10M

[KD8LWX]

I am not sure where this goes, so I will place it here.

What distance can I achieve with a 10M rig?
Everything I currently have is line of sight more or less (6M, 2M, 222, 440). Can I go over hill and dale like other HF with 10M or is it line of sight more or less?

Thanks

 

[Beetle]

Like everything on HF, when the band is open you can get to the other side of the world. When it's not, you might be lucky to get across town.

A good antenna helps - more than a ton of power.

 

[TonyV225]

As said it all depends on conditions like anyother HF but it is quieter than what 11 meters is most of the time so if you get on 10 Meters with a few friends everyday local you should have no problem.

The distance or DX depends all on the coinditions thats where the beacons come in handy.

 

[KD8LWX]

Let me put is a different way.

Would you trust 10M for emergency communications, say AK, or from deep in a valley? Or do you need to go to a different range of Freqs?


If I can trust 10M for emergency communications, I could get a Yaesu FT-8900R.

If I can't, I would need a radio like a Yaesu FT-857D.

Of coarse more freqs are better, but it appears to be more money and different features also.

 

[TonyV225]

My wife runs an 857D its a fantastic little rig I programmed it and she just uses the memory settings and the mode change fm -ssb whatever its programmed for. I would spend the little extra and get a nice used 857D its not much more than the 8900

 

[n0zna]

I have worked evry country but 9 on ten mtrs.I have worked 45 states on 6 mtrs,and both are confirmed...qsl cards to prove it.As he said get a good antenna,and the d ...The way the band is,nothing is good now,just local staions.73s de JW

 

[packrat]

Remember that the ft8900r has FM only, even on 10m. This will be another limiting factor to consider.

PR

 

[Beetle]

Let me put is a different way.

Would you trust 10M for emergency communications, say AK, or from deep in a valley? Or do you need to go to a different range of Freqs?


If I can trust 10M for emergency communications, I could get a Yaesu FT-8900R.

If I can't, I would need a radio like a Yaesu FT-857D.

Of coarse more freqs are better, but it appears to be more money and different features also.

I wouldn't "trust" amateur radio for emergency communications - life and death stuff. If it were really that big of an emergency, I'd get a Satellite Phone, which would be much more reliable.

Amateur radio isn't all about "emergencies" - it's a hobby. A repeater, for any band, is no good if nobody's listening. Even if you are actually transmitting a decent signal, there's no guarantee that you aren't the only one around.

You mention "deep valleys" and Alaska. You plan to be hiking/camping up there? A 50 watt radio will take a pretty heavy power supply. 10 meter conditions are really bad these days (months? years?). Much lower frequencies (40 meters/80 meters) would be more reliable, but as frequency decreases, antenna length increases in inverse proportion.

 

[KD8LWX]

Remember that the ft8900r has FM only, even on 10m. This will be another limiting factor to consider.

PR

True, and I will discuss specfic radios in a different thread. Right now I am just curious about the 10M band with a portable rig and a simple mobile antenna.






Then again, if someone wants to sell a FT-897...

 

[KD8LWX]

You mention "deep valleys" and Alaska. You plan to be hiking/camping up there?

I plan on going back to the BWCA, but most people don't know the area so I am trying to pick a better, harder to communicate from situation.



SAT phone is great if you want to spend the money on it. I may spend the money the next time I go to the BWCA, or I might just accept the risk of solo-ing in the wilderness or if I can work out a HAM solution....

 

[74IN]

HF is very unreliable for contact with a particular station at a distance.

And when solar activity is high, it's not very good for local.

 

[Moleculo]

If you want to take a ham radio along, you're probably going to want an all band HF rig so you can find a frequency on one the bands that is open to where you want to talk to. Depending on the time of day and propogation characteristics different bands will work better than others. There are several small all-band rigs that would be worth considering. Powering it will be a concern, however. I'm not sure how much room you're working with in regards to packing, but you're probably going to need a small tuner also.