Ten Meters is Awesome

My favorite band has always been 10 meters.  While I have not been able to spend as much time on 10 meters lately that I'd like to, I was able to get on the air for a small amount of operating during a couple of recent QSO Parties from Ten-Ten International Net.

I was surprised to receive these awards today in my inbox!  Thank you 10-10!

OVARC Hamfest 2016 and Ten Meters Presentation

The Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club held their annual Hamfest on November 12, 2016.  This is a nice event, a large one for a local hamfest.  This year, I had a busy agenda as I was attending as a Speaker for a forum session, an Exhibitor for Ten-Ten International Net, a Volunteer for the club, and a Flea-Market Socializer the rest of the day.

The morning began very early, as I had volunteered to staff the entry booth from 5:00 - 7:00 am.  This turned out to be an easy job, since the only hams allowed entry during that period were vendors and exhibitors.

Once the gates opened, and the sun rose, things began to get a little busier.  There were many hams from Tucson and even some out-of-towners who drove in for the fun.

My presentaion was in the first time slot for forums at 8:00 am.  I gave a talk called, Ten Meters - An Ideal Band for ALL Hams.  It went very well and I gave lots of real-life, current examples of successful 10 meter QSO's.  It's my belief that many hams are under the mistaken impression that 10 meters is a dead band, but there is plenty of technology that easily proves otherwise!

After the talk was over, I returned to the parking lot, which is a great one for an Arizona hamfest because it has solar-panel covered parking spots which are used for the vendor area.  This gives both sellers and buyers some nice shade - although it was cool, the sun is still strong here in the Southwest.  Our booth for Ten-Ten International was staffed by myself and Bob Farrow, N6OPR, who is a Director of 10-10.  Bob drove down from Phoenix just to promote 10 meters and as always provided plenty of entertainment.

It was a nice day, thank you OVARC!

10-10 Sprint, and Bad Timing

Today is October 10th, which is a special day for me - it's 10-10 Sprint Day!  On October 10th each year, from 0001UTC - 2400UTC, hams around the world are encouraged to operate on 10 meters.  It has extra special meaning to me, because back in 1997, I suggested to the Board of Directors of 10-10 International Net (I serve as Treasurer), that we recognize 10-10 as a special day, and the Sprint was born.  In fact, in that first year, I actually won 1st place world-wide.

This year, October 10th was on a Monday, and my work schedule was extremely hectic.  But, I thought perhaps I'd be able to squeeze out a few QSO's and at least submit a participation log.  Unfortunately, my rig had other plans...this error message was on the front panel of my Flex, and there was no way it was going to operate for me.

I thought perhaps I could fix it myself, being just a simple fan problem.  But no go, the Flex people told me that I'd void the warranty, and that replacing the fan would not solve it since it also has a software tie-in which required additional work.  Much to my dismay, I had to box it up and ship it back to Flex.  And, my dreams of playing in the Sprint were dashed before I even had a chance to try.  Even though I have other HF radios that could have been put into service, my work commitments meant that I just didn't have time to change things out.

Wallpaper from Open Season QSO Party

Received a nice surprise in the mail today - awards for my participation in the Open Season QSO Party!  I really didn't expect anything because my log was absurdly small - but I guess when conditions are not so good, as they were that weekend, there are not too many big logs submitted.  Anyway it's always fun to add to my collection.