TenX DX News      June 1, 2023

Mike Davidson N5MT #24949         Download as PDF

Welcome to the Summer DX season of the 10-10 DX News. The Sun continues to produce propagation into Europe and Asia on 10 Meters with high solar flux numbers when the Sun is not showing big sun spots.    New members have joined the ranks which give you a chance to talk with a new member and swap 10-10 numbers for an award.    Remember, this is year 61 for the 10-10 Anniversary so find some new members with a 61 in their member number and log them. So I will talk about some DX that has popped up the past three months and see what’s coming later this year.

Father Ed Schmidt    OA4SS #10802 is now 84 years old and he has been a 10-10 member since 1975 for 48 years!    I first talked with Ed in 1980 and more than twenty times since.    But Ed’s life has slowed down and he has moved into assisted living.    His radio gear was moved to a high school to be a club station where he may be able to use his radio.   

Someone asked me what new DX members that I have put in the log so I sorted the log and looked.    So far in 2023 I have seven new members.    George 9G4X #73941 in Ghana,    Troy WH6WAV #77927 Hawaii,    Lorenzo IK6PTH #62288 Italy,    Jim ZF2OO #48365 Cayman Isl.,    Oscar HK6DOS #39978 Columbia, Ernst VE3GNU #8738 Canada, and    Adam VK4IM #73123 Australia.    In year 2022, I put 18 new members in my log.    In 2002 I found 139, and in 2001 found 158.    My best year was in 2000 I set my record of 264 new members and I put 1843 old members in my log.    I retired in 2000, so my hobby/radio time increased a lot.

The DXpedition to Bouvet Island was a big disappointment for many DX chasers in February with the bad weather at Bouvet!    High seas made dangerous boat landing conditions on the island.    A few ops made it ashore with limited stuff and they put up two of the planned five stations.    The resulting setup caused the QSO counts to be only    9% of what was expected to log with five stations.    I did not hear any activity on Ten but they logged 675 QSOs on Ten.    Most of the ten-meter Q’s were into Europe and Asia and only two Q’s to North America.    You will find some Bouvet videos on YouTube.    This bad-luck DXpedition will be remembered and just blame it on a lot of bad WX weather.

Members are having a good time with the rise in the solar flux.    The Sun gave us two solar flux highs the past year, so enjoy the better propagation.    We had many large sun spots this past quarter on the Sun to cause some bad propagation!    And I expect to get more bad sunspots and flares this year!

Canada hams can use four special prefix changes during June until July 2^nd.    Most VA become CJ , the VE becomes CK, VO becomes CY and VY becomes CZ.    Do a Google search for more info and log a new 10-10 prefix in June.

Countries Award:    There were no Countries Award 

applications submitted this past quarter.    Thanks to Marcus KM5EH #71103 for sending me my OM/XYL certificate for 50 teams number 76.    I will have more coming soon.

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General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:

      3B9 Rodriguez Island.    Robert 3B9FR #61550 was active in mid April about 0545 UTC on FT8.   

      4L Georgia.    Rene DL2JRM #69623, was in Georgia for a short time until March 20^th as 4L/DL2JRM only on CW.

Rene will be back in Georgia from June 16-19^th.

    9G Ghana.    A DXpedition of nine ops went to Ghana from March 23-30^th.    George N4GRN #73941 and Hal W8HC #12502 used callsign 9G4X from Accra.    They were on SSB, CW and FT8 for digital.

      9M2 West Malaysia.    Rich PA0RRS #24343, was back in West Malaysia from January to March 26^th using call 9M2MRS.    West and East Malaysia are both rare for us! No SSB, some CW but mostly FT8 on 28074 or 28180.    On air times were early morning for us in the USA.

      4U United Nations.    The UN club station 4U1UN #55555, in the New York UN building, was heard this past quarter.    The remote HF station was on Ten along with the beacon on CW but only FT8 digital and no SSB.

      4U UN Switzerland.    4U1ITU #11111.    There was radio from the club station using Fox/Hound on FT8 in March.

      CY0 Sable Island.    The big DXpedition to Sable Island was from March 20-30.    Dan W4DKS #5395 and John W2GD #14109 were the 10-10 members.    Website: www. CY0S.com.    Sable is now a remote weather station for Canada and does not keep anyone on the island for station keeping.    They rented facilities where they stayed and operated and the only permanent residents on Sable are the seals and horses that have to be protected from visitors.

      EY Tajikistan.    Nodir EY8MM #52767 was on FT8 a lot over the past five months.    He travels to DX places a few times a year so watch for Nodir to operate from Africa.

      FJ St. Barthelemy.    Phil K2LIO/FJ4WEB #7746 was back on St. Bart for a short while in March and April.    He did not spend a lot of time on Ten but he is the only member to stay on St. Bart for long periods.

      HB9 Switzerland.    Rene DL2JRM #69623, operated from April 29-30^th in a contest.    No info if he made any 10-10 contacts as propagation was bad on Ten.

   

C8 Galapagos Island.    James WB2REM #48365 and three friends were on the island from March 1-11^th.    They used all bands, modes and digital using callsign HD8M.

      HR Honduras.    Gerard F2JD #63443 was on Ten using FT4 as HR5/F2JD. He has been there since December 22.

      J6 St. Lucia.    Dan W0CN #27026 and Bill K9HZ #2618 were back in St. Lucia until March 7^th using call J68HZ.    Bill may have returned in April to the station as J68HZ.   

    K USA.    Tim NL8F #32796 has been on FT8 after work hours from Dutch Harbor Alaska.    I have no info if Tim made any 1010 Q’s but he likes to use other bands for DX.

      George W3AB #70708 operated from Pigeon Point Light on May 26-27^th.    This location is 50 miles south of San Francisco CA and the lighthouse is really tall at 115 ft.

      PJ2 Curacao.    Andreas PJ2/DK5ON #54260, was on Curacao Island from March 4-22^nd.    All modes.    LoTW.

    David KE3VV #69831 was using PJ2/KE3VV in early March outside of the DX contest for CW and FT8.

      PJ7 Sint Maarten.    Gary KC9EE #16977 was on the island from March 1-8^th.    His call was PJ7EE using a low power QRP radio on FT8 and CW.    LoTW.

      V2 Antigua.    Eleven operators were using V26EI from Antigua from March 24 to April 2^nd.    Two 10-10 members were Declan EI9HQ #71019 and Thos EI2JD #73610.

      V26K by Bud AA3K #53485, was in Antigua from March 21-27^thon FT8 and CW except for the WPX SSB contest.

      V3 Belize.    Walt W0CP #14291 was using call V31DJ until March 11^th from Belize on CW, SSB and FT8. LoTW.

      V5 Namibia.    Mike V51MA #64688 is now an alternate net control on 28380 on the daily 10-10 net at 1800 UTC.    He has been on 28074 FT8 at 2000 UTC on Ten.    Mike lost his 1010 number and log records a few years ago.    But last year in November, I was able to give it back to him when we talked.    So remember your 10-10 number is yours for life.   

      V7 Marshall Islands.    Bob V7/N7XR #26991 will be on Kwajalein Atoll until early July.    His radio is an IC7410 into a dipole and vertical mostly CW or digital modes.    Bob and one other ham are the only radio operators on the Atoll.

      VP2M Montserrat.    Thaire W2APF #50022 was using call VP2MDX until March 30^th.    He operated CW & SSB into a hexbeam with a small amp.    His location is not far from the big local volcano on the island.

      VP5 Turks’ & Caicos Islands.    Ross VP5/W2TT #25714 was in Providenciales from March 22-29^th with ham friends.    They used call VP5P in the CQ WPX SSB contest so you would have had to find Ross for his 

10-10.   

      Hal W8HC #12502 was on for a few days as VP5/W8HC    in late April.    This was a quick vacation trip for Hal.    LoTW.

      VP8 Falkland Isl.    Bob VP8LP #8854 was on Ten operating SSB from March to May.    Sorry no LoTW.

      Z6 Kosovo.    Rene DL2JRM #69623 was using Z68XX in May from Kosovo for only four days.

Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:

      BY China.    David K6FA #5908, landed in Shenyang in April and will stay until mid August 2023.    He sometimes uses his remote home station in CA on Ten.    His China call will be BY#/K6FA.    LoTW upload in September. Note: the physical antenna determines the DXCC country location.

      FP St. Pierre & Miquelon Isl.    Eric KV1J #31247 is planning a June-July 2023 trip to operate as FP/KV1J.

      KH8 Swains Island.    A DXpedition is going to Swains from October 4-17^th, 2023.    The only 1010 member is Max NG7M #68542, using callsign W8S from six stations split into two separated camps.    Web: https://Swains2023.com.

      TX Clipperton Island.    A large group of ops is going to Clipperton in January 2024 using call TX5S.    Members Gene K5GW #15119, Paul N6PSE #68859 and Nodir EY8MM #52767, are all experienced DX ops, so good luck.    HISTORY:    A 10-10 member using the call FO0XX in April 1985 give some of us a new 10-10 country

      V3 Belize.    Uwe DL8UD #70315, will be in Belize from September 6-14^th.    His new call will be V31KO or maybe V3O if they authorize his special request.   

Miscellaneous Items & Notes:

TenTen Website: http://www.Ten-Ten.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.Https://Secure.Clublog.org/mostwanted.php 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 http://WWW.K7UA.com.

Propagation:      I expect the solar flux to range from 128-165 this Summer.    The summer solstice is Wednesday, June 21^st, it’s the longest day of the year and summer starts for us in the northern hemisphere.  

The Earth is tilted as far as possible, giving us the longest daylight of 2023 in the USA.    Cycle 25 started on November 17, 2019.    There were sunspots visible on the sun this past quarter with X and M class flares that increased the solar flux accordingly.    Sunspots are found by looking at the Sun and the flux is measured at 2.8 GHz.

The 2023 monthly max solar flux:    January 234, Feb 215, March 188, April 176, May 180.    Average 199.

The 2023 monthly min solar flux:    January 136, Feb 134, March 129, April 125, May 134.    Average 132.   

On June 1^st, the solar flux was 161, the A index was 10 and K index was 3.     There have been many sunspots on the Sun over the past fifteen months with increased solar flux up 10-30+ points.    The USAF flux forecast for June 1^st to July 15^th is from a high of 160 to a low of 130 with average flux of 143, which is good for DX.

My Prediction:    Over the next three months, the best conditions on Ten could be: June 17-20^th; July 14-16^th; August 10-13^th; & Sept 6-9^th.    For the USA, expect a 60%    chance of DX to Europe, Asia, S. America or Pacific.    Use the beacons 28.175-28.300 MHZ to find if the band is OK and if it’s closed for SSB, go to 28074 and FT8 for a Q.

One new DX member joined in March to May 2023.    March: none; April: none; and May: Stephan DM4KA #78183 and this is the highest 10-10 issued to date.

Thanks to the Daily DX by Bernie W3UR    #25731 and the ARRL DX Bulletins.    This DX News edition is my number 129^th 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

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