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10m – my best band of all
13 June 2015 | by 10m has always been my best band. I have lost count of the DXCC totals with QRP SSB. Chasing countries has never been a real activity of mine, although I still get a “kick” from working a new country.
At sunspot peaks it supports world-wide DX with QRP and simple wire antennas. Even in the quiet solar years there is often some DX to be found and usually late April to September there is sporadic-E (Es) to be found with good signals over ranges up to around 1500km and sometimes further. These are for the northern hemisphere. There tends to be a smaller Es peak around December/January. It is the reverse in the southern hemisphere. It is quite normal to hear USA stations by Es in the summertime, but usually openings are not for long.
If 10m is quiet it is worth checking CB frequencies (11m) as a “band open” sign. Often CB can be busy when 10m is quiet due to lack of activity. Thanks to Steve VE7SL for this good advice.
At night and in the quiet years it is an ideal band for local nets on FM or AM. At 1.7MHz wide it is big band so all modes can be supported.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10m_op .
Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.
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