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10 meter help

DragoSapien

DragoSapien

KF5AEJ
Dec 28, 2008
64
0
16
58
Ft.Stockton, Tx.
Iv only been using VHF/UHF with repeaters, and now I would like to get into HF 10 meters. I would like to reach out to about 200 miles with out the use of a repeater. Can I do this, and how many watts would I need. Would the hill around me affect it much. Sorry, I'm new to this part of HF. I would also like any mobile radio recommendation.

73's
 

10 meter is not normaly used for local comms. I have talked up to 90 miles line of sight on 10, but not consistantly. Just get a decent hf rig, put ur antenna up as high as u can, and have fun. We have been getting some good openings lately. Just remember as a tech u are limited to 200 watts, and ssb,cw, and digital only. Remember ssb between 28.300 and 500. with USB, do not operate above 497.
Rich
 
10 meter when open will give you some nice contacts ..but it isnt open much these days,another year will make a huge difference...

you might get 100 miles direct contact local but that is streching it,50 to 70 miles is pretty common.Nation wide and when everything falls into place Europe and Australia can be done

as far as a radio goes,might look at a regular HF rig ..puts out 100 watts

Some are fairly reasonable used.300 to 500 $ and will be all you will need if/when you upgrade your ticket

And something you might want to look at is getting your general class ticket.That will give you a good piece of all the HF bands and 1500 watts of power instead of being limited to 200 watts

Within the past couple of days I have hit Poland,France,Russia and Sweden on 17 meters...so the bands are starting to open up a bit

On 40 meters and 80 meters 200 to 400 miles is very common
 
They say the DX cycle is a year behind so within this next year you should see a dramatic difference and next summer lookout it should be just happing!!

10 meters is alot like 11 meters as far as DXC or skip its a hit and miss when I here 11 meters hammering I can usually hit 10 meters and get some contacts in but...Not always or everytime. Ive tried that theaory and heard 11 meter filled and 10 quiet as a church mouse.

You want a pretty steady or constant chance of contacts get your General its always got someone on those bands thats pretty much where I spend my time as far as rag chewing 75 - 80 meters always has someone looking for someone to chat with but take note some of these groups can get a little crazy so you need to keep an open mind when listening in. :closedeyes:

I spend most evenings from 5:00 PM until the band fades on 3.913.0 and theres always someone on that frequency throughout the day.
 
TonyV is right on target. Get your General and you'll have the globe at your fingertips. I have found 75 meters to be remarkably good for what you want to do--talk semi-locally out to about 200 miles. During the day, distances are pretty short like that. It goes longer at night. 60 and 40 can do that range as well.

But when you have access to all the HF bands with your General ticket, you can throw up some wire and you will always be able to find something interesting to do.
 
yup go the General class ticket and the world is yours. i do 20 meters by day where i can get international contact pretty much daily. 40 meters i play with early evenings from 6:00pm till about 9 or 10:00 at night then rag chew on 75 into the wee hours with rag chew groups allover the mid atlantic region 200 plus miles in all directions. does anybody else here do 3933 at night. or 160 meters 1950 @ night.
 
I have to agree with the others, why limit your self unnecessarily? There's nothing 'wrong' with VHF/UHF, but it is limiting. There are some things that are just not very practical, such as longer distances, and believe me, 200 miles or so is not a very long distance except on VHF/UHF bands. Certainly possible, but not all that common.
The biggest limiting factor of the whole thing is your license privileges. You've got just enough HF privileges to sort of whet your appetite. (Sort of a 'tease' to make you want to be able to do a little bit 'more', which was one of the reasons for there being a Technician class license anyway. Sort of like someone whispering... chocolate, or ranch dressing, or Corvette?. Wipe up all that drool and do it! ;))
What kind of mobile radio? Depends entirely on how 'fancy' you want to get and how much you want to spend. Lots of choices, old and new. I think one of the simplest mobile radios around is a Kenwood TS-50. It can and will do anything almost any other radio will do and just isn't all that complicated to use. (Simple is very nice for a mobile radio when you can't devote much attention to it. Besides, if you ain't got Kenwood... and so on.) The biggest 'catch' with HF mobile is the size of the antenna. Still, not that big'a deal, just different.
Try it, you'll like it. Up to you...
- 'Doc
 
How you 'do' on the practice tests is very roughly about how you'll 'do' on the real test. If you are consistently scoring higher than 70%, you would -probably- pass. If you are in the 80 - 90% range, I'm sure you'd pass, barring any unforeseen 'blond moments' (oh @#$$, you ain't blond, are you?).
What happens if you find you don't care for HF stuff? Simple, don't use HF. The biggy is that you have the privilege of doing so if you want to, right? The differences between what you can do, or what is typically done on HF as compared to VHF/UHF, is huge. Do yourself a favor and take advantage of the possibilities.
- 'Doc
 

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