10m DXCC Summer Challenge contacts 2024

Not had a HF contact at all so far this month!

I used to work VK & ZL fairly regularly on 10 SSB back in the 80s & 90s, but I did have a 2 element HB9CV at the time.
I’ve not managed either this time around on any band, with India being my furthest east on 10.
Hoping to work ZL in November, but only because we’re over there for the first (and probably only time) for a three week tour!
I’m undecided whether to take the Albrecht 2990 which will give me 10, 11 & 12, or just the little Baofeng UV5RC. Unfortunately I can’t take both due to a severe lack of luggage space…

20/8/24

TZ4AM,  Mali  1 point  (50)

Glad to reach the half century, but I’m certainly not going to reach last years total.
Mali is a new DXCC for me this time around, at least 30 years since I last worked it!

Great catch there, John. Not one that's in my log ever for 10 or 11m.

Sounds like an awesome trip you've got coming up. I have relatives there, they've visited here a few times but I've never made it there yet sadly. I would take the 2990, but that's me.

Just the one this morning...

UA9JTJ - ASIATIC RUSSIA - 1pt (26)

Deb

Only one again today...

OD5OJ - LEBANON - 1pt (27)

Deb

Well done to everyone with their 10m contacts and enjoying the CT challenge. 

(I've done terribly but there's not much action with the hours I seem to keep.)

Deb's on a roll

I notice you're often an early bird Victor. I've often wondered what 10m is doing when I've gotten up early, but with the kit by the side of the bed daren't flick the switch for fear of getting a thick ear by the better half. I think if we ever had a 80m challenge you'd leave us standing 

Hi Neal,

Yeah nice seeing everyone doing well despite all the CME/Solar storms ruining the fun this summer.

I'm afraid I'm a dual-sleeper with two or three hours at night and again during the day so miss out on most of the fun. (Often leaving FT8 receiving on 10m to witness any action missed once I've woke up again! ) 80/40m is great at night/dawn though with the Americas & Caribbean punching through.

Well done again to everyone and a big thumbs up to you Neal for keeping the challenge on track.  

73
Victor

SangueG wrote:

Deb's on a roll

I notice you're often an early bird Victor. I've often wondered what 10m is doing when I've gotten up early, but with the kit by the side of the bed daren't flick the switch for fear of getting a thick ear by the better half. I think if we ever had a 80m challenge you'd leave us standing 

By the end of July I had only 11 on the board. Moving the station from the campervan parked out front to the cabin made putting up proper antennas simpler. The EF wire is giving me problems, possibly because the cabin is surrounded by trees, but now I've bought a NanoVNA, I'm hoping to get it working as it should. But for 10m, the coaxial dipole was a game changer.

My personal goal is still 30 by end of play.

I'll not be doing so much in the winter months as my other passion takes up my time. Next year I hope to do much better!

It's a shame the challenge doesn't go on to end of September to catch the propagation towards the equinox. But you've done a great job organising and updating, so for that I wholeheartedly thank you.

I spent far too much time yesterday evening chasing a CQ station in Indonesia, but glad to get Lebanon towards sunset.

Deb

I seem to be getting one a day at the moment

OE9HRV/P - AUSTRIA - 1pt (28)

Deb

Yep, followed the timing plan of previous years. The challenge timing also means we can't utilize the CQ WW WPX contest (one of the largest contests) at the end of March for points for this. It's quite evil isn't it  We get the spring Sporadic E (theoretically) but otherwise it's a real challenge. There might be an 11m fun challenge again this Winter if you find any spare minutes.

Well done on the one a day, it's been more like one 10m SSB contact a week for me over the past month and none giving any more points. The Brazilian and Romanian contests brought absolutely nothing on 10m to my QTH yesterday.

SangueG wrote:

Yep, followed the timing plan of previous years. The challenge timing also means we can't utilize the CQ WW WPX contest (one of the largest contests) at the end of March for points for this. It's quite evil isn't it  We get the spring Sporadic E (theoretically) but otherwise it's a real challenge. There might be an 11m fun challenge again this Winter if you find any spare minutes.

Well done on the one a day, it's been more like one 10m SSB contact a week for me over the past month and none giving any more points. The Brazilian and Romanian contests brought absolutely nothing on 10m to my QTH yesterday.

Hi Neal.

I get it about the challenge timing, I guess it's just me being frustrated that I was late to the party with my current setup.

I didn't hear anything from eastern Europe yesterday evening, but by just after 8pm (French time) South America, and particularly Brazil, was blasting in. No new countries heard though.

Deb

Well I thought I'd give it all a go again today seeing some DX cluster reports with what looked like some promising sporadic E......

Nada, nothing, eff-all.

Not that there wasn't some action out there, just not in my deep dark hole in the ground :-



At the top of the image is my local webSDR in Bedford and I pretty much pick up the same as them. (Not bad for my bit of washing line eh?)

At the bottom is the Wessex webSDR. Bit of a difference isn't there?!

Seems the East/West UK divide as mentioned by Jim Bacon (G3YLA) is in full play again.
(Especially as I checked most of the webSDR's all having a similar tale to tell.)

Not that I'm despondent (much) especially as my way too short washing line antenna bagged me some 160m Continental action this morning.  


Good luck everyone, you are all doing well considering the splatter of CME's we've experienced so far this year!

73
Victor

Had to go out to a BBQ today, but managed two this morning...

4K3ZX - AZERBAIJAN - 1pt (29)

EA5BRE - SPAIN - 1pt (30)

Deb

Another single today...

YY5AKI - VENEZUALA - 1pt (31)

Deb

VanRougeT4 wrote:

Another single today...

YY5AKI - VENEZUALA - 1pt (31)

Deb

Nice! I tried chasing down a YY5 yesterday and failed. Your antenna is really doing the  job!

SangueG wrote:

Nice! I tried chasing down a YY5 yesterday and failed. Your antenna is really doing the  job!

It wasn't easy with the pile up, Neal. 

The coaxial dipole seems to be working well for my location in a valley. My clearest takeoff is to the west/south west, so that helped. Plus the Washington's 80 watts, and virtually no noise.

The YY5 was at 3:20pm (French time) unusual time for s/America for me.

Good propagation yesterday with Indonesia and s/Africa coming in strong. I think ZS6LZ heard me, but a very strong Isreali station popped up just 2khz down and I couldn't be sure.

Deb

Two today...

HP1XV - PANAMA - 1pt (32)

TA8/HB9GUX - TURKEY - 1pt (33)
Very pleased to work this POTA activation from the Anatolia national park.

Deb

So happy for you Deb. Panama is an awesome contact too, I only have one in the log from there and not this year.

It's the last day of our challenge today. There is a large contest on that might bring some activity, the UK/EI. For anyone new to this contest the rules and exchanges you need to give are on THIS page. Current conditions show as 'poor' so everyone needs to get on the air and call CQ to make a world community HAARP.

I wish everyone the best of luck!

SangueG wrote:

It's the last day of our challenge today. There is a large contest on that might bring some activity, the UK/EI. For anyone new to this contest the rules and exchanges you need to give are on THIS page. Current conditions show as 'poor' so everyone needs to get on the air and call CQ to make a world community HAARP.

I wish everyone the best of luck!

The band picked up this evening, but only countries I already have, so nowt for me today.

Thanks so much for organising the challenge, Neal. I've very much enjoyed it and looking forward to next year if it's on again.

Deb

Pretty much the same here Deb. There was almost no activity all day until evening. I did not hear a single station on 10m taking part in the UK/EI contest. The evening, as it often does here, brought in a few of the larger stations from south America, and there was one station from Madagascar for quite a while on 28.540, that would of been a nice one for me to round our challenge off but I couldn't break the pileup.

Will leave it a couple of days before we call it and close the challenge in case anyone has any they have forgotten to log. But in the mean time, a big thank you to everyone who took part. Even if you have not managed points on the board, just calling CQ or trying to get back to other stations calling, or encouraging others in our challenge with their efforts has helped, even if in only a little way, to increase some SSB activity on the band during a summer where it has been difficult due to conditions and alternative modes choices of many operators. Well done everyone!

Sadly nothing more to add here Neal. 
My contact into Mali was my only one on HF in August, making it my worst month in the last four summers.  

Thanks again for running the show and I hope that you are top of the table, it’ll be great to see a smaller station finish above the big boys with their beams and easy DX contacts.

If my old bones survive the winter I look forward to doing this again from April next year!!

Please let me know if you or anyone else fancies trying a regular 40 metre net again during the winter, it would be great to keep in contact via radio.

Best 73 to all and I look forward to seeing the final table soon.

G0DNV, 

John, Barnstaple, N. Devon

A big thanks to you Neal for running the 10m challenge and well done to everyone that took part.  



My participation may have seemed lacklustre once again this year but it was great (or at least interesting) for me to discover the staggering differences in Sporadic-E activity depending on where your QTH is even just within the UK. (Along with a period of illness, different antenna being strung up, etc. I'm surprised I got involved at all!)

Everyone also had to suffer the multiple coronal mass ejections and solar storms the Sun spewed forth this year making for less than ideal operating conditions. Even then most of you managed some awesome global contacts so very well done indeed.

I may not have enough of a competitive streak in me to endure the relentless (and often fruitless) task of calling CQ for hours on end but did very much enjoy seeing everyone's efforts.


All the very best,
Victor

One important lesson I learnt from the challenge is that calling CQ once you have the easy ones in the log is fairly pointless. That just wastes time replying to CC that you already have.

My strategy after logging a dozen or so countries was to have the websdr in the Netherlands open in a browser to give me an indication of propagation and what countries/stations were being received in Twente, which is normally similar to what I can RX. It gives me a much wider picture than my G90s sdr display, and enables me to quickly tune to those stations that I needed. 

Actually breaking through a pile up does sometimes take time though

Deb

Thanks Neal for running the 10m  challenge and very well done on winning.
I started off well but faded after I lost my yagi to the storm, still not sorted it but still hope to get something back up soon
Well done everyone who took part
Al MW6RDX