TenX DX News March 1, 2021
Mike Davidson N5MT, #24949 Download Article in PDF
I hope all 10-10 members have survived the record cold we had in February and avoided the C-19 virus. I had my second vaccination a few days ago so I should be covered.
The Winter DX season has been under way for a few months and there has been only a little Ten meter activity on the radio. The Sun had a lot of spots during December and then it calmed down the past two months with a few new Sun spots observed, yielding a Solar flux in the low 80's, and then lower into the 70's again for poor Ten meter propagation. But a few members did work into Europe and Asia the past three months, so keep the radios on and keep looking.
I believe the ARRL Ten Meter contest scores were below average even with the higher solar flux we had during December. My log had less than 90 contacts on SSB all weekend. In the 10-10 Winter QSO Party in February, I only had 73 contacts and took 11th place, of the eighty entries submitted. I did find ten new members during the QSO Party that went into my log, and I had to wait until Sunday to talk out of Louisiana as the flux was low for the QSO Party. The scores are now posted on the website.
With the good news that Solar Cycle 25 had started last year, we were glad to have a higher solar flux in December. But then, the Sun took a nap in the first two months of the 2021. You need to stay on the radio and call CQ to see what you can find. You can use FT8 with no prop on SSB and you might find stations to work on FT8 when SSB is closed. At my station in February, we had a single digit freeze that put a lot of ice on the HF vertical antenna but it worked even when it was iced, just some extra SWR to warm up the antenna.
It is now over five years since I last heard a new 10-10 country on Ten. As a result of the present virus pandemic, poor propagation, and a bunch of ops not traveling far to operate DX, my news reporting has been reduced by 85 percent. So try to find that rare 15 percent that may be giving out a CQ on Ten. I recently worked five new DX stations on FT8 but no 10-10 members. I just worked ZL3IO #22401 in New Zealand a few days ago on Ten on FT8.
Please remember to submit your ARRL QSO logs to the LoTW database at the ARRL website. Once you get the ARRL certificate for LoTW, and using the LoTW app, you can upload your logbook anytime into the database. You must use the DXCC security rules required by the ARRL for all LoTW activity. The only cost is when you apply for an ARRL award using your LoTW contacts for DXCC or WAS.
Use the 10-10 website for all the award rules and if you qualify for a 10-10 award, you must fill out your 10-10 application form available on the website and send it to the 10-10 awards person as listed or listed in the 10-10 News. Remember, at the present time there is no award
cost and no QSL cards are required for all of our awards, BUT you must have paid your 10-10 dues.
Remember, the US Post Office is still not accepting some Airmail letters for many countries as of the end of February 2021. Sending an airmail QSL will cost several US dollars to get a QSL card, so reduce your cost by using the LoTW system or the 10-10 awards. The 10-10 Countries Award Manager does follow most of the ARRL award rules.
But you must have swapped your Callsign, Name, State and 10-10 number over the air on Ten, to record that members information for ALL 10-10 award application. So the honor system does apply for all contacts on all 10-10 awards.
At the start of the new 2021 year, I reset my computer logbook to zero contacts and moved the previous year log into my archive file. I talked with 60 new 10-10 members last year. I do this yearly maintenance to keep a record of my progress with DXCC and the 10-10 countries.
Most of my contacts this past year were either on SSB or FT8. Some members are learning to use the TX5 tab to enter their 10-10 info in FT8. All you need to do is setup the TX5 tab to send the maximum 13 characters with the info you have saved in TX5. So type into the TX5 macro: a 4 character name, a space, your five digit ten-ten number, a space and your two character state abbreviation that you will send during a FT8 QSO. If you name is longer, either use a short nickname or make two TX5 messages to transmit your info to complete the 10-10 contact. See the 10-10 website for a help video on FT8.
I keep the 10-10 DX records with my job as the Countries Award manager. As of March 2021, there remains 22 countries that have never been worked for 10-10 country credit. They are as follows: 5R Madagascar, 9N Nepal, 9X Rwanda, 4O Montenegro, A7 Qatar, AP Pakistan, BS7
Scarborough Reef, EP Iran, FR/R Reunion, FR/G Glorioso, FR/W Crozet, HV Vatican, JX Jan Mayen, R1FJ Franz Josef Land, TN Congo, SY Mt Athos, VK0H Heard Isl., VK0M Macquarie Isl., VP8/S So.Shetland Isl., VU7A Andaman Isl., VU7L Laccadive Isl., and XU Cambodia.
I predict there will never be a 10-10 member operate from some of these remaining DX countries! Places like Scarborough Reef, the Vatican, and Mount Athos, have little DX activity. Scarborough Reef BS7, is in the South China Sea and ownership of the reef is disputed. The Vatican club station HV0A in Rome, is not a member. The only ham operator at Mt. Athos is not a member. The French islands are a mix of military restrictions, and permission to operate ham radio is not easy to get. But a French member could get permission to operate, which would be a rare event. However you can go to Reunion island and get a license and operate as a 10-10 visitor. Some islands have
travel restriction, some have no airport and others only have access by ship, like the uninhabited islands, Heard Island, Mellish Reef and South Shetland Islands. The islands off India have no resident hams and a DXpedition is infrequent but possible for a member to travel to and operate in the future.
I promise to keep reporting DX news that I find from my sources and sending out an email if a DX group pops up. Use your station to find someone new, log it, and remember a new one does not have to be on Ten. Best of luck this coming Spring season, stay safe and lets hope for fewer hurricanes to make landfall in Louisiana this year.
Countries Award: There were no Countries Award applications submitted this past quarter. The DXCC Most Wanted list has not changed in months and it can be found at: Https://Secure.Clublog.org/mostwanted.php .
I am posting this to the 10-10 website on March 1st.
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General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:
4U United Nations. The remote ham radio station 4U1UN #55555, in the New York UN building was last on Ten using FT8 in July 2020 and no activity on Ten the past 7 months. I just found out their Steppir antenna has a problem.
DP1 Antarctica. Felix DL5XL #55519, is now back in Antarctica with the German Polar Institute. Felix and Theresa DC1TH, who is not a 10-10 member, will operate the club callsign DP0GVN. So if you need a 10-10 from Felix, you must find him and swap a 10-10! There has not yet been any activity from the club sation this year on Ten. LoTW.
HP Panama. Steve HP9SAM #75838, tries to operate on Ten when the band is open. Steve tries to check-in to our local net on Saturday on 28450 MHz at 1610 UTC when possible. Steve is not receiving DX mail, its blocked in Panama, so wait until they resume accepting mail.
KH0 Mariana Islands. Tom KC0W #67688, has a new club call KH0W for the Saipan CW Club. The club call KH0W is not a 10-10 member. So find Tom for his 10-10. There was little CW activity from the club on Ten last year and none as of yet this year.
J2 Djibouti. Rene DL2JRM #69623, was issued call J28XX from Djibouti. I have no reports for him the past nine months on Ten. This is a rare location so good luck.
P4 Aruba. John W2GD #14109, was back in Aruba in December 2020 using the call P40W but no Ten meter reports in the past three months. LoTW.
V7 Marshall Isl. / Kwajalein. Randy KX4QD #58874, has been on the air for a year from his home station where he operates low power with FT8 as
V7/KX4QD. At the club station, call V73AX #8239, there is a big amp and antennas.
ZL New Zealand. Holger ZL3IO #22401, was on Ten and we worked on FT8 at the end of February. LoTW.
Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:
FP St. Pierre & Miquelon. Eric KV1J #31247, will be using call FP/KV1J from June 29th to July 13th. All bands and modes and FT8. LoTW.
James WB2REM #48365 and Mike W0VTT #14404, will be using call TO5T from August 8th to 16th. All bands and modes and FT8. Club log or QSL to WB2REM.
J6 St. Lucia. Bill K9HZ #2618 and Kyle WA4PGM #50763, will be in St. Lucia from March 2nd to 11th using call J68HZ with friends. Kyle call is J68CN.
LX Luxembourg. Andy LX1DA #50458, will be using the special callsign LX40DA. Look for Andy from February 1st to March 31st and September 1st to December 31st. I saw no reports for him on Ten but lots on other band.
PJ2 Curacao Island. Andreas DK5ON #54260, will be on Curacao using call PJ2/DK5ON from March 4th to 23rd. He will be on all bands and modes plus FT8. LoTW.
Vincent K4JC #72779, will be on Curacao from March 1st to 9th with friends. Call PJ2T in the SSB contest.
VP6 Pitcairn Island. Miralda VP6MW #50434, is back on the radio the past two months but not on Ten. I have no info if she has a Ten meter antenna available to use.
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.
Propagation: I expect the solar flux to range from 72-85
during the Spring which will be a slow rise during the new cycle! The 2021 Spring Equinox is on Saturday March 20th. Spring starts in the northern hemisphere that day and the Sun is above the equator giving everyone equally 12 hours of daylight and night time. There have been 25 solar cycles recorded since the records began in 1755. Cycle 25, started in October 2019 and the Sun was real active in December but now has quieted down with a slow rising flux. NOAA verified the cycle low and declared the new cycle had started. NOAA forecasts a solar flux max of 125 about winter of 2024. Sunspots are counted by
ooking at the sun. Solar flux is measured by radio at 2.8 GHz.
The monthly maximum solar flux in 2020-21: Jan 72, Feb 71, March 70, April 70, May 69, June 73, July 73, Aug 75, Sept 69, Oct 88, Nov 115, Dec 115, Jan 81, Feb 81 .
The monthly minimum flux in 2020-21: Jan 70, Feb 70, March 69, April 69, May 66, June 67, July 68, Aug 69, Sept 67, Oct 71, Nov 75, Dec 82, Jan 73, and Feb 70.
On March 1st, the solar flux was 77, the A index was 6 and K index was 2. The slow increases of sunspots are not producing as much solar flux this month as what occurred in December last year. The USAF solar flux forecast for March 1st to April 14th is from 70 to 78!
My Prediction: Over the next three months, the best conditions on Ten could be: March 23-26th, April 26-29th, May 23-27th and June 25-29th. For the USA, expect a 20% chance of DX to Europe or Asia with a 70% chance of DX to South America or to the Pacific. Listen for the CW beacons from 28.175-28.300 to see if Ten Meters is open and use WSJT-X FT8 for all weak/low propagation QSO’s.
There were no new 10-10 DX members joining from December to February 2021. This DX News edition is my number 123rd of DXing reports.
Thanks to the Daily DX by Bernie W3UR #25731 and the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletins. 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 © 2021 by N5MT
