TenX DX News September 1, 2022
Mike Davidson N5MT #24949
Welcome to the Fall DX season of the 10-10 DX News.
Well we had a good Summer QSO Party event the first weekend in August with about 125 logs submitted for scoring. An old friend in Houston, Al N5XZ #4530 had a good score with almost 600 Q’s in his log using a four element yagi up 70 feet. At my station I use a vertical antenna and worked a total of 93 Q’s, with 12 DX and 12 new members. I decided that it is now time to begin sending in Bar award applications. My old Win1010 logging program could stop working if Windows sends out a software update that might stop it from working. I sent in my 600-900 Bar applications and got them back this week. I only have 160 more to send in for checking so its going to be a long process with the logging program.
I am sorry to announce another DX member has died in June, Sergey Karpov UA0SE #25998. Sergey was a 40 year DX member in Russia and collecting US counties. RIP.
All members are having fun with the rise in the Solar Flux numbers due to more sunspots! We reached a new high for cycle 25 during May with a record flux of 180 due to 50 sunspots popping up on the Sun.
I have had bad luck with the FT8 software that was related to some PC driver problem on my desktop. I was able to get my laptop working with FT8 for Field Day and made a bunch of contacts. I helped one station get his last state on digital. I have used FT8 the past three years just for Field Day Q’s.
I found a commemorative event in August for the Navajo Code Talkers of World War 2. The son of a Marine Code Talkers, Herb Godlike N7HG #72015, was on the air on several bands from Arizona. His father was Marine Private John V Godlike, was one of 29 Navajo Code Talkers who survived the war and died on April 1, 2000.
All paid up 10-10 members can apply for any award by using the website to get the needed forms and QSL cards are NOT required for our awards. But you do have to swap your membership number info to qualify for any 1010 award!
As the Countries award manager, my 10-10 job follows most all of the ARRL DXCC rules. If you are collecting contacts/numbers for a 10-10 award or if you want your score to count in a QSO party, you are required to exchange your Callsign, Name, State and 10-10 number over the air, on Ten. So record your QSO info in a logging program to save your data or use a paper log book. Then when you are ready to fill out the award application, move your 10-10 info from your PC to your award form. The honor system does apply for all contacts on 10-10 awards. I keep many DX records for award validation as the Countries award manager. As of September 2022, there remain 22 countries that have not been worked for 10-10 country credit. There are 645 members that have the basic Countries Award so you might want to look through your 10-10 log and fill out a form for the 10-10 Countries award if you have worked 25 countries.
Countries Award: There were no Countries Award applications submitted this past quarter.
General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:
4U United Nations. There was lots of activity from the ham radio club station 4U1UN #55555, in the New York UN building, this past quarter. The remote HF station was used and the Ten meter beacon has been heard on CW.
4U UN Switzerland. 4U1ITU #11111. There was lots of ham radio from the club station this summer.
5X Uganda. Elvira IV3FSG #54292 arrived in Uganda on June 23rd using call 5X3R with in IC7300 radio running 100 watts to a dipole on SSB CW and digital. She was planning to leave on July 13th and return to Italy. LoTW.
EA6 Balearic Islands. Andreas DK5ON #54260 was in Mallorca from June 8-17th using call EA6/DK5ON.
EA8 Canary Islands. Michael DL3FCG #70802 is now operating as EA8/DL3FCG until September 4th.
EY Tajikistan. Nodir EY8MM #52767 has been active on 6 Meters and FT8 but not on Ten. Good luck.
FO French Polynesia. Ros 4Z5LA #42000, was in Tahiti for an few days in June and is now back in Israel. He used call FO/4Z5LA but no Ten activity. LoTW.
FP St. Pierre & Miquelon Islands. Eric KV1J #31247 was on from June 28th to July 12th. Mostly HF plus the IARU HF contest. No special call was given.
HR Honduras. Alex K6VHF #77458 was on Roatan Island from June 27-31st. All bands CW, SSB and FT8.
KL7 Alaska. Hal W8HC #12502 and Tim NL8F #32796 took a boat trip to the end of the state to Kiska Island in July. Kiska was a World War 2 site where Japan held the island for a time until we took it back in 1943. So the island is littered with rusting war relics. LoTW.
J6 St. Lucia. Bill K9HZ/J68HZ #2618 was back at his summer place with a friend from June 8-24th. Bill made a Zoom presentation about building his station in St. Lucia to the Texas DX Society.
K USA. Matt K0BBC #76064 operated from Brush Lake State Park in Montana for a few days in June.
Gene KB7Q #28147 operated mobile in Wyoming from several grids starting on June 16th.
Len K1NU #54523 was on Shelter Key, Florida in June using his club callsign K1JV/P only on CW & FT8.
TA Turkey. Berkin TA3J #74303 has been on weekly on Saturday/Sunday’s now until October 31st from Yassica Island. All bands and modes and FT8. LoTW.
V4 St.Kitts & Nevis. Gary G0FWX #49106, was invited to the V47JA station to use his call V47FWX from August 20-31st. The radio he used was an FTDX3000 with 400 watts to a vertical on SSB only. LoTW and Club log.
VP8 Falkland Isl. Bob VP8LP #8854 was actively operating from July to August on 10 to 20 Mtr. No LoTW.
ZF Cayman Islands. Jim WB2REM #48365 is on the big island using his ZF2OO callsign until January 2023. He has been on SSB and FT8 in August. LoTW.
Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:
3B8 Mauritius. I have info that Mart 3B8MM/DL6UAA #54230 will operate with a friend in late November in the CQWW CW DX contest. This is rare 10-10 so good luck.
3Y Bouvet Island. A big DXpedition to Bouvet is planned for November to activate the #2 most wanted country. A shipping container is leaving Norway this week. The only member going is Bill KO7SS #8631. In 1990, this island was a first time country for 10-10. This DXpedition will be an expensive trip, so when the dates get published, take note and be ready. This is quite rare for 10-10, so good luck.
CY0 Sable Island. The big DXpedition to Sable Island has been rescheduled to March 20-29, 2023. Website: www.CY0S.com. There will be two members on this trip: Bob K4UEE #75256 and Dan W4DKS #5395. Sable island is now a remote weather station for Canada and does not keep anyone on the island for WX station keeping. The ham operators are going to be able to rent Sable facilities where they can stay and operate but the cost is high! The only permanent residents on Sable are the 500 horses and seals that have to be protected from visitors. Travel to Sable is only by permission, and by an airplane landing on the beach or helicopter. Four air trips will be used to fly ham stuff to the island and four to go back home.
FJ St. Barthelemy. Phil K2LIO #7746 is going back to St.Bart in mid October to use his new call FJ4WEB. His new radio is an IC-7300 with a better antenna. This is a rare 10-10 location as Phil maybe the first member on St. Bart to stay on the island for long periods. The last St. Bart in my log is dated in February 2015 by Ray FJ/W2RE #49307.
FO Fr.Polynesia. Vincent K6VVK #77926, will be in Fr. Polynesia from September 27 to October 5th.
FP St. Pierre & Miquelon Isl. Eric KV1J #31247 is planning on a June-July 2023 trip to operate as FP/KV1J.
HC8 Galapagos Island. James WB2REM #48365 and friends are planning a March 1-11, 2023 trip to the island. All bands and modes and digital FT8. LoTW.
J6 St. Lucia Island. Dan W0CN #27026, is planning to be on St. Lucia in late October using call J68CN and J68HZ in the CQ WW DX contest.
JW Svalbard. Hal W8HC #12502 and friends will be operating JW0A (club station) from Svalbard from September 19-26th using three stations CW, SSB and FT8.
PJ7 Sint Maarten. Ed N2HX #25435 will be back on the island from October 22 to December 9th. SSB, CW & FT8.
VP2M Montserrat. Thaire W2APF #50022 will be using call VP2MDX from January 2nd to March 31st 2023.
VP5 Turks & Caicos Isl. Ron N4KE #5645 and a friend will operate call VP5DX from October 20th to November 2nd. They will run 100 watts to verticals on SSB, CW and FT8.
TF Iceland. Steve K4EU #11123 and two friends, will be in Iceland from September 6-20th mostly CW.
TX Austral Islands. Haru JA1XGI #55571 will be on the island on November 2-9th, all bands modes and digital.
Z6 Kosovo. Rene DL2JRM #69623 will be back in Kosovo again on September 9-12th using call Z68XX. His 100 watts to a vertical may be tough to hear so good luck.
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 .
ARRL DXCC : http://ebarc.org/pdf/dx-entity-history.pdf .
Ham Lookup various ways: https://Haminfo.tetranz.com/map .
Ham LoTW users: http://www.hb9bza.net/lotw-users-list .
NEW: WM7D Solar Values: https://www.wm7d.net/hamradio/solar/
Download the DX’ers Handbook by Bryce Anderson K7UA/SK, at: www.K7UA.com.
Propagation: I expect the solar flux to range from 92-135 during the Fall, with a slow rise of flux. The 2022 Fall Equinox is Thursday September 22nd, fall starts for us in the northern hemisphere and the Sun is back at the equator, giving us equal day times and nights and in the southern hemisphere, Spring starts. Cycle 25 started on November 17, 2019 and the Sun is giving us a rising solar flux. NOAA predicted a flux of 130 for the winter of 2024 but we have seen a flux of 180. Sunspots are counted by looking at the Sun but solar flux is by radio at 2.8 GHz.
The 2022 monthly maximum solar flux: January was 130, February 130, March 151, April 166, May 180, June 149, July 176 and August 128. Average 151.
The 2022 monthly minimum solar flux: January was 84, February 93, March 94, April 96, May 98, June 96, July 91 and August 95 . Average 93.
On September 1st, the solar flux was 126, the A index was 12 and K index was 3. There have been many sunspots on the Sun the past 6 months with increased solar flux up 15-25+ points. The USAF solar flux forecast for September 1st to October 15th is from a high of 130 to a low of 98 with average flux at 114.
My Prediction: Over the next three months, the best conditions on Ten could be: Sept 10-13th; Oct 6-12th ; Nov 4-10th; and Dec 1-7th. For the USA, expect a 40% chance of DX to Europe/Asia and 75% to S. America or Pacific. Use the beacons 28.175-28.300 MHZ to find if the band is open.
Three new DX member joined in June to August 2022. June: none; July: DL0XN #77991, DK0HMA #77992; and August: VA3WEB #78005. The highest 10-10 issued was to Matt KB5UTS #78018.
Thanks to the Daily DX by Bernie W3UR #25731 and the ARRL DX Bulletins. This DX News edition is my number 128th of DXing reports for the past 32 years. 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
