[CQ-Contest] What Happened on 10 Meters?

[Doug Grant]

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 Jimk8mr at aol.com wrote:
>
> Looking at the CQWW SSB 10 meter totals on 3830, I see huge  differences
> between numbers posted in Europe and those from the USA.  For  example DF0HQ
> had 676/26/109, vs. 209/14/44 at K3LR.
>
> Was there some sort of very short opening that peaked in the hours the EU
> could have worked people, but petered out before the Western Hemisphere
> could  take advantage?  Multiple hop Es in useful directions? Something else I'm
>  missing?
>
> Inquiring minds want to know.

On Sunday of WWSSB, I kept asking loud Europeans who called me on 15
if we could try 10M. Quite a few said 10M was "wide open", but on
closer inspection it was open inside Europe (and to Africa, Middle
East, etc.). No propagation to the U.S, other than a few W4s. One loud
European tried to move me to 10, since he was hearing lots of signals
and figured that the band would be open.

I did not work or hear a single European on 10M. And I did not hear
any Ws beyond ground-wave (I did not work or hear Zone 3 or 4, for
example), even while listening to the South Americans running Ws -
their callers were inaudible.

It was a very different contest in Europe than it was in North America.

I am hoping this will change in a few years...or maybe a few weeks!

73,

Doug K1DG