[CQ-Contest] 10 Meters

[Merrimon Crawford Pladsen]

My husband and I worked the 10-X contest as an OM/XYL team this 
weekend.  We made 275 contacts each.  We did not make a total die hard 
effort, started late most mornings.  I was using a 3 element tribander not 
that high up, maybe 55 feet, with an Alpha 99 amp running only about 1000 
watts.  Most of my reports were 5-9 to 20 over.  I worked many mobiles and 
people using 25 watts with small antennas.

Propagation was odd and interesting.  For 30 minutes, I'd hear only 
Minnesota and then it would be open to the east coast and then it would be 
closed down to all but Colorado/ground wave.  Then I'd work Alaska and 
Hawaii and Maine.  Then it would be open to Alabama along a line up to 
Ohio.  At times I could really tell where the ionized area was and see it 
move westward.  I worked more Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma (loud!) than I 
have ever heard before on 10m.  As far as DX goes, I worked VP2E, CO2, PY 
and LU and maybe a few others.  Groundwave was long and strange.  I worked 
stations in Colorado 80+ miles away.  I heard Colorado locations I have 
never heard before on 10m that are usually too far for groundwave.   Other 
than AK and HI, I heard nothing to the west.  Propagation was the best 
Sunday morning.

Merri AB0MV

   At 08:03 AM 2/8/04, you wrote:

>Just curious if ten is open anywhere?  I was on periodically throughout
>Saturday - made one contact, the only person I heard.  I doubt today
>will be much better.  What a difference a year makes in the solar cycle.
>
>
>
>Pat
>
>WW9R
>
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