2007 ARRL 10 Meter Contest
12/10/2007 |
KF9US
This was, without a doubt, the toughest 10 Meter Contest in which I have ever participated. From beginning to end, the dead periods far outlasted the openings, here in north central Wisconsin.
Friday evening (local time) offered an opening from Texas to seemingly everywhere else, so I managed to work the bigger stations in TX, but I couldn't hear anybody else. Saturday was quite dead virtually all day, until just after local sunset, when the band opened to the SE and I followed the opening from FL and GA, west through AL, MS, LA, AR and TX. Sunday, I worked my one and only DX, one of the 4 LU stations I heard. Through the contest, I heard XE, TG and CX, but they were very weak and couldn't hear my 100 watts. One telling clue was that on Sunday, the usual big gun LUs were issuing QSO numbers in the low hundreds, while in a "normal" contest, these numbers might be in the 2000's.
I never heard any signals from the west at all; no big signals from California. And certainly nothing from the northeast, except one QSO from MD. I think there must have been a 30 second opening at that time.
Hopefully, the sunspot numbers will be on the rise for next year. One good thing, though. I did have plenty of time to clean out my shack, while listening to the hissing sound of "no signals" from my Icom.
See you next year!
73,
Phil -- KF9US
Friday evening (local time) offered an opening from Texas to seemingly everywhere else, so I managed to work the bigger stations in TX, but I couldn't hear anybody else. Saturday was quite dead virtually all day, until just after local sunset, when the band opened to the SE and I followed the opening from FL and GA, west through AL, MS, LA, AR and TX. Sunday, I worked my one and only DX, one of the 4 LU stations I heard. Through the contest, I heard XE, TG and CX, but they were very weak and couldn't hear my 100 watts. One telling clue was that on Sunday, the usual big gun LUs were issuing QSO numbers in the low hundreds, while in a "normal" contest, these numbers might be in the 2000's.
I never heard any signals from the west at all; no big signals from California. And certainly nothing from the northeast, except one QSO from MD. I think there must have been a 30 second opening at that time.
Hopefully, the sunspot numbers will be on the rise for next year. One good thing, though. I did have plenty of time to clean out my shack, while listening to the hissing sound of "no signals" from my Icom.
See you next year!
73,
Phil -- KF9US
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