever used was a Wilson 1K that was cut for 28MHz. Some day soon, there will be another QRP rig for mobile HF
HTH,
Larry
A compromise antenna will provide compromise performance. Sometimes that's acceptable.
N0IU
Member
Every antenna is a compromise of some sort.
Yes, but in the context of the discussion, a full size quarter wave antenna properly grounded and bonded to the vehicle compared to a shortened, loaded antenna on a mag mount really isn't compromising anything except, perhaps, that it's not that high off the ground.
Only mag mount I ever used was a Wilson 1K that was cut for 28MHz
HTH,
Larry
How did that work? Well?
No.
The trunk lip mounts that I've worked with have a rubber-like pad on the base of the mount, but use a pair of set screws on the inside that clamp onto the inside of the trunk lid. It damages the pain on the inner surface of the lid, but it's not visible from the outside.
- Status
