|
Neal Dorling's Article
|
Why I Love The 10m Band And Why It May Become Your Favourite Too If You Are Newly Licenced
I am a fairly new ham, obtaining my Foundation licence in June 2021. Initially the only transceiver I had available to use on any ham bands was a CRT SS 6900n, a 10/11m radio which I had purchased to give 11m another go as a gazillion other people had done so around the Covid period.
Far from being at the optimum period of the sunspot cycle, I was not perturbed, and set out to try and make some contacts on the only band that gave me, 10m. With the 6900n dialled down to my allowed 10w fed into a homemade inverted V dipole in the loft I made my first licenced contact with LY4A on the 21st June.
That is one reason 10m is so great. Yes, it is heavily affected by the sunspot cycle and can be very quiet at its lows like 11m/CB, more so than some other bands, however it can be affected / enhanced by other forms of propagation. For the period of June / July which I started out in it was Sporadic E season and following on from my first contact into Lithuania, many others followed that early summer. Nearly 100 contacts in fact all over Europe and also my first “DX” contact into Canada VO1FOG, using just 10w PEP SSB via the 6900n and indoor antenna.
That is another reason 10m is awesome for newly licenced hams (UK based ones anyway) who are only allowed to use a maximum of 25w (it was 10w when I first passed), when conditions are just right, very little power is required on 10m to make contacts.
As the few years have passed, I have had access to other radios so that I can use on other bands, but I always find myself coming back to 10m, almost daily in fact. As well as my first ever SSB contacts, the band has been the one I have experienced most of my firsts of other modes including FM with S53M, CW with CN3A, RTTY with YT3X, JT9 with N4EF, Feld Hell with VA3PC, and C4FM with VA3MPM. Other modes also played with and contacts made on the band do not just include FT8, FT4, SSTV, JT65 and PSK63.
10m offers so much band space to experiment with where you will not annoy other operators with your trials. Many other modes of operation can be found being used on the band, not just those I have mentioned above but also FM repeaters which are not found on other HF bands. There is a designated chunk for beacons which can be fun to listen out for as propagation guides or if you want to set up your own beacon.
Antennas for the 10m band are the smallest of those used on the HF bands. The manageable size means you can easily construct your own as I do saving your pennies, and can also work well when installed indoors, particularly in loft/attic spaces, saving you further pennies and no masts or towers are then required. Ideal if you do not have much outdoor space or in a HOA.
20m and 40m are often the suggested HF bands for newly licenced hams. Those bands are indeed popular and contacts can be made fairly easily even under relatively poor propagation conditions. However, if you are under a very constrained budget, a lack of space, or like experimenting with antennas or various modes, give 10m a go. If you have an old expanded CB radio or export model sitting in your cupboard, you won’t need much more than a bit of wire for an antenna and you can be making contacts in no time. Ham radio does not need to be expensive.
Hope to catch you on the band!
73
Neal
2E0LMI
Far from being at the optimum period of the sunspot cycle, I was not perturbed, and set out to try and make some contacts on the only band that gave me, 10m. With the 6900n dialled down to my allowed 10w fed into a homemade inverted V dipole in the loft I made my first licenced contact with LY4A on the 21st June.
That is one reason 10m is so great. Yes, it is heavily affected by the sunspot cycle and can be very quiet at its lows like 11m/CB, more so than some other bands, however it can be affected / enhanced by other forms of propagation. For the period of June / July which I started out in it was Sporadic E season and following on from my first contact into Lithuania, many others followed that early summer. Nearly 100 contacts in fact all over Europe and also my first “DX” contact into Canada VO1FOG, using just 10w PEP SSB via the 6900n and indoor antenna.
That is another reason 10m is awesome for newly licenced hams (UK based ones anyway) who are only allowed to use a maximum of 25w (it was 10w when I first passed), when conditions are just right, very little power is required on 10m to make contacts.
As the few years have passed, I have had access to other radios so that I can use on other bands, but I always find myself coming back to 10m, almost daily in fact. As well as my first ever SSB contacts, the band has been the one I have experienced most of my firsts of other modes including FM with S53M, CW with CN3A, RTTY with YT3X, JT9 with N4EF, Feld Hell with VA3PC, and C4FM with VA3MPM. Other modes also played with and contacts made on the band do not just include FT8, FT4, SSTV, JT65 and PSK63.
10m offers so much band space to experiment with where you will not annoy other operators with your trials. Many other modes of operation can be found being used on the band, not just those I have mentioned above but also FM repeaters which are not found on other HF bands. There is a designated chunk for beacons which can be fun to listen out for as propagation guides or if you want to set up your own beacon.
Antennas for the 10m band are the smallest of those used on the HF bands. The manageable size means you can easily construct your own as I do saving your pennies, and can also work well when installed indoors, particularly in loft/attic spaces, saving you further pennies and no masts or towers are then required. Ideal if you do not have much outdoor space or in a HOA.
20m and 40m are often the suggested HF bands for newly licenced hams. Those bands are indeed popular and contacts can be made fairly easily even under relatively poor propagation conditions. However, if you are under a very constrained budget, a lack of space, or like experimenting with antennas or various modes, give 10m a go. If you have an old expanded CB radio or export model sitting in your cupboard, you won’t need much more than a bit of wire for an antenna and you can be making contacts in no time. Ham radio does not need to be expensive.
Hope to catch you on the band!
73
Neal
2E0LMI
You must be signed in to leave comments.. create your free account using your callsign
Article - Elodie Mirza 2E0MZA
