ARRL 10 meter contest (this weekend)

[WS4T]

Just submitted my log: 27 QSOs. I suppose that is a lot better than 2009 (only 4 QSOs). This year I had a big goal in my mind of 100 QSOs. Woke up Saturday morning and worked about 25 stations in only an hour, plus I heard VK, HS, ZS and V5 pretty well (even if I couldn't work them but hey that's QRP for you...). It was a great start and had me quite excited.

Unfortunately, that was it. The rest of Saturday and Sunday were a total wash-out. Practically no stations even heard here, except for a couple of locals and some weird propagation to LA and UA3.

I'm still looking forward to next year. I bet there will be some sunspots by then. We will all work lots of DX on 10m once the solar cycle advances a bit.

Until then -- 73,
Gary, ES1WST (WS4T)

[KI4SDY]

Did anyone else hear the lady operator in Washington who was squatting for hours making contest contacts on the unofficial 28.400 call frequency? Pretty thoughtless. I am sure she annoyed many! 

[N4OGW]

Did anyone else hear the lady operator in Washington who was squatting for hours making contest contacts on the unofficial 28.400 call frequency? Pretty thoughtless. I am sure she annoyed many! 

So what, I don't see anything wrong with that??! No need for a "calling frequency" when the band is full of signals.

Tor
N4OGW/5

[W5ESE]

Thanks for MS, Tor!

With a modest antenna, 10m propagation was mostly a morning opening to Florida
for me in South Texas.

That seems to be a pretty frequent path on 10m from here.

Thanks to all the FL folks for turning out; you sure made it fun.

I don't know if that path is a sporadic E phenomenon or tropospheric across the gulf.

Signal strengths and the population of stations heard went down rapidly for the
non-gulf paths to GA, SC, and NC.

Scott W5ESE

[KI4SDY]

Did anyone else hear the lady operator in Washington who was squatting for hours making contest contacts on the unofficial 28.400 call frequency? Pretty thoughtless. I am sure she annoyed many! 

So what, I don't see anything wrong with that??! No need for a "calling frequency" when the band is full of signals.

Tor
N4OGW/5

This is why 10 meters is often like a zoo with the cage doors left open! 

[K9NW]

>>This is why 10 meters is often like a zoo with the cage doors left open!  


Your point being...?

[KI4SDY]

An experienced and responsible ham not only follows the legal rules of a given band but also the mores and customs followed by the the frequent users of that band. Not having the common sense and good manners to do that often results in anger on the part of the frequent users and at times chaos, in the flow of communications that normally follow a orderly and efficient path. 

We have plenty of ignorant and thoughtless louts in society. We don't need them on the radio! 

 

[KF7CG]

Propagation was strange in Northern Tennessee. Quick strong openings to that would last for only a few minumtes mingle with either nothing or an opening to one little area. Oh yes, 78 contacts 38 multipliers. Scattered all over state side late Sunday. Brazil, Argentina too many to count and then other South Americans.

About 60% dead, but very interesting.

KF7CG

[SWMAN]

 I made 58 contacts in a 4 hour period between Sat and Sun.Mostly afternoons and evening. This is really the first time I have ever done this (contest) so I am not really shure what to do about my contacts. I guess I just did it for the fun of making some contacts.
 90 percent of them were from Florida, I am in Texas.
 73 Jim. KF5HRN

[K5TR]

I made 58 contacts in a 4 hour period between Sat and Sun.Mostly afternoons and evening. This is really the first time I have ever done this (contest) so I am not really shure what to do about my contacts. I guess I just did it for the fun of making some contacts.
 90 percent of them were from Florida, I am in Texas.
 73 Jim. KF5HRN

Jim,

If you need help submitting a log I can help.  There are several ways to do this - if you used a computer logging
program it might be just a few clicks of the mouse.  If it was paper you could enter them into a contest logging program or you could use this online tool for creating the correct format.

http://b4h.net/cabforms/

The one you would use for the 10 meter contest is here:

http://b4h.net/cabforms/arrl10_cab3.php

[W5DQ]

Band condx weren't the best they have been as for other 10M contests but they were tolerable for this last weekend. Finished with 110 QSO's (66 CW and 44 SSB) with 18 states, 11 DX (best were E51CG in N. Cook Islands and four VK's), and eight of the XE states for a total score just a few points under 18K. I'm sure that probably won't win too many awards but it was fun. The band closed up shop several times on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon and I wasn't around on Sunday so no sure how it was then. I didn't hear a single VE or european at all this year. Had a pipeline into TX and FL from southern CA. Also work several HI stations and a bunch in Colorado.

In case anyone is interested, I was running a TS940S into an Ameritron AL811 into a Force 12 C3S at 40 foot.

Thanks for all those that I did manage to work. 

Gene W5DQ

[SWMAN]

 George, Thanks for the good contact info.
 73. Jim KF5HRN

[K5TEN]

Yes, sometimes it's a bust, and that gets discouraging.

It's tough to have to wait for years like 2000, 2001, and 2002 to roll around where it's a complete free-for-all and 100 to 150 multipliers isn't uncommon.  When you can work DXCC in a weekend, life is wonderful.  Then again solar flux of 180+ isn't every year.

I miss that.   


Bruce

[WX7G]

The solar flux for solar cycle 24 is predicted to reach a peak of 140 in the year 2013. The sunspot number is predicted to peak at 85.

[AA5TB]

Ten meters was in good shape here in north Texas.  It must have been pretty regional.  I worked just about all states except those in the far northwest, mostly Sporadic-E.  Some of the Sporadic-E contacts were as short as 250 miles.  Made one meteor scatter contact to a contest station in Lubbock.  F-2 was marginal but managed the usual transequatorial stuff.  I operated a total of about 4 hours and made 196 contacts, mostly CW.  Used 100 W and a quickly made resonate dipole about 15 foot in a tree.

73,
Steve - AA5TB