There's Just No Meters Like 10 Meters; Sun Delivers For ARRL DX SSB With East West Openings

By Jamie Dupree NS3T radio-sport.net
Posted March 7, 2011

While the 2011 ARRL CW Contest gave contesters a small taste of openings on 10 meters, last weekend's ARRL SSB test delivered for many, registering numbers not seen in a number of years on that band.
"Simply amazing on Sunday," said Mark Luhrman W4SVO, who tallied 526 QSO's and 79 multipliers from his QTH in south Florida.
"Saturday was just a teaser into Europe," Luhrman wrote on 3830, saying that "Europe exploded on Sunday."
"I ran Europe from 1247z to 1847z - 6 hours!" as Luhrman said it may have been the best contest conditions on 10 meters since the 2005 ARRL DX.
The propagation wasn't limited to just Florida by any means, as over in Alabama, Cort Judd K4WI reported a long path opening to Asia on Sunday morning before the band switched over to Europe.
"I couldn't hold a run frequency for very long so moved up high in the band and sat and ran Euro's for a while," he wrote on 3830.
"I had forgot what fun that is," he added, as he found 462 contacts and 76 mults on 10 meters.
Also grabbing that long path opening to Asia was Charles Dietz W5PR, who knocked out 730 contacts and 92 mults for 201k on 10 meters.
"What a difference a year makes!" Dietz wrote on 3830. "Last year I had less than 200 QSOs and only 30 multipliers."
From his QTH in Texas, Dietz made almost half of his contacts from Europe, about 85% of those coming on Sunday.
"Glad to see 10 slowly coming back to life," wrote Colin Jenkins KU5B, who operated 10 meters from the NX5M station in Texas.
"The G run felt like an RSGB contest!"
"Nice to see that 10 meters really comes to life," said Ville OH2MM, who was operating at PY2ZEA, as he claimed 2,032 QSO's and 58 mults from the DX side on 10 meters.
Obviously, 10 meters wasn't the only bright spot this weekend, as higher sunspot numbers also brought great conditions on 15 and 20 meters for many as well.
"A few good numbers and the world comes back to life," wrote Paul Newberry N4PN on 3830, after a 1617 QSO effort on 15 meters.

Better Conditions For WRTC Tests

The improving HF conditions for contesting couldn't come at a better time, as March has three different tests this year that are qualifiers for the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship, which will be held in New England.
With ARRL DX SSB out of the way, now the focus shifts over to the Russian DX Contest, which is a 24 hour contest held on the third weekend of the month (1200z 19 March - 1200z 20 March).
The weekend after that, it's time for the CQ WPX SSB Contest, which runs from 0000z 26 March - 2400z 27 March.
The Russian DX test is worth a maximum of 900 WRTC qualifying points, while CQ WPX is a bit more, at 950 points.
Whether the sunspot number of 118 on Sunday will be around for those next two contests is anyone's guess, but the high bands were sure a lot more fun for many this past weekend.