TenX DX News March 1, 2022
Mike Davidson N5MT, #24949 Download Article in PDF
Welcome to the Spring DX season of the 10-10 DX News.
I am sorry to inform readers that one of our DX members has died. Paul Herbet F2YT #22871, gave out his 10-10 from many countries. Paul was a member of the A-1 Op Club and operated all modes and bands. I looked at my computer log to check for QSOs and found 15 entries for Paul. His last QSO was on 15 Mtr on Sept 24, 2021.
Another local member has passed, Jeff Hawkins WA5RRT #28434. Jeff was the net control for the La Pelican net on Saturday morning at 10:10 am local time for many years.
I will probably get promoted as net control since I subbed for him when he was out sick. RIP my friends.
We now have eight new 10-10 members from Hawaii joined the past nine months. This indicates we are having more propagation on Ten to talk with DX. New DX members are listed farther down, so read on for more DX information.
Well I’ll try to give you some 10-10 history about Russia and Ukraine members that have been on Ten. My first QSO was Vic UA0FCK #28646 in 1981 from Asia Russia. Next was Tom RA6AR #25950 in 1988 and I met Tom at a 10-10 convention in 1989. Tom works at the Sochi Airport on the Black Sea coast of Russia. I have a total of five Russian members in my log. My last QSO was Vic UA9OS #55518 in 2002, and no others the past 20 years. My first Ukraine member was Vic RB7GG #42055 in 1988, his call now is UR5MPA. I have worked a total of five members in Ukraine, my last was also in 2002. It takes good propagation to make the 6500 mile path and nine time zones for our radio signals to get into Russia and talk to these DX members!
I continue to see DX members traveling to give out DX. During the Winter QSO Party the first week of February, I was able to talk with 82 stations, 29 members but only 2 DX members. Steve HP9SAM #75838 in Panama and Cliff ZL4AS #23481 in New Zealand. I did help Xenia ZL4YL get her new 10-10 number #77957 from New Zealand. Her family now has three 10-10 members, father Holger ZL3IO #22401, and mother Birgit ZL3IQ #62276.
OK the good ham propagation news is better. We are having increased sun spots appearing on the Sun surface. This makes the solar flux go higher which is helping cycle 25 give us better skip conditions on Ten into Europe and the South Pacific. I have talked into Europe several times this winter on Ten. The east coast of the USA and South America have been talking into Europe a bunch the past three months.
The 15-17-20-30 meter bands continue to be the best DX bands this past winter, so use these bands for DX, when Ten is not open. Stay on the radio and call CQ to see where you can talk. When propagation is poor on Ten, I start the FT8 software where I will find weak stations to work when you think the band is closed. Here in Louisiana, FT8 QSO’s beat out the SSB signals when propagation was poor on Ten.
I see a small increase in people traveling in the future as the Covid infections are allowing more travel. I do not expect to see a new 10-10 country show up on Ten this year but a big DXpedition in 2023 might be coming. Until we get better propagation in cycle 25, the rare DX locations will not get visited by an organized DXpedition. Accordingly, ops are staying home and the amount of DX news is still reduced. Please keep turning on you HF radio to find DX that may be calling CQ on a band besides Ten.
Remember, as a paid up 10-10 member, you can apply for a 10-10 award by using the website to get forms for all awards at no cost. No QSL cards are required for our awards unlike the ARRL where you can sign up for the LoTW system of QSL matching or paper QSL checking.
As the 10-10 Countries Award Manager, I follow most all of the ARRL DXCC award rules. We do require for you to have exchanged your Callsign, Name, State and 10-10 number over the air, only on Ten, and record all of that info on your award application. The honor system does apply for all contacts on 10-10 awards. I keep the 10-10 DX records with my job as the Countries Award manager. As of March 2022, there remains 22 countries that have not been worked for 10-10 country credit as published in last years March News.
There are now 645 members that have the basic 10-10 Countries Award certificate for 25 countries, only 52 members that have an award for 100 Countries, which is the equivalent to the ARRL DXCC award. The present record of the most countries worked by a member is 302, the next high is by a silent key member with 208 countries.
Countries Award: There were no Countries Award application submitted this past quarter. One lost certificate was replaced for a member.
Download an excellent DX’ers Handbook written by Bryce Anderson K7UA/SK, at: www.K7UA.com.
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General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:
4U United Nations. The ham radio station 4U1UN #55555, in the New York UN building, has a remote HF station setup and where the Ten meter beacon is located. I have copied the beacon a few times the past three months. Check DXSummit for QSO reports and wait for an opening.
F France. Gerard F2JD #63443, was not on from HR Honduras as planned but was home in France from December 2021 to March 2022 on HF. LoTW.
HP Panama. Steve HP9SAM #75838, continues to operate on Ten on Saturday mornings. We talked several times this past winter, as he tries to be on the LA Pelican net on 28450 MHZ at 1610 UTC.
HR Honduras. John AD8J #16120, was on Guanaja Island in Honduras for several weeks in February. He used wire antennas from 10-80 meters on CW, SSB and FT8. John prefers LoTW and will upload logs ASAP. No eQSL.
His call was HR9/AD8J from February 12-26th.
HS Thailand. Fred K3ZO/HS0ZAR #8859, reported many new HS hams passed their HF written and CW test in February. No active 10-10 member is in Thailand now.
LX Luxembourg. Andy LX1DA #50458, was using the callsign LX40DA on FT8 until December 31st.
P4 Aruba. John W2GD #14109 was operating as P44W from February 14th to 22nd. When not in a contest, he operates on the WARC bands. LoTW.
PJ2 Curacao. Mike W1USN #51238 was on Curacao from February 2-12th using call PJ2/W1USN. He operated 100 watts with his FT-891 to a dipole. LoTW.
PJ7 St. Maarten. Jeff PJ7/VA3QSL #73406, was on the island from February 21-23rd. No reports of activity.
V4 St. Kitts and Nevis. Chuck KG9N #17038, was on St. Kitts using call V4/KG9N from February 8th until March 1st. Chuck is using a Icom 7300 at a rental home with antennas.
VP2M Montserrat. Thaire W2APF #50022, was using call VP2MDX in February until the 18th on CW and SSB.
VP6 Pitcairn Island. Miralda VP6MW #50434, has been on the radio with huge pileups in February. Good luck.
VP8 Falkland Isl. Bob VP8LP #8854 and friends in the Falklands ARC, operated from January 14-16th on SSB and Digi FT8. Bob is the only 10-10 member on the Falklands.
ZF Cayman Islands. Jim WB2REM/ZF2OO #48365, has been operating remotely in February around 1530 UTC.
Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:
3Y Bouvet Island. A DXpedition to Bouvet will be attempted in November for the #2 most wanted country. The only op that might be going is Bill KO7SS #8631.
In 1990, this was a first time country for a 10-10 member.
HP Panama. Jose HP2AT #42071, will be using callsign H32AT for his 32 years in ham radio all of 2022. LoTW.
J6 St. Lucia. Kyle WA4PGM #50763 and Dan W0CN #27026, will visit with Bill K9HZ/J68HZ #2618 starting March 1-7th. Be sure to work the correct 10-10 number.
OA Peru. Father Ed OA4SS #10802 is a 83 year old Jesuit priest who has worked in Peru for the past 50 years. Several people donated a set of new 3-500 tubs for his amp recently, so watch for him on Ten.
OH0 Aland Islands. Hans DK8RE #75943 and friends, will be using callsign OH0EG from April 1-9th and 22-29th.
P4 Aruba. Tony N2TK #22425, will be on Aruba from March 2-9th. His call will be P40F and only use LoTW.
PJ2 Curacao. Andreas PJ2/DK5ON #54260, will be on from March 1-16th all bands and modes.
PJ5 St. Eustatius. Frank PJ5/K3TRM #69974, will be on the island from March 6-12th. He will operate SSB, RTTY, and FT8 on 40-10 Mtr. LoTW. Note: Frank and his father had the same callsign but different 10-10 numbers.
ZF Cayman Islands. Jim WB2REM #48365 will be on the island as ZF2OO until January 2023 on FT8, CW and SSB. LoTW.
Miscellaneous Items & Notes:
Propagation forecast: http://www.solen.info/solar/ , www.SolarHam.net and http://ARRL.org/Propagation .
More propagation: http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/ .
DX Calendar: http://www.dxwatch.com/ .
DX: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4dJcK-WVRw.
DXCC Most Wanted at: https://Secure.Clublog.org/mostwanted.php .
History of ARRL DXCC program:
http://ebarc.org/pdf/dx-entity-history.pdf .
NEW-> Ham Lookup various ways:
https://Haminfo.tetranz.com/map .
NEW-> Ham website for LoTW users: http://www.hb9bza.net/lotw-users-list .
Propagation: I expect the solar flux to range from 94-119 during the Spring which means the flux continues to rise as we get more spots on the sun for cycle 25.
The 2022 Spring Equinox is on Sunday March 20th. Spring starts in the northern hemisphere and the Sun is above the equator giving the US its night/day times equal time. In the southern hemisphere, fall starts on this day. Cycle 25, started on November 17, 2019. The Sun was really active in December 2020 but now has started a slow rising flux. A solar flux maximum of 125 has been forecast by NOAA for the winter of 2024. Sunspots are counted by looking at the Sun but Solar flux is measured by radio at 2.8 GHz.
The 2021-2022 monthly maximum flux was: Jan 79, Feb 79, March 79, April 85, May 81, June 94, July 95, Aug 90, Sept 102, October 112, November 100, December 131, January 2022 was 130, February 130. Average 99.0.
The 2021-2022 monthly minimum flux was: Jan 70, Feb 67, March 72, April 71, May 70, June 69, July 73, Aug 71, Sept 75, October 76, November 78, December 76, January 2022 was 84, February 93. Average 74.6.
On March 1st, the solar flux was 99, the A index was 8 and K index was 2. There have been good sunspot regions on the Sun the past few months with increased solar flux up 9 points average. The USAF solar flux forecast for March 1st to April 15th is from a high of 105 to a low of 95 with most days ranging from 98 to 102.
My Prediction: Over the next three months, the best conditions on Ten could be: March 3-5th, 28-30th; April 23-27th; May 21-24th; and June 16-20th. For the USA, expect a 50% chance of DX to Europe or Asia with a 85% chance of DX to South America or into the Pacific. Listen for the CW beacons from 28.175-28.300 to see if Ten is open.
There were three new 10-10 DX members joining from December 2021 to February 2022. December: WH6GOG #77928; January 2022: none; and February: VE7RVZ #77949, ZL4YL #77957.
Thanks to the Daily DX by Bernie W3UR #25731 and the ARRL DX Bulletins. This DX News edition is my number 126th of DXing reports. DX Info to: Mike Davidson, 26274 Whispering Pines Ave, Denham Springs LA 70726 USA and Email: N5MT@aol.com .
DX IS! 73 Mike Davidson N5MT #24949
Copyright © 2022 by N5MT
