13 Feb 2010
10m FM
This afternoon I called CQ on 29.6MHz FM but no-one came back to my call. Going back 20 years or so there was a lot of activity on 10m FM with many people in the UK using converted FM CB rigs. With 4W and a vertical half wave I could work out to about 30-40kms without problems. Sadly, activity is very low here now except when there is sporadic-E about. 10FM was a good way of checking DX as often quite distant repeaters would pop up out of the noise, especially ones on the east coast of the USA.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I remember taking part in frequent local nets on
10 meters when the band went dead at night.
The band would seem dead and then spring into
life at the drop of a hat.
There were no problems working stations 20 miles
away with good ground wave conditions.
There seems to be llittle activity these days.
What do you think the reason is for such low activity?
Tony G4LLW
Is it that (a) CB radios are harder to modify today (UK ones anyway), (b) the general level of quasi-VHF activity has dropped off markedly, and/or (c) it just needs a kick-start again? Maybe we should publicly announce in RadCom, Practical Wireless etc that we are regularly on 10FM and encourage others to join us. It was great fun. 10m is a wonderful band for all sorts of reasons, even when NOT wide open to the world.
Sadly, this low level of interest reflects other bands as well, e.g. 6M. Personally, I think the lure of HF for any licence level has meant mass migration to bands lower than 10m. Coupled with a declining Ham population this may account for lack of activity. Education is a good way to revive interest. Due to the solar cycle picking up look out for more activity as newer operators discover what can be done on the upper HF/lower VHF. This is the right time to market the band to the new breed of UK ham stations.
David G8JGO.
Post a Comment