TenX DX News December 1, 2022
Mike Davidson N5MT #24949 Download the Article in PDF
Welcome to the Winter DX season of the 10-10 DX News. We had a good Fall DX season and the ARRL Ten Meter Contest is in ten days. The predicted solar flux for the contest is 125-139, so get ready for more DX on Ten.
I received my ham license in 1978 and entered my first ARRL Ten meter contest. I soon joined 10-10 and over the past 43 years, I have found many DX members in this contest. Because we are in the early years of Cycle 25, I expect that propagation will be better than the past five years for this contest. So pleased make contacts in the ARRL Ten Meter contest on Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11th
At my station, my main antenna is a multi band vertical with a resonated frequency set for Ten SSB to get full power out. When I operate FT8 on Ten, the SWR is low and the radio get lots of power out on digital and CW to work the DX. My most recent 10-10 project has been updating my 10-10 Bar awards using data saved in my old Win1010 logging program. I recently received the 1000 Bar #1582 which means our new 1000 Bar award manager, Rob Cromer KE0MIZ #77647, is officially working on his new job. I saw in the last issue of the News that his name was printed with his email address for award applications. Thanks Rob. You can find award forms on the Website if you need to print or download. I am slowly sending in Bar applications since I have several thousand members logged over the past 40 years! My first 10-10 logging program 32 years ago was by Jim Hardy in 1990. But my first 11 years of logging QSO data was done on an IBM main frame with punch cards! So when a logging program became available, I had a lot of old QSO data to retype into the DOS program which became my standard for collecting 10-10 numbers and DX. Many years ago I received my 500 Bar and got a VP #950. In 1998 Jim converted his DOS program into a Windows program and I began logged contacts with the new Win1010 program. Now that Jim is SK, 10-10 is hoping to get access to the program to maintain its use as a 10-10 asset and steps have been started to do that task. Lets hope this update works else the program will probably become obsolete as new Windows updates from Microsoft could render the program useless!
All members are having fun with the rise in the solar flux due to more sunspots! The Sun gave us a solar flux high in mid-September of 154 but the max high of 180 was in May 2022. So far we have been lucky that no Major solar flares have come off the Sun to cause a radio blackout.
All dues paid up members can submit a QSO Party log and apply for all 10-10 awards. Forms and membership renewal info are at the website. You do have to swap your 10-10 number over the air on Ten to qualify for all awards! If you are collecting 10-10 numbers, DX, Counties, Bars or you want your score to count in a QSO party, you are required to exchange your callsign, name, state and 10-10 number on Ten over the air. So record/save your QSO info in a logging program or use a paper log book. Then when you are ready to fill out the award application, move your 10-10 info from your saved place 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. So look through your 10-10 log and find the required 25 different countries with a member and fill out a Countries award form. Then send it to the email address on the form. As of today, there remain 22 countries that have not been worked for 10-10 country credit of the 340 available by ARRL DXCC rules. Its has been about six years since the last new 10-10 country was added to the worked list.
I just learned a member yesterday became SK during a medical procedure. Rod W7OM #72366, who is in my log many times on SSB and FT8. Here is some history: http://ncjweb.com/features/novdec14feat.pdf RIP.
Countries Award: There were no Countries Award applications submitted this past quarter.
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General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:
3B8 Mauritius. I found no info that Mart DL6UAA #54230 operated 3B8MM as printed in my last DX news.
4U United Nations. The club station 4U1UN #55555, in the New York UN building, was active this past quarter. The remote HF station was used and the Ten meter beacon was heard on CW.
4U UN Switzerland. 4U1ITU #11111. There was a lot of ham radio from the club station. The building was supposed to be closed for maintenance but plans must have changed since 4U1ITU was on FT8 worked in the US about 1300 UTC in November.
DU Philippines. Irek SP3SUX #62262 was using callsign DV8/KH7EA at the end of Nov until December 3rd. In the CW WW DX CW contest his call was DX8H.
EY Tajikistan. Nodir EY8MM #52767 has been active about 10% of his time on Ten FT8 no SSB. Most of his HF time is on the lower bands. Good luck.
FJ St. Barthelemy. Phil K2LIO #7746 was back in St.Bart in mid October using his new call FJ4WEB. His new radio is an IC-7300 and a better antenna on Ten. This is a rare 10-10 location. Phil is the first member to stay on the island for long periods.
I Italy. Elvira IV3FSG #54292 was using FT8 a lot on Ten the past three months. It’s hard to swap 10-10 info on FT8 so hope to find her on SSB this winter. LoTW.
J6 St. Lucia. Bill K9HZ/J68HZ #2618 was back at his summer place until November 2nd. When not in a contest he likes to operate FT8. He is back in Texas now.
JW Svalbard. Hal W8HC #12502 and friends operated club station JW0A from Svalbard from September 19-29th using three setups on CW, SSB and FT8.
KH8 American Samoa. Alan K7AR #2736, was on the island in November with W7YAQ who was not a member.
P4 Aruba. John W2GD #14109, was back on Aruba again for the CQ WW CW contest as P44W the last weekend in November. LoTW.
TA Turkey. Berkin TA3J #74303 was mostly on 12 Mtrs but also on Ten until November 13st from Yassica Island. All modes and FT8. LoTW.
V3 Belize. Scott K5PS/V31CQ #52535, was in the CQWW CW contest the last weekend of November and went home after the contest on Nov 28th. LoTW.
V5 Namibia. Mike V51MA #64688 we talked this past quarter and I was able to reunite him with his lost 10-10.
VP5 Turks’ & Caicos Isl. Ron N4KE #5645 used callsign VP5DX from October 20-30th. The radio was only 100 watts into a vertical on SSB, CW and FT8.
VP8 Falkland Isl. Bob VP8LP #8854 was mostly operating on Ten SSB from August to November. No LoTW.
Z6 Kosovo. Rene DL2JRM #69623 was back in Kosovo using call Z68XX until November 1st when he returned to Germany. His 100 watts into a vertical were tough to hear. No info on future trips.
ZF Cayman Islands. Jim WB2REM #48365 is still on the big island using his ZF2OO callsign until January 2023. He was on Ten SSB and FT8 in late November. LoTW.
Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:
3D2 Rotuma. Tony 3D2AG #72719 is now back on Rotuma until December 20th on CW SSB RTTY and FT8.
3Y Bouvet Island. A DXpedition to Bouvet is now planned for January to February 2023, to activate the #2 most wanted country. The only member going is Bill KO7SS #8631. In 1990, Bouvet was a first time country for 10-10. This DXpedition will be an expensive trip, so take note and be ready. This is quite rare for 10-10, so good luck.
9M West Malaysia. Rich PA0RRS #24343 will be using callsign 9M2MRS from January 2 to March 27, 2023. NO SSB, only CW or FT8 around 28091. Working him on Digi and swapping a 10-10 number will take luck and effort!
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. Paperwork for DXCC credit has been approved by the ARRL as of today. Good Luck. LoTW.
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, modes and digital FT8. LoTW.
PJ2 Curacao. Andreas DK5ON #54260, will be on Curacao Island from March 4-22, 2023. All modes, LoTW.
VP2M Montserrat. Thaire W2APF #50022 will be using call VP2MDX from January 2 to March 31, 2023.
Miscellaneous Items & Notes:
TenTen Website: http://www.Ten-Ten.org.org.
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/
FT8 Fox/Hound Video: https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=GcbtTKSRkus
Download the DX’ers Handbook by Bryce Anderson K7UA/SK, at: www.K7UA.com.
Propagation: I expect the solar flux to range from 99-139 during the Winter, with a small rise of flux. The 2022 Winter Solstice is Wednesday December 21st, and winter starts for us in the northern hemisphere. The Earth is tilted as far away from the sun as possible, giving us the shortest days of the year. Cycle 25 started on November 17, 2019. NOAA predicted a flux of 130 for 2024 but this year we have seen a high 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: Jan was 130, Feb 130, March 151, April 166, May 180, June 149, July 176, Aug 128, Sept 154, Oct 163 and Nov 142. Average 152.
The 2022 monthly minimum solar flux: Jan was 84, Feb 93, March 94, April 96, May 98, June 96, July 91, Aug 95, Sept 116, Oct 105, and Nov 108. Average 98.
On December 1st, the solar flux was 111, the A index was 24 and K index was 4. There have been many sunspots on the Sun and the past nine months with increased solar flux up 10-15+ points. The USAF solar flux forecast for December 1st to January 14th is from a high of 130 to a low of 95 with average flux at about 113.
My Prediction: Over the next three months, the best conditions on Ten could be: Dec 06-11th; Jan 1-6th ; Feb 1-6th; and March 1-6th. For the USA, expect a 65% 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 and especially FT8 on 28074.
Three new DX member joined in Sept to Nov 2022. Sept: Andreas DL3ABD #78020; Oct: Yves F5JJA #78030; and Nov: Ray G0LRH #78041. The highest 10-10 issued in November was to Mike N6ZGK #78043.
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 news 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
