10 Meters Stays Hot While The Weather Gets Colder

Winter Blanket

As winter moves in the cooler temperatures and snow, 10 meters remains active on a daily basis. Even though I can't operate every day, I see the spots of other Alaskan's being heard from various parts of the lower 48 and beyond. I have worked and confirmed 49 states now on 10 meters with Delaware being my only outstanding LOTW confirmation needed for WAS (Worked All States). The quest continues as time allows and I think I saw 40 states confirmed on 10 meter RTTY as well. So, gotta take advantage of the band when it's open. Looks like it could be an interesting CQ WW SSB Contest coming up and I just might operate it if ten meters is part of that weekend excitement! I don't like SSB but it will be fun chasing all those stations from around the world on 10 meters. I'm far from any DXCC award on 10 meters from here but hey, a good weekend in a major contest may bring me that much closer if not taking me across the finish line.

It's great to look at my logbook and seeing all those 28Mhz QSO's and the QSL cards are once again flowing into the mailbox. I just ordered another 1,000 QSL cards and my 2nd order will be taking place in the coming weeks for an additional that I'll use up during the course of the winter. 

If you have not been on 10 meters, you're missing the fun. My chase continues with T32C and I have snagged 20 out of the (now) 34 band slots. I have heard them on 10 FM but I have not been successful in working them on that mode. I'm hoping to get them yet on 10 and 12 meter RTTY but after that, I don't have much more this small station can do.  Now that they have worked most everyone world wide, the catch is a bit easier. Patience often times pays off and waiting for the crowds to decrease has helped to log them on some of the harder bands for me. Not sure but maybe the snow is helping my ground reflect my small signal abroad. Actually, gotta give credit where credit is due, it's the great operators of T32C!