Like you needed me to tell you about it.
I was initially licensed in 2001. Finally upgraded to General in 2005. Up to this point, my ham radio career has been under less than optimal propagation. From the oldtimers, I’d heard tales of 10 meters… when the sunspots where there, 10 meters could be worked around the world with only a wet clothesline (not even wet, just a bit damp). Frankly, it was hard to believe. My one prior 10 meter contact had been an opening QSO during the 2006 Field Day… Virginia to New York, some serious DX? [I thought so at the time.]
We’ve all heard the news… 10 meters is open. But from an HF standpoint, I was limited to my Buddipole, where I was nugging out CW contacts on the 40M Novice Band.
This weekend I threw up some wire and everything changed…..
Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska, 10 meter magic! (… I thought 6 meters was The Magic Band?) 10 meters was like a local 80 meter ragchew without the S5 noise floor, everybody has a 2KW amp, and the vast majority of the inbreds were nowhere to be found.
Thanks be to Apollo – may the sunspots continue!
Time to look about getting a 10-10 membership…. and, with a little luck, I might even have the cards for DXCC.(!)
…. need to put a map up on the wall.
I know what you mean. Just able to be on HF since 2003 and active on HF from the end of 2005. I was only able to have a contact to the USA on 10m in 2007 using a 6 element beam and a lot of effort. It’s so different now, actually it is easy to work USA/Canada on 10. Anyway, I knew the tales were true about DX on 10 as I experienced world wide contacts on 11 Mtrs before I was a HAM. 73, Bas