TenX DX June 2012 by Mike N5MT DX Editor

[N5MT]

TenX DX News June 1, 2012
Mike Davidson N5MT, #24949

The fun of working DX is usually determined by how much the Sun excites the atmosphere and creates an opening where we can talk across the oceans. Well, for the past six months, occasions for talking to DX have been few and far between as there has not been a lot of DX to talk with on Ten. The band to be on has been fifteen meters as seen during the CQ WPX contest last weekend. Ten was open mostly to South America and Oceania with few Europeans heard. Until the solar flux gets a boost upwards, the old days of daily morning European openings are being missed.

I have been waiting to work the only active 10-10 member in Monaco for twenty plus years. Until the flux gets up to its peak level and that being during the winter months, I will not have a chance to talk with Monaco from here. Usually during the summer months in the USA, we look forward to the best DX paths to the east, south and southwest for DX, unless an unexpected path opens up late in the day.

I just turned off the radio after being on Ten since 2230 UTC with the beam pointed toward Europe calling CQ. I worked ten stations in the Portugal/Azores/Italy area and then an Australian called me off the back of the antenna at about 2330 UTC. The local time in Portugal was after midnight and he gave me a 59, he got a 53 from me. I was using the amp and my 4 el yagi at 75 feet. So the band was open to Europe giving us one of those unexpected path openings to the northeast at the end of the day as there is one hour of daylight remaining here. It would be nice to hear Europe in our morning times like the past cycles but when summer skip starts, it’s usually a different path and no Europe. I have heard several days of Europe DX late in the day, so good luck to others.

There are two articles in the June issue of the National Geographic magazine that are DX related. On the cover is a picture of the Sun with a flare in progress. There are great images from the Solar Dynamics satellites. There is also a story about Socotra Island, Africa, with some historical and cultural viewpoints. The recent 7O6T DXpedition was from the Socotra Island area in Africa. Visit your public library to find this June issue.

Countries Award: There were four upgrades and no basic award issued this past quarter. Everyone is taking advantage of the new rule for NO QSL cards required for awards. IF you apply for any award, you must use a form from the 10-10 website OR submit the application using software like Win1010 and include an ID cover sheet.
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General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:

3V Tunisia. The Club station 3V8BB #70613, was on in the WPX SSB Contest but none of the ops were 10-10 members. Few ops know what 10-10 is about, so Good Luck.

5H Tanzania. Nizar K0NM/5H3NM #75901, was on a working trip to his home country so his radio time was limited in late May.

6Y Jamaica. Allen N2KW #14114, was in Jamaica from March 5-23rd using call sign 6Y0A operated mostly CW.

7O Yemen. A rare DXpedition to Yemen started about May 1st and ended May 16th. 10-10 members were Dave K3LP #13394, Paul N6PSE #68859 and Andy UA3AB #23433. They logged 162,000 contacts in 16 days! Ed Note: It has been twelve years since 7O1YGF from Yemen was active and one of the ops was a 10-10 member.

A2 Botswana. Frosty K5LBU/A25CF #51322 and Joel N5JR, were on the air in Botswana from March 18th to 28th. They used a special call A25HQ in the WPX Contest.

A5A Bhutan. A rare DXpedition started on May 24th from Bhutan. Kazuhiko VR2KF/A52KF #69615, was the only 10-10 member. They have three stations on using CW, SSB and RTTY and I just worked them with call sign A5A on 15 CW. They will depart on June 6th. Propagation from A5 to the west coast of the USA is only a twenty percent chance on Ten Meters. Web site at: http://bhutan2012.com/index.php .

E5 North Cook Island. Hans DK9KX/E51M #21879 visited North Cooks where I talked to him on Ten. He left the island on April 10th and moved to South Cook with a different call sign E51EWP.

E5 South Cook Islands. Graeme VK4WR/E51GMH #37824 and Alan VK4WR, were on Aitutaki Island, in the South Cooks from April 9th to the 27th. They used an IC-706 radio into a dipole on CW and SSB.

J5 Guinea Bissau. A DXpedition was on from March 24th to April 6th from Guinea Bissau using call sign J52HF. Team leader was Lucio I3LDP #45838. The Web site at: http://www.ari.verona.it/veronadxteam/en/index.htm .

JT Mongolia. Serge UA0SE #25998 and friends used call sign JT5DX in Mongolia for the WPX SSB contest in March.

JX Jan Mayen. Svein JX9JKA/LA9JKA is now active from Jan Mayen for one year. Please ask Svein to join 10-10 as Jan Mayen has never had any 10-10 activity.

KH6 Hawaii. John KL7JR #43374 and Claire WL7MY used call sign NH7DX from late March to April 15th.

P4 Aruba. John W2GD #14109, was active from Aruba as P40W from March 20-27th, and the WPX SSB Contest.

PJ2 Curacao. Andreas PJ2/DK5ON #54260 was on Curacao from March 12th to the 30th, 2012.

PJ4 Bonaire. John K4BAI #45389, Eric W4DXX #10290 and friends, were in Bonaire for the CQ WPX SSB Contest from March 20-27th operating as PJ4/home calls. They were logged on SSB, CW and RTTY.

SV Greece. Boyko LZ1QN #50483 did use a special call sign SW8A during the CQ WPX CW contest.

T5/6O Somalia. A November 2012 DXpedition to Somalia was cancelled. The members were Paul N6PSE #68859, David K3LP #13394, Dave AH6HY #33750, and John K6MM #13853.

TG Guatemala. Bill W0OR #23875, was assigned call sign TG8/W0OR for Guatemala where he operated from February 7th to March 24th. He used wire antennas and a K3 radio mostly on CW but some RTTY and SSB.

TT Chad. Elvira IV3FSG #54292 was active as TT8ES from N'Djamena until March 18th. Activity started March 1st using SSB and digital modes.

V5 Namibia. Dave V5/GI4FUM #21599, was in Namibia during March 2012 for ten days.

V6 Micronesia. Sho JA7HMZ/V63DX was active from Pohnpei Island, until May 29th. Activity on all modes and contest call V6A in the CQ WPX contest.

VC Canada. Gregg VE3ZZ #38480, operated as VC2G during the WPX SSB contest March 24-25th.

VP2M Montserrat. Budd W3FF/VP2MFF #40140, Guy N7UN/VP2MUN #65724, Paul KB9AVO /VP2MVO #51946 and Larry W7DGP/VP2MLR #4225, were on the air from April 8-16th from Montserrat all using low powers.

VP5 Turks & Caicos. Dave W5CW #6506, was on the Turks and Caicos Islands used call sign VP5/W5CW and VP52V from March 20th to April 11th.

VP5 Turks & Caicos. Kat JH1BXH #45857 planned to be on the Turks and Caicos Islands as VP5/JH1BXH from May 21-24th but no reported activity on Ten Meters.

Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:

3D2C Conway Reef. A DXpedition to Conway Reef will take place from September 24th to October 5th. Look for Dave K3LP #13394, Paul N6PSE #68859, Dave AH6HY #33750, and ops that were part of the 2011 Rotuma 3D2R operation. SSB, CW, RTTY and PSK31. Web site: http://www.yt1ad.info/3d2c/index.html . Late update: Paul is looking for one more operator. Anyone interested email Paul at: Paul@N6PSE.com .

9H Malta. Holger DL5XAT/9H3TX #64618 will be on from Gozo Island from November 21-26th.

CY0 Sable Island. Randy N0TG #12990, will try to be back on Sable Island in July 2012. Sable is 300 km southeast of Halifax, Canada and is renowned for its wild horses and shipwrecks. Randy has to fly to Sable landing on the sandy beach when the sea is calm.

E51 Cook Islands. Haru JA1XGI #55571, will be active from the Cooks and V63 Micronesia in December 2012. Web site: http://www.ja1xgidxvacation.blogspot.com .

PJ4 Bonaire. Bill K9HZ/PJ4HZ #2618 will be on Bonaire Island from June 1-10th. Bill plans to be on all the HF bands using SSB and CW.

PJ7 Sint Maarten. Randy N0TG #12990, is making plans to be on from PJ7, Sint Maarten, March 15-23rd of 2013. Look for PJ7/N0TG, along with Ron AA4VK #12423 and N1SNB next year from the island.

T6 Afghanistan. Eric K9GY #22330, is active now from Afghanistan until April 2013 with his T6MO call. Best time to listen for him, 700-900 UTC and 1200-1330 UTC.

TI Costa Rica. Terry N0TW #36547 and Bob N6OPR #45715 will use call sign TI5/K6MQ #71487 from Costa Rica. They will be there from August 1-8th, and plan to participate in the 10-10 Summer QSO Party. QSL via N0TW.

V3 Belize. Henry W5HNS/V31WH, and friends will be in Belize from July 23-31st. They will set up and be in the IOTA Contest July 28-29 with call sign V31MX, on SSB and CW.

XV Vietnam. Larry W6NWS/XV2W #35721 will be in Vietnam visiting family so his air time will be limited! He arrives on May 28th and plans to leave June 12th. He prefers CW and RTTY but will occasionally do SSB.

ZL9 Campbell Island. A DXpedition to Campbell Island will be active using call sign ZL9HR from November 17-30th. The only 10-10 member is Gene K5GS #15119. Web site at: http://www.zl9hr.com .

Miscellaneous Items & Notes:

Propagation forecast: http://www.solen.info/solar/ .
DX Calendar: http://www.dxwatch.com/ .
More propagation: http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/ .

Propagation: Propagation in the Summer of 2012 has not been as good as in Nov-Dec 2011. The solar flux has been flat the past six months. The October 2011 record 180 solar flux has not been repeated in 2012. Expect the daily solar flux to range from 110-150 this next quarter as solar cycle 24 continues. NASA predicts the peak of the cycle to be in the winter of next year 2013.
On June 1st the solar flux was 117, the A index was 10 and K index 2. Look for the best conditions: June 5-9th, July 2-5th, July 29-31st, Aug 26-31st, and Sept 22-26th. Over the next three months, for USA stations, expect a 10-20% chance of DX in the mornings to Europe or Africa and a 25% chance into Asia, South America or the Pacific in the late afternoon. To see what DX paths are open, listen for the beacons from 28.175-28.300 (especially 28.200).

New DX members’ March to May 2012: March: 76404 DL5CAT; April: None; May: 76450 VE3JX; 76465 LU4EG

Thanks to the QRZ-DX, DXNL, The Daily DX by W3UR #25731, Lee KH6BZF #8888 & Ohio/Penn DX Bulletins. Info to Mike Davidson, 3518 Bellefontaine, Houston, TX 77025 USA Email: N5MT@aol.com.

DX IS! 73 Mike Davidson N5MT #24949
Copyright © 2012 by N5MT