TenX DX News June 1, 2022
Mike Davidson N5MT #24949 Download Article in PDF
Welcome to the Summer DX season of the 10-10 DX News.
For two quarters in a row, I am sorry to inform readers that one of our 10-10 friends has died. Jim D Hardy K4HAV #17605, died at age 83 in Tifton, Georgia on May 17, 2022.
Jim wrote the complicated Win1010 software that I and many members use to collect 10-10 QSO data. Jim had a Physics BS degree, went into the Army and had a fellowship to Penn State Univ where he earned his Masters degrees in EE and Physics in 1964. Jim got his ham license in high school and he joined 10-10 in October 1977. Jim got the urge to write software for 10-10 in 1990 when no existing logging program supported our QSO parties. The Summer 1990 QSO Party was Jim’s first use of this new DOS program. At the 1991 10-10 Convention in Arlington TX, the County Hunter award was announced and Jim had his new CH program to log the data for this award finished. By 1998 the DOS programs became Windows. Jim moved to Tifton in 1992 where he married his lifelong friend Linda. Jim wrote his ham and commercial software for AM/FM radio stations under the name of Hardy Data Systems.
I was a Beta tester for his ham software for the DOS and OS versions and he also wrote a DOS program for the 10-10 Countries award that I have used for over 20+ years. I also know that his K4HAV callsign owned several Field Day records with his local ham club in Georgia. My first radio contact with Jim was on SSB during the February 1991 Winter QSO party. We first met at a big 10-10 convention but it took dozens of phone calls and emails talking about software bugs and DX software challenges for the 10-10 Countries award to make things work and become better.
Thanks to Jim for all the technical skills and information that has helped with our awards and paper chasing over many years for all our members. RIP my friend.
We now have nine new 10-10 members from Hawaii joined the past year. Better skip/propagation on Ten means more DX talking. New DX members are listed towards the end, so read on for more DX news.
DX members are having more fun with the rise in the Solar Flux numbers due to the increase in sunspot activity! We reached a new high for cycle 25 during May with a record 180 flux reading and about 50 sunspots identified. On FT8, I saw S. America working Europe and Asia on Ten and we in Louisiana had no opening to Asia that day. Steve HP9SAM #75838 in Panama, continues to try to show up on Saturday mornings on 28450 MHz. I have worked Xenia ZL4YL #77957 two times on digital the past quarter as her antenna farm is well designed for Ten.
A paid up 10-10 member, can apply for all 10-10 awards by using the website to get the needed forms. No QSL
cards are required for our awards, unlike the ARRL system.
As the Countries Award Manager, I follow most all of the ARRL DXCC rules. We require that you exchange your Callsign, Name, State and 10-10 number over the air, only on Ten, and you need to use a logging program to save your data or the old paper log book. Then when you are ready to fill out the award application, move your 10-10 info from the logging program to your award form. The honor system does apply for all contacts on 10-10 awards. I keep many DX records for award validation with my job. As of June 2022, there remain 22 countries that have not been worked for 10-10 country credit as published in the 2021 March News. There are 645 members that have the basic 10-10 Countries Award for 25 countries, but only 52 members that have credit for 100 countries, which is the total needed for the ARRL DXCC. The present record is 302 countries worked and the next highest count is 208 countries worked by a German SK member.
Countries Award: There were no Countries Award applications submitted this past quarter.
Download an excellent DX’ers Handbook written by Bryce Anderson K7UA/SK, at: www.K7UA.com
General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:
3B Rodriguez Isl. Robert 3B9FR #61550, has been on FT8 and CW in May on Ten and 6 Meters. I believe he has a new cubical quad antenna that he uses on Ten and 6. His Rodriguez QTH is 10,675 miles from my station in LA.
4U United Nations. There was activity from the ham radio station 4U1UN #55555, in the New York UN building, this past quarter. The remote HF station was used and the Ten meter beacon was heard here in LA.
4U ITU UN Switzerland. 4U1ITU #11111. After a two year Covid closure of the ITU building, it is open again until renovations start on June 3, 2022. Ham radio was active for a few weeks at the end of May until June 3rd.
FO French Polynesia. Ros 4Z5LA #42000, is now in Tahiti for an unknown time period. He was in Israel until May 20th and May 27 started FO/4Z5LA on 15 Mtr. No info given, use DXSummit.FI for DX search. LoTW.
HP Panama. Steve HP9SAM #75838, continues to operate on Saturday mornings, as he visits with the Pelican net on 28450 MHZ at 1510 UTC.
Jose HP2AT #42071, has not been using a special callsign HP32AT as previously reported. LoTW.
Emilio HP2NG #62294 had a callsign change from HP2DFU and our 10-10 database has been updated.
HS Thailand. Fred K3ZO/HS0ZAR #8859, reported many new HS hams passed their HF written and CW test recently. No active 10-10 member is in Thailand now but I see a lot of HS0 callsigns are now active on various bands.
J6 St. Lucia. Kyle WA4PGM #50763 and Dan W0CN #27026, visited with Bill K9HZ/J68HZ #2618 from March 1-7th. Be sure you worked the correct 10-10 number. Bill made a good Zoom presentation about building his station in St. Lucia to the Texas DX Society on May 26th.
OH0 Aland Islands. Hans DK8RE #75943 and friends, used callsign OH0EG from April 26-29th.
P4 Aruba. John W2GD #14109 operated as P44W from his station in Santa Cruz May 24-31st. When not in a contest, he likes CW and the WARC bands. LoTW.
Tony N2TK #22425, was on Aruba from March 2-8th. His call was P40F and only uses LoTW.
PJ2 Curacao. Andreas PJ2/DK5ON #54260, was on from March 1-17th all bands, FT8 and SSB.
PJ5 St. Eustatius. Frank PJ5/K3TRM #69974, was on the island from March 6-10th. He operated SSB, RTTY, and FT8 on 40-10 Mtr. LoTW. Note: Frank and his father had the same callsign but different 10-10 numbers.
V3 Belize. Chuck WO9K #54906, was in Belize using call V31WO from May 5th until May 14th. Chuck was on FT8 mostly with only 3 watts.
VP2M Montserrat. Just found out, that Thaire W2APF #50022 was using call VP2MDX in Montserrat from January thru February 2022 and will be returning again using the same call, in 2023 from January 2nd to March 31st.
VP6 Pitcairn Island. Miralda VP6MW #50434, has been on the radio on Ten & 15 Mtr in April and May. Good luck.
VP8 Falkland Isl. Bob VP8LP #8854 operated in May on FT4, FT8 & SSB on Ten and 12 Mtr in May. Bob is the only 10-10 member on the Falkland Isl. NO LoTW!
Z6 Kosovo. Rene DL2JRM #69623 and a friend were in Gjilan from May 23-30th. Rene’s call was Z68QQ except for the CQ WW WPX contest it was Z66BCC on CW.
ZF Cayman Islands. Jim WB2REM #48365 is on the big island using his ZF2OO callsign until January 2023. LoTW. I heard him on Ten the last week of May on FT8.
Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:
3Y Bouvet Island. A big DXpedition to Bouvet will be attempted in November for the #2 most wanted country. The only member that might be going is Bill KO7SS #8631. In 1990, this was a first time country for all 10-10 members. This DXpedition will be an expensive trip so when the dates get published, take note and be ready!
ET Ethiopia. Ken K4ZW #18573 will be back at the ET3AA station in mid June and will have a new 6 meter antenna for the station. The ET3AA station is not a 10-10 member so you will have to find Ken as the operator on Ten.
K USA. Len K1NU #54523 will be on Shelter Key, Florida from June 11-18th using his club callsign K1JV/4. Mostly CW and FT8 on 10 to 20 Mtrs. LoTW.
VY Canada/Yukon. Jay VY1JA #18433 has made repairs to his station outside of Whitehorse Yukon Territory. I did not find any remarks if he or friends will be using his call or a special VY1AAA in 2022 for the Queen’s Jubilee event.
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 100-175 during the Summer, which means the flux continues to rise as we are seeing more sun spots in cycle 25.
The 2022 Summer Solstice is on Tuesday June 21st, summer starts in the northern hemisphere and the Sun is 23.5 degrees north of the equator, giving the US its longest day times and shortest night. In the southern hemisphere, winter starts on this day. Cycle 25 started on November 17, 2019. A steady active Sun is now giving us a moderate rising solar flux. NOAA predicted a flux maximum of 125-130 for the winter of 2024 but we have already seen higher flux levels last month. Sunspots are counted by looking at the Sun but solar flux is measured by radio at 2.8 GHz.
The 2021-2022 monthly maximum solar 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, March 151, April 166 and May 180. Average 111.
The 2021-2022 monthly minimum solar 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, March 94, April 96 and May 98. Average 78.
On June 1st, the solar flux was 98, the A index was 9 and K index was 1. There have been good sunspot regions on the Sun the past 3 months with increased solar flux up 20-40+ points. The USAF solar flux forecast for June 1st to July 15th is from a high of 175 to
a low of 98 with days at a 140 average flux. This means you might see a solar flux of 100-110 for the 2022 Field Day. Good Luck at Field Day.
My Prediction: Over the next three months, the best conditions on Ten could be: June 13-19th; July 10-15th; August 6-10th; and Sept 2-8th. For the USA, expect a 65% chance of DX to Europe or Asia with a 85% chance of DX to South America or the Pacific. Listen to the beacons 28.175-28.300 MHz to find if the band is open.
There was only one new 10-10 DX member joining from March to May 2022. March: none; April: none; and May: KH6HAK Henry #77973.
Thanks to the Daily DX by Bernie W3UR #25731 and the ARRL DX Bulletins. This DX News edition is my number 127th 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
