[NLRS] The almost VHF ARRL 10m contest

[w0zq at aol.com]

Hello NLRS land -

>From time-to-time its good for all of us to stretch our limits a little bit .... look around, try something new, go back to something that was fun that you use to do years ago, etc.  Here is one such opportunity.

This weekend is the ARRL's 10 meter contest.  The contest starts at 0000 UTC Saturday and runs through 2359 UTC Sunday, or 48 hours.  You will find activity on both CW and phone.  The contest exchange for W/VE stations is RS(T) and state or province and for DX its RS(T) & and a sequential serial number starting with 001.  You can work a station on CW and work them again on phone.   Full rules at http://www.arrl.org/10-meter .

So there are a couple of things that make THIS 10m contest unique and thus a reason for YOU to participate.

First is that the solar flux is pretty good right now so F2 conditions are decent .... not great, but decent.   This may be one of the better 10m contests for some years to come as we are at, or around, the current solar cycle peak and its only down hill from here.  Its time to fish or cut bait.  Are you trying to work WAS on 10m, are you working on your DXCC then this is THE event.  

Second, our sister HF club, the Minnesota Wireless Association, has a push on to active 10m regionally.  At this time they have pledges from about 65 MN, WI, IA stations that they will be on and playing in the 10m contest.  How many more NLRS stations can we add to this list?   Even if your just around for a few hours here and there during the weekend, turn on your rig and push the "28" button and hand out some Qs.

Third.  Did you know that about 1/2 of ALL licensed hams in the USA are technicians.  Technicians have access to 10m phone, 28.3 to 28.5 (as well as CW in the CW band).  When we get an E opening this is one reason why 28.3 to 28.5 gets so busy ... there are twice as many "fish" there.  If you are a technician yourself take advantage of this event to see what this part of ham radio is all about.  

Fourth.  Its the mid-winter Es season.  Who know this better than us!   If you think 6m E's is fun, 28 MHz E's is like Easy Street.  If you are really into it, 10m MS works the same as 6m MS, and much easier than 2m MS.   Its a propagation smorgasbord.  Who loves propagation more than VHFers?

Fifth.  What a great opportunity to make sure your IF rig is working well.  Disconnect that IF input port and connect it to an antenna.  Did you know that other hams actual contest on frequencies that we use for IF?  Embrace IF leakage.

Sixth.  10m antenna are easy to make.  Their sort of like big 6m antennas.  A 10m dipole is 16.5 feet end-to-end.  Cut a wire and throw it up into a tree.  CB antennas work too.

That's it.  I hope to hear many NLRS guys on this weekend, CW, phone or both.  Lets see how many MN stations we can get on for this fun event.

73, Jon
W0ZQ