2020 10m SSB Band Report.

10m SSB Band Report 2020 from IO81 square
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Having kept a daily 10m SSB propagation diary since 2017 along with the same location/equipment
and operating times ( within practical limits ) IMO 2020 was the peak for sporadic E DX both multi
hop and the first hop out from our Northernly latitude into a F layer contour of higher MUF and
possibly the best year since 2015 for the band/mode based on British Isles 10m phone league tables
on Clublog. I managed over 100 DXCC ITL on the band/mode in a roughly 60/40 % split ,60% being
Euro/North Africa and 40% being DX +2000 miles.This showed a marked difference over recent years with
only the month of May IMO showing any increase from C-19 and global lock downs working 62 different
DXCC in this month alone, the rest of the year being purely down to propagation.
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JANUARY= A quite month with 22days where no propagation was recorded. The early part of the month had
sporadic E into Europe and as far to TA2 and VO1.
13xDXCC ITL.
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FEBRUARY= Very sparse again with 23days showing no propagation and only V5 heard on the DX front.
Just the one decent opening into Europe on the 11th .
9xDXCC ITL.
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MARCH= A slow start but the E season kicked in around the 13th to ZD7 and PY the following day.Major
openings were on the 24/5/7 and 28th of the month with strong E's allowing a first hop out to higher
MUF F layer contours with ZD7,PY,FR,5R,5T,HZ all workable.
19xDXCC ITL.   
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APRIL= Another slow start to the month but by the 25th things were really happening , DX came from
FR,PY,OD,ZD7,ZS,UA9,CE.This month still had 12days devoid of any outside UK propagation though.
31xDXCC ITL.
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MAY= Only the 6th had no propagation this month with the first USA/CARIBBEAN stations appearing on
the band/mode. Strong E's on the 11th led to great inter G backscatter whilst beaming into
Europe.DX was from NA/SA/AF and AS with odd days having three of the DX continents on the band at the
same time never mind the ever present Euro stuff.
62xDXCC ITL.
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JUNE= All days had some propagation to somewhere outside the UK this month.On the 1st the E's were
strong enough for a great inter G net and a little before that I worked VE and A6 within minutes of
each other.A good month for NA late in the evenings but also to the East early in the morning 4L,UA9,
EY etc.
43xDXCC ITL.
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JULY= Similar to June with all days having prop to somewhere , another good month for NA and areas to
the East but SA only made an apperance on one day.
45xDXCC ITL.
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AUGUST= One day was recorded with no prop ,very little from NA but SA was back in the evenings and
D4,ZD7,5T,TZ were on the band/mode from AF.
33xDXCC ITL.
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SEPTEMBER= The sporadic E finally began to receed this month with 16 of the 30 days having no
recorded propagation but SA was present on 5 of the days and seemed a good month for CX stations.
18xDXCC ITL.
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OCTOBER= More active than September across the month as a whole with only 7days devoid of propagation
and of course this month is always boosted by CQWW.SA inc. VP8 and the Southern parts of AF aswell as
a great USA opening in CQWW itself made for a good month.
52xDXCC ITL.
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NOVEMBER= This month really showed the influence of SC25 when the SFI got to above 100 units , VK was
heard here for the first time but nothing worked further than the middle East in that general
direction. A fair bit from AF , ZS stations with odd 9J2,3B8 and 7Q  were all workable  as were
stations in Florida and Cuba.
28xDXCC ITL.
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DECEMBER= A quiter month with the bulk of the DXCC worked coming in the ARRL 10m contest but VK,ZS,FR
and PY were still heard low and PZ,VO1,and OD being worked outside of the contest weekend. Winter
sporadic E openings to Europe late on boosted the monthly tally.
27xDXCC ITL.

Very interesting detailed information Kevin 


Thanks for sharing 


Craig

Great stuff Kevin, really great to see you here. I was thinking about you the other day and wondering where you were. I hadn’t realised you had rejoined. I used to love your propagation reports and explanations on the old forum.

Hi Paddy, well the walls are nice and soft here and the crayons are all bright colours ( they dont allow me anything sharp ) but they do let me out once in awhile.