TenX DX News      Sept. 1, 2024

Mike Davidson N5MT #24949

Welcome to the Fall season of the DX News. Solar Cycle 25 is still producing big sun spots that make high solar flux.      In August, I saw a big solar flux that may be a record high for Cycle 25!    The Sun displayed a lot of sun spots this past quarter which gave us bad propagation during the Summer QSO Party.    But Field Day 2024 had better propagation.   

As discussed in my last article, the ARRL website was hacked on May 15^th and required help by the FBI to investigate.    Additional help by computer systems experts, were needed to bring servers back to normal function.    The LoTW login was back on-line by July 1^st and all data was ok.    However, the processing of DXCC awards from LoTW has not started as one server in still unavailable.    WAS and VUCC apps are being processed normally and processing ham license applications are filed ok with the FCC. This info is available on their website as of August 22, 2024.

I just read about a 10-10 member who is the ARRL Director of Emergency Management, Josh KE5MHV #75974.    He wants your station and family to be ready for stuff that might affect you.    You need to be ready for bad WX weather, thunderstorms, flooding or a hurricane.    This September, ARRL will provide help to prepare you for an emergency.    So get ready and stay tuned with your home/mobile station.

The Fall season is usually a good DX period when you can hear Europe and the Pacific areas to get more DX into your logs.    http://hamgallery.com/W1JR/The ARRL 10 Meter contest on December 14-15^th is the most popular contest all year.    So, I hope you can find a new country and maybe some new 10-10 contacts this Fall.

Replacing the Win1010 program.    Jeff N7YG #65084, continues to make progress with the new software.    Testing all the old features is still a work in progress.    The new program was tested during the Summer QSO party.    

USA east coast stations have been talking with Europe this past Summer. The Summer QSO Party in August was a poor 10-10 event due to big sun spots that disrupted propagation and results are on the Website.    Congratulation to Henry DL8YBM #36109 for his first place score in the Summer QSO Party.    Thanks to Dan KZ3T #41015 for scoring and the certificates from the QSO Party.    Remember, this is year 2024 and it is the 62^nd anniversary for 10-10, so try to find    members with a 62 in their 10-10 number and log them.  

OK now for more DX, the hot summer months have not been good for Ten meter skip.    You should have a standard 10-10 goal to find new members on Ten and log them.    Each week I read several DX email articles and look for 10-10 members going places.    But this past quarter, I have seen fewer members going places, maybe because of the summer heat and Covid.    I have found only a few upcoming 10-10 DX locations, so 

watch for them on the dates given and hunt for the new DX you may need.    Note: October 26-27^th is the      CQ WW DX SSB contest. Web: https://cqww.com/rules .

Some 10-10 History: The November 1964 10-10 Bulletin News gave a membership of 90!    Is there anyone in 10-10 that remembers all the names of our past 10-10 Presidents?    In the first 18 years of the new organization the President held a term of one year, from 1962 to 1980.    I was not able to find all their names, calls and tenure.    Morrie W6EHM #4189,    William WA6LVA #1279, George W6ENC #1774, Bob W6WPY #14949, and Howard W6QIR #4509 are SK.    I am working on an article that will list the past Presidents.     

 

Countries Award:    There were no Countries Award applications submitted this past quarter.     

________________________________________________

 

General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:

 

4U United Nations NY.    The UN station 4U1UN #55555, in New York city, was heard this summer on CW, FT8, and no SSB.    The beacon is always on 28200 MHZ.    Remember the UN country is the closest DX country for US hams!

5U Niger.    Elvira IV3FSG #54292 was in Niger as 5U5K from June 8-23^rd.    Web: https://www.qrz.com/db/5U5K .    Her total 10 Meter Q’s were 6500 or 18% of 36316 total Q’s.   

5A Libya. Abubaker 5A1A #69222 used his new call 5A1AL for Libya in July on FT8.    This new call is not a 10-10 member so ask him for his old number if you talk to him.   

CY9 St.Paul Island.    A DXpedition to St.Paul began on August 26^th to September 5^th using callsign CY9C.    The 10-10 members are: Mike K9NW #29804, Dan W4DKS #5395, and Larry W0PR #31559.    As of September 1st, they have 74,133 contacts in the log. The northeast island station site, required two helicopters and a boat to get 7500 lbs of gear to the big rock since the old south site is no longer available for Dxpeditions.    Poor propagation on Ten has hurt some logging but good WX has helped.    Web: www.CY9C.net .

ET Ethiopia.    Ken K4ZW #18573 was last at the club station ET3AA in May.    The club call does not have a 10-10, so you must find Ken who likes CW, when back at the club.

K USA.    Andy AA5JF #46516 was on Dauphin Island in late August and September 1^st and maybe a trip to Ship Island.    Mostly CW and some SSB.       Howard K1VSJ #35318 was on Nantucket Island in late August early September.  

KH0 Mariana Isl.    Tom KC0W #67688 is using a new call KH0W from the island where he has been for five years.    He hopes to erect a better hexbeam soon for Ten.

OA Peru. Ed OA4SS #10802 has not been on Ten since May 26^th when he was on CW, around 28030-28018.

OY Faroe Islands. James WT8P #78099 was on from August 28^th for a week on the island.   

V5 Namibia.    Mike V51MA #64688, continues to help the 10-10 daily net when he has propagation from Africa.    The net is on 28380 MHZ at 1800 UTC, except Sunday’s.

VP6 Pitcairn Island.    Miralda VP6MW #50434, was active this summer on FT4/8 28074 and 21074.

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3D Rotuma Island.    A DXpedition set for November 15^th to December 4^th will use callsign 3D2Z. Hal W8HC #12502 had to cancel due to personal reasons.    They will use three stations and two remote Ribs on the Island.    A lot of young ham ops will be Rib operators but none are 10-10.    LoTW.

FJ St. Barthelemy.    Phil K2LIO #7746 is now using call FJ4WEB but I expect him to be back on the island this Fall and Winter.    Phil is the only 10-10 member on the island.

K USA.    Pi K1RV #12647 reports the K1USN #73371 with the SlowSpeedcontest (SST) Open is September 13^th from 20-24 UTC.    This is a 12-20 wpm CW event by the USS Salem ARC,    give name and state for a QSO, with the purpose to help new CW ops. Website: www.K1USN.com    .

KH8 American Samoa.    A DXpedition to Am. Samoa by several ops will take place from September 2-16^th.    Team leader is Don N5DD #32255 and the only 10-10 member.    They will set up two stations to operate CW, SSB and FT8.

J6 St. Lucia.    A big group of ops in the CQ WW SSB October 21- 27^th call J62K, will have these 10-10 members: Bill K9HZ #2618, Dan W0CN #27026, Kyle WA4PGM #50763, and Steve W0ZB #37921.    LoTW and Good luck.

UN Kazakhstan.    Uwe DL8UD #70315 may be on from September 10^th to 19^th using call UN/DL8UD.    RARE!

XT Burkina Faso.    A group of 14 ops will try to be on from October 31^st to November 10^th as XT2MD.    There are two members: Peter DL2LAM #54293 & James KB2FMH #77506.    The VOACAP prediction for the mid USA is 10-12 hours of a 10 Meter opening to Africa.    This is another RARE 10-10 site and both members will operate SSB.

Z6 Kosovo.    Rene DL2JRM #69623 will be on from November 9-10^th as Z68XX from Gjilan which is located in eastern Kosovo.    During the CQ WW DX CW contest Rene will use call Z66BCC.    Good luck.

ZL7 Chatham Islands.    Holger ZL3IO #22401, who lives in New Zealand, will be working on the ZL7DX Chatham contest station from October 15-31^st.    Chatham Island is more than 550 miles east of New Zealand.    He wants to improve the existing antennas at the site, so his on the air time will be limited.    The CQ SSB contest is in late October and hopefully the station can be ready for all DX contests.    His first priority is to be ready for the CQ WWW DX CW contest coming November 23-24^th.    Holger’s daughter Xenia ZL4YL, #77857, will join him for a week at the improved Chatham station.    Xenia’s ZL7YL call will be used during the CW contest in November.    Holger hopes to improve the power at the station so that they can run two amps during some    contests. The old battery system runs out in 10-12 hours.    I would suspect Holger’s goal will be for the station changes to have a 35-50 percent increase in scores for all    CW and    SSB contests in the coming DX season.

VP6 Pitcairn Island.    Miralda VP6MW #50434, was active this summer on FT4/8 28074 and 21074.

DX Note: Chatham has had 10-10 activity in the past.    You must consider this a rare 10-10 QSO location as there is not a member living on Chatham!

 

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.phphttp://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 .

Propagation:      I expect the solar flux to range from about 190-325 this Fall.    The sun crosses the equator on September 22^nd for the autumnal Equinox, and the Sun will give us the same equal night and day in both hemispheres.   Cycle 25 eleven-year cycle started five years ago on November 17, 2019.    Sunspots get counted by looking at the Sun but the solar flux is measured by radio at 2.8 GHz.   The 2024 monthly max solar flux was:    Jan 196, Feb 208, Mar 209, April 227, May 233, June 203, July 242 and  August 336.   Average 232.

The 2024 monthly min solar flux was:    Jan 126, Feb 137, Mar 127, April 112, May 135, June 165, July 164 and August 204.    Average 146.

On September 1^st, the solar flux was 232, the A index 26 and K index 3.     There were lots of sunspots on the Sun over the past year with increased solar flux.   

This Cycle 25 hit a high flux value of 336 on August 8^th.   

The average flux for the past eight months is 189.   

The previous solar peaks were in 2014, 2001, 1989 & 1979.    The USAF forecast for September 1^st to Oct 15^th has a range of 230-285 with average flux 257, which is up 61 points from the last quarterly forecast.    The flux graph is showing a slowing growth in the top curve of the flux numbers the past 6 months, which indicates a peak of cycle 25 in August!

My Prediction:    Over the next four months, the best propagation on Ten could be: September 9-13^th; October 6-10^th, November 3-7^th, & December 1-5^th.   The ARRL Ten meter contest is on December 14-15^th , just one week after my projected high in December.   For the USA, expect a 30-45% chance of DX to Europe, Asia, South America or Pacific areas.   Use the beacons on 28.175-28.300 MHZ to tell if the band is open.    If closed for SSB, use FT8 on 28074 for a QSO.

There were no new DX members join in June to August:        Rainer DL8NCS #78328 and Gisela DF9NGO #78329 are the last DX that joined in May.    Mike KD9YXS #78342 was the last USA member to join.

Thanks to the Daily DX by Bernie W3UR    #25731 and the ARRL DX Bulletins.    This 10-10 DX News edition is my number 132^nd of DXing reports for the past 33 years!   

DX news to:    Mike Davidson, 26274 Whispering Pines Ave, Denham Springs LA 70726 USA Email: N5MT@aol.com.

 

DX IS!     73    Mike Davidson N5MT    #24949

      Copyright © 2024 by N5MT

TenX DX News      June 1, 2024

Mike Davidson N5MT #24949   Download as PDF

Welcome to the Summer season of the DX News. The Sun is still trying to produce big Sun spots that keep the Solar flux high and a maximum high for Cycle 25 may have just occurred!    DX Propagation into Europe and Asia this past quarter is still good which gave us record Winter QSO Party scores in February.    Another record was set at Hamvention in Xenia OH with 35,877 hams as the official attendance.    Please remember Field Day 2024 is June 22-23^rd which could have the best propagation in the month of June!

I am sorry to report but the ARRL website has had serious    problems about the time Hamvention started and I was finally able to log in today.    There is still no access to LoTW which is still off line on June 1^st.

Someone asked about my station antenna compared to what I had back in Houston TX.    I moved to Louisiana after storm Harvey flooded my house and we decided to move close to relatives near where I was born in Louisiana.    When I sold the house I had to take down the tower but I decided not to move it to the new house and use something smaller!    So the new place has a multi-band vertical and I have talked with 31 DX countries with a 10-10 member the past six years.    When I was in Houston the last six years, I worked 40 DX countries with 10-10 members and some of those were 1^st countries!    So yes I do miss the four element beam at 75 ft.    If a new DX    country comes up, I do have access to a remote station to work the far away DX.

Summer time is when you must do any repairs on problem    antennas that you will be using in the winter DX season.    http://hamgallery.com/W1JR/The ARRL 10 Meter contest in December is popular and other DX contest, could give you more new countries and more 10-10 contacts, so fix up the antenna farm.    My station has slowed down here as I try to fix a few items that are in need of repair, so you should be doing the same.    Plus get rid of any old junk in the shack that can be a hazard!

Update on the replacement of the Win1010 program.   

Jeff N7YG #65084, continues to add features to the replacement program and testing continues.    My 10-10 log contains many years of history so I am using that data to help debug the new program.    I am still working on a few awards that I did not apply for in the old program and I found some duplicate records that I have deleted.    I expect more testing will take some time to get all the bugs out of this new    program, so good luck.

Many USA east coast stations have been talking into Europe each day this past Spring. The next Summer QSO Party is scheduled for early August and it is a favorite upcoming event.    Results will be posted on the 10-10 Website.     

Joe W1JR #17912 has been writing a summary of yearly DX activity for a long time.    At: http://hamgallery.com/W1JR/ .

This year is the 62^nd anniversary for 10-10, so try to find a members with a 62 in their 10-10 number and log them. Last year 2023, I logged 11 members with the anniversary date.

Be sure to look and follow the future 1010 DX events coming later this year listed below!

OK, its time to talk DX, the hot months of spring have been better for Ten meter skip and we had a rare      DXpedition into Africa for you to read about.   

A few SSB contest this year produced good scores and a few DX members may have increased your 10-10 DX count.

Countries Award:    There were no Countries Award applications submitted this past quarter.     

_______________________________________________

General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:

4U United Nations NY.    The UN station 4U1UN #55555, in New York city, was heard in February and March on CW.    The beacon is always on 28200 MHZ.

5A Libya. Abubaker 5A1A #69222 is using a new call 5A1AL in Libya.    This new call is not a 10-10 member and    he was spotted on FT4 and FT8 in March & April.

7P Lesotho.    A big DXpedition went to Lesotho Africa from March 20-29^th call 7P8EI    The two members were Thos EI2JD #73610 and Declan EI9HQ #71019.    They used CW, SSB & FT4. This is a rare 10-10 location!    

CE0Y Easter Isl.    Jorge CE0YHF #39382, is now on Easter Island working at a hospital.    He has been on Ten using FT8 in April and March, so good luck.

CE0Z Juan Fernandez Isl.    A DXpedition to the island in February using call CB0ZA was a good event.    Members were: Ramon NP4G #36218 and Hal W8HC #12502.

Note: Juan Fernandez Island is a rare 10-10 DX location!

DU Philippines.    Tim N4GN #41856 has not used his new 4G1G callsign as yet from the Phillippines.       

ET Ethiopia.    Ken K4ZW #18573 was at the club station in May.    The club call ET3AA does not have a 10-10, so you will have to find Ken for 10-10 credit and he prefers CW.

FO/A Austral Isl. Haru JA1XGI #55571 was using call TX5XG from March 27^th to April 3^rd mostly on CW.https://AustralVacation.amebaownd.com

FJ St. Barthelemy.    Phil K2LIO #7746 is now living on St. Bart and uses call FJ4WEB.    He returns to New York for visits when he is not on the island.

H40 Temotu.    A DX group of 8 ops were on Temotu 

from February 22 to March 5^th using call H40WA.    Paul N6PSE #68859 but I do not have info if Paul was on Ten.

KH0 N. Mariana Islands.    Tom KH0/KC0W #67688 was on for a short contest in May from the island. He will erect a 6 band hexbeam up 70 feet soon, so good luck.

         

OA Peru. Ed OA4SS #10802 is back on Ten using CW with his dipole mostly around 28017 MHZ.

OE Austria. Rene DL2JRM #69623 was expected to use call OE7/DL2JRM until May 12^th.    No reports.

PJ2 Curacao.    Andreas DK5ON #54260 was on the island from March 12-25^th as PJ2/DK5ON on CW, SSB and FT8.

V3 Belize.    Uwe DL8UD #70315, was active until March 4^th as V3O and not V31KO.    Mostly SSB this trip.   

V5 Namibia.    Mike V51MA #64688, and I have talked several times this year on SSB and he is the only DX net control operator that helps the 10-10 daily net on 28380 MHZ at 1800 UTC except Sundays when there is no net.

VP2M Montserrat.    Thaire W2APF #50022 was on Montserrat until April 11^th as VP2MDX on CW.

VP5 Turks & Caicos Isl.    John K4BAI #45389    used call VP5/K4BAI in May on Providenciales.

VP6 Pitcairn Island.    Miralda VP6MW #50434, is back and active on her fixed radio.    She was on a lot in May    mostly FT4 28074 about 2300 UTC & maybe 28555.

VP9 Bermuda.    Les N1SV #71546 was in the ARRL DX SSB contest the first weekend of March using call VP9I.

      Tom KG9EE #71139 was active as VP9/KG9EE from April 29^th to May 16^th from Bermuda.

      Darrell AB2E #9753 operated as VP9I from Bermuda in late May 23-27^th mostly CW and FT8.    LoTW.   

YJ Vanuatu.    A group of four ops activated YJ0VK from March 29^th to April 11^th and Matt K0BBC #76064 was there.

YS El Salvador.    Ray YS1RR #24381 has been on the band from 1200 -1700 UTC this quarter.    Mostly FT8.

ZF Cayman Isl.    Scott K7ZO #55678 and two friends,    used call ZF1A during the DX SSB contest March 2-3^rd.

Reports on March 30^th for ZF1A may not have been Scott.

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Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:

CY9C St.Paul Isl.    A DXpedition scheduled for August 26^th to September 5^th will take place by ops that were on Sable Isl recently.    The ARRL has pre-approved the CY9C DXpedition for DXCC credit.    Members are: Mike K9NW #29804, Larry W0PR #31559 and Dan W4DKS #5395.

3D Rotuma Island.    A DXpedition set for November 15^th to December 4^th with 6 ops will use callsign 3D2Z.    The only member is Hal W8HC #12502.    They will use three stations and two remote Ribs on Robinson 

hexbeam up 70 feet soon, so good luck.

         

OA Peru. Ed OA4SS #10802 is back on Ten using CW with his dipole mostly around 28017 MHZ.

OE Austria. Rene DL2JRM #69623 was expected to use call OE7/DL2JRM until May 12^th.    No reports.

PJ2 Curacao.    Andreas DK5ON #54260 was on the island from March 12-25^th as PJ2/DK5ON on CW, SSB and FT8.

V3 Belize.    Uwe DL8UD #70315, was active until March 4^th as V3O and not V31KO.    Mostly SSB this trip.   

V5 Namibia.    Mike V51MA #64688, and I have talked several times this year on SSB and he is the only DX net control operator that helps the 10-10 daily net on 28380 MHZ at 1800 UTC except Sundays when there is no net.

VP2M Montserrat.    Thaire W2APF #50022 was on Montserrat until April 11^th as VP2MDX on CW.

VP5 Turks & Caicos Isl.    John K4BAI #45389    used call VP5/K4BAI in May on Providenciales.

VP6 Pitcairn Island.    Miralda VP6MW #50434, is back and active on her fixed radio.    She was on a lot in May    mostly FT4 28074 about 2300 UTC & maybe 28555.

VP9 Bermuda.    Les N1SV #71546 was in the ARRL DX SSB contest the first weekend of March using call VP9I.

      Tom KG9EE #71139 was active as VP9/KG9EE from April 29^th to May 16^th from Bermuda.

      Darrell AB2E #9753 operated as VP9I from Bermuda in late May 23-27^th mostly CW and FT8.    LoTW.   

YJ Vanuatu.    A group of four ops activated YJ0VK from March 29^th to April 11^th and Matt K0BBC #76064 was there.

YS El Salvador.    Ray YS1RR #24381 has been on the band from 1200 -1700 UTC this quarter.    Mostly FT8.

ZF Cayman Isl.    Scott K7ZO #55678 and two friends,    used call ZF1A during the DX SSB contest March 2-3^rd.

Reports on March 30^th for ZF1A may not have been Scott.

————————————————————————

Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:

CY9C St.Paul Isl.    A DXpedition scheduled for August 26^th to September 5^th will take place by ops that were on Sable Isl recently.    The ARRL has pre-approved the CY9C DXpedition for DXCC credit.    Members are: Mike K9NW #29804, Larry W0PR #31559 and Dan W4DKS #5395.

3D Rotuma Island.    A DXpedition set for November 15^th to December 4^th with 6 ops will use callsign 3D2Z.    The only member is Hal W8HC #12502.    They will use three stations and two remote Ribs on Robinson Crusoe Island.    LoTW.

5U Niger.    Elvira IV3FSG #54292 will be    DXing in Niger as 5U5K.    She will be multimode from June 6-20^th.    Website: https://www.qrz.com/db/5U5K .     

JA Minami Daito Isl.    Haru JA1XGI #55571 will be on the island for two days July 21-23^rd.    Daito is IOTA AS-047 which is 249 miles east of Okinawa and south of Japan.

KH0 Mariana Isl.    Tom KC0W #67688 is going to operate with call KH0V from November 23-24^th.

UN Kazakhstan.    Uwe DL8UD #70315 will be on from September 10^th to 19^th using call UN/DL8UD.    RARE!

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.phphttp://ebarc.org/pdf/dx-entity-history.pdf

Ham Lookup diff ways: https://Haminfo.tetranz.com/map .

Ham LoTW users: http://www.hb9bza.net/lotw-users-list .

NEW: WM7DSolar:https://www.wm7d.net/hamradio/solar/

FT8 Fox/Hound Video:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=GcbtTKSRkus .

Propagation:      I expect the solar flux to range from about 125-235 this Summer.    The summer Solstice equinox is June 21^st , and it’s the day of the year that has the longest day in the northern hemisphere.    The Sun is high over the 30 degree parallel and giving us lots of sunshine to N. America.    Remember, Cycle 25 started five years ago on November 17, 2019!    This past quarter saw bad sunspots and flares that increased the solar flux.    Sunspots are counted by looking at the Sun but the flux is measured by radio at 2.8 GHz.   

The 2025 monthly max solar flux:    Jan 196, Feb 208, Mar 209, April 227, and May 233.    Average 214.6. 

The 2024 monthly min solar flux:    Jan 126, Feb 137, Mar 127, April 112, and May 135.    Average 127.

On June 1^st, the solar flux was 179, the A index was 12 and K index was 2.     There have been more sunspots on the Sun over the past four years with increased solar flux up 35-75 points.    This cycle 25 hit a high value of 288 on April 21^st.    The average flux for the past 6 months is over 165.    The previous solar peaks were in 2014, 2001, 1989 and 1979.    The USAF forecast for June 1^st to July 15^th has a range of 160-225 with avg flux 191.1, which is up 20 points from the last quarterly forecast.    The high flux in June is predicted to be just about the same time as the ARRL Field Day weekend.

My Prediction:    Over the coming months, the best prop    conditions on Ten could be: June 27-30^th; July 21-23^rd, Aug 18-21^st, Sept 14-16^th & Oct 11-13^rd.    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 open.    If closed for SSB, use FT8 on 28074 for a QSO.

New DX members joining from March to May 2024 were: Chris VA7TU #78309, Rainer DL8NCS #78328, & Gisela DF9NGO #78329.    Juan N6VDR #78333 was the last member in May and 39 members joined this past quarter.

Thanks to the Daily DX by Bernie W3UR    #25731 and the ARRL DX Bulletins.    This 10-10 DX News edition is my number 131^st of DXing reports for the past 32 years.    All

DX news to:    Mike Davidson, 26274 Whispering Pines Ave, Denham Springs LA 70726 USA Email: N5MT@aol.com.

DX IS!     73    Mike Davidson N5MT    #24949

      Copyright © 2024 by N5MT

TenX DX News      March 1, 2024

Mike Davidson N5MT #24949   Download as PDF

 

Welcome to the Spring season of the DX News. The Sun is still producing Sun spots that keep the Solar flux high and maybe a maximum high for Cycle 25 may occur in 2024 or 2025! DX Propagation into Europe and Asia this past quarter has been better which may have given us a record Winter QSO Party event the first weekend of February.    I counted    100+ logs received by Dan KZ3T #41015 who has posted the results on the 10-10 website where I came in 9^th place.

I write about DX’ers that have helped us over the years to put 10-10 into our logs.    Here is a recent member who is now SK.    He was an outstanding DX op, a first class DX organizer and a big help to our hobby for 65 years as a ham:

He was Bob Allphin    K4UEE    #75256.

Bob and his DXpedition members have given out several new 10-10 countries.    He has organized rare DXpeditions that have gone to the most wanted places on our planet.

Bob passed on February 10, 2024 at the age of 79.   

Bob grew up in a military family with his father going to foreign assignments and he got his ham license at the age of 14.    Teenagers have a way of being good CW ops and that was his preferred mode.    He retired early in life and his passion for DXpedition became his new hobby.    He has visited 131 DXCC entities and operated from 85, plus a few world records and WRTC events to his credit.    RIP Bob.

http://hamgallery.com/W1JR/The big ARRL 10 Meter contest last December had a good showing with several big contest stations making over 3000 contacts!    My station only had a few hundred with my vertical but I did log several 10-10 friends that weekend.

Update on the replacement of the Win1010 program.   

Jeff N7YG #65084, started re-writing the program several months ago and there are a few Beta testers helping.    I was a Beta tester for Jim K4HAV/SK.    So I am helping with Beta testing on the replacement program.    My 10-10 log contains 44 years of history so I am using that data to help debug the new program.    My log has over 17000 members, a lot of DX countries, OM/XYL teams, VP numbers, counties and prefixes.    I still have a few awards that I did not apply for in the old program so I am hoping to make progress with a few new awards.    I expect testing will take several more weeks to get the final version ready for release in 2024.

     

OK its time now to talk DX, the winter months have been better for Ten meter skip and I have listed two rare 10-10 sites below.    The CQWW SSB contest had a good start to the fall DX season with over 100 countries worked on Ten by friends in Texas.    When you work a DXCC in the Ten Meter contest in 48 hours, you have good antennas and skip was open for you to log over one hundred countries!

Many USA east coast stations have been talking into Europe for several hours each day this past Winter. The 

Winter QSO Party results are posted in this issue and the 10-10 Website.    The    ARRL Ten Meter contest gave me over 200 contacts with a dozen new 10-10 members in my log!   

I hope some of you worked a new 10-10 country in Africa this past winter as Mike V51MA #64688 has been active many times this past winter on the 10-10 Daily net.   

One of our members Joe W1JR #17912 has been writing a  general summary of yearly DX activity for the past 21 years.    His DX reports at:  http://hamgallery.com/W1JR/ .

This year is the 62^nd anniversary for 10-10, so try to find a members with a 62 in their 10-10 number and log them. Last year 2023, I found 11 members with the anniversary date.

Countries Award:    There were no Countries Award applications submitted this past quarter. So I worked on my 10-10 log data and found more OM/XYL teams for another award for 275 Teams #1.    Thanks Marcus KM5EH.     

_______________________________________________

General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:

4L Georgia.    Alex K6VHF #77458 was in Georgia in February as 4L/K6VHG for a week.    Alex was there in November 2022 for a longer stay and operated on Ten.

4U United Nations.    The UN station 4U1UN #55555, in the New York, was heard in Dec/Jan/Feb on CW and in Oct/Nov 2023 on SSB.    The beacon is on 28200 MHZ.

5A Libya. Abubaker 5A1A #69222 is using a new call 5A1AL in Libya, this callsign is not a 10-10 member and does not use LoTW!    He was on CW in February.

6Y Jamaica. Rob VE4GV #8852 was using VE4GV/6Y from February 10-24^th.

A3 Tonga.    Al K7AR #2736 was on Tonga for a CW contest with a friend.    He used call A31DL until Feb 27^th.

CE0Z Juan Fernandez Isl.    A DXpedition to the island was from February 10-23^rd using CB0ZA by seven ops.    Members: Ramon NP4G #36218 and Hal W8HC #12502. JuanF Island is a rare 10-10 DX location!

DU Philippines.    Tim N4GN has a new DX call 4G1G and he may build a new station in DU later this year.   

ET Ethiopia.    Ken K4ZW #18573 was back at the club station ET3AA no 10-10, helping club members operate in December.    Ken and two friends operated from January 11- 20^th.    Ken likes CW so good luck for a new one.

FJ St. Barthelemy.    Phil    K2LIO #7746 now lives on St. Bart using call FJ4WEB.    He returns to New York for visits when he is not on St. Barthelemy.    Good luck.

H40 Temotu.    A DX group of 8 ops were on Temotu from February 22 to March 7, 2024 using call H40WA.    The only member was Paul N6PSE #68859.

https://Swains2023.com..K US.    The Battleship Iowa NI6BB #77115 was on in February when I worked the ship berthed in San Pedro CA.         

OA Peru. Ed OA4SS #10802 was back on Ten on CW with his rig an dipole on 28017 Mhz in February.   

P4 Aruba.    John W2GD #14109 was back in Aruba for another visit operating as P44W in February.

PJ7 St. Maarten.    Ed N2HX #25435 was on for the    ARRL Ten meter contest using call PJ7PL.    He was on St. Kitts with a new DX call V49R last October.

Gary KC9EE #16977 started operating on February 21^st and will leave on March 6^th. Gary likes CW & SSB contest.

TF Iceland.    Chuck KC4KQE #64759 was in Iceland from February 17-26^th on SSB and FT8.    Call TF/KC4KQE.       

TX Clipperton Island.    A big DXpedition to Clipperton in January used call TX5S.    Members: Gene K5GW #15119, Paul N6PSE #68859 and Nodir EY8MM #52767.

V2 Antigua.    Chuck KG9N #17038 used call V26CV from Antigua mostly CW mode until February 20^th..   

V3 Belize.    Uwe DL8UD #70315, was expected to be active until March 6^th as V31KO and V3O in contest.   

V4 St. Kitts & Nevis.    Jeff K1ZN #60508 used call V44/K1ZN from February 25 to March 4^th.   

V5 Namibia.    Mike V51MA #64688, we have talked several times this year on SSB and he is the only DX net control operator that helps the 10-10 daily net on 28380 MHZ at 1800 UTC except Sundays when there is no net.

VP2M Montserrat.    Thaire W2APF #50022 was on Montserrat from January 11^th to April 11^th as VP2MDX.

VP6 Pitcairn Island.    Miralda VP6MW #50434, is back on the air after fixing a problem at her station.    She likes FT4 on 28180 or SSB 28555 Mhz recently.

VP9 Bermuda.    Darrell AB2E #9753 was mostly on CW and FT8 as AB2E/VP9 and VP9I for contest in February.

———————————————————————-

Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:

7P Lesotho.    A big group of DX ops are going to Lesotho Africa from March 20-29^th.    The only 10-10 members are Thos EI2JD #73610 and Declan EI9HQ #71019 using callsign 7P8EI.    They hope to setup eight stations for CW, SSB & Digi. Don’t miss this rare 10-10 location!    

CE0Y Easter Isl.    Jorge CE0YHF #39382, maybe on Easter Island while helping at a hospital.

CY9C St.Paul Isl.    A DXpedition for August 26^th to Sept 25^th    may take place by ops that were on Sable Isl recently.    More info will be coming soon.    Good luck for a new one.

FO Austral Isl.    Haru JA1XGI #55571 will be using call TX5G from March 25 to April 3, 2024 on Austral Island.

PJ2 Curacao.    Andreas DK5ON #54260 will be on the island from March 11-27^th as PJ2/DK5ON on all bands CW, SSB and Digi.    LoTW.

VP9 Bermuda.    Les N1SV #71546 will be on Bermuda for the ARRL DX SSB contest the first weekend of March using call VP9I and VP9/N1SV outside the contest.

YJ Vanuatu.    A group of four ops will activate YJ0VK from March 29^th to April 11.    The only 10-10 member is Matt K0BBC #76064.    The DX ops are from Australia.   

ZF Cayman Isl.    Scott K7ZO #55678 and two friends, will    use call ZF1A during the DX SSB contest March 2-3^rd.

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.phphttp://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 .

Propagation:      I expect the solar flux to range from 132-212 this Spring.    The spring equinox is March 21^st it’s the day of the year that has the equal day/night times in both hemispheres.    The Sun is over the equator giving an equal amounts of sunshine to both hemispheres.    Remember,

Cycle 25 started on November 17, 2019 almost five years ago but six more to go!    This quarter saw a lot of sunspots visible with M and X class flares that increased the solar flux.    Sunspots are found by looking at the Sun and the flux is measured at 2.8 GHz.   

The 2023 monthly max solar flux:    Jan 234, Feb 215, Mar 188, April 176, May 180, June 180, July 179, Aug 176, Sept 176, Oct 166, Nov 194 and Dec 195.    Average 188.

The 2023 monthly min solar flux:    Jan 136, Feb 134, Mar 129, April 125, May 134, June 144, July 154,    Aug 139, Sept 131, Oct 119, Nov 118 and Dec 126. Average 132.   

On March 1^st, the solar flux was 164, the A index was 4 and K index was 2.     There have been more sunspots on the Sun over the past three years with increased solar flux up 25-60 points.    This cycle 25 hit a high value of 208 on February 12^th.    The average flux for the past 6 months was 154.8.    The previous solar peaks were in 2014, 2001, 1989 and 1979.    The USAF forecast for March 1^st to April 14^th has a range of 155-180 with avg flux 169, which is up 19 points from the Dec 2023 quarter forecast.

My Prediction:    Over the next four months, the best conditions on Ten could be: March 29-April 5^th; April 29-31^st, May 23-26^th & June 19-23^rd.    For the USA, expect a 50%    chance of DX to Europe, Asia, S. America or Pacific.    Use the beacons 28.175-28.300 MHZ to find if the band is open and if it’s closed for SSB, use FT8 on 28074 for a Q.

New DX member that in December to February 2024:    Lawrence VA7LTX #78237, Henry VE3GRX #78251, Jim M0HDX #78263 & Denise VE7QYR #78294 was the last    calls issued.    Rick KG5CYA #78305 was the last member in February and about 125 members joined this past quarter.

Thanks to the Daily DX by Bernie W3UR    #25731 and the ARRL DX Bulletins.    This 10-10 DX News edition is my number 130^th of DXing reports for the past 32 years.   

DX news to:    Mike Davidson, 26274 Whispering Pines Ave, Denham Springs LA 70726 USA Email: N5MT@aol.com.

DX IS!     73    Mike Davidson N5MT    #24949

      Copyright © 2024 by N5MT

 

Win1010 Version 4 HOWTO Video Part 2 — Installation and Setup

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Win1010 Version 4 HOWTO Video Part 1 — Inroduction

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