Thoughts on the ARRL 10 Meter Contest

One of the things that I�d like to see on contesting.com is a set of articles on each of the major contests. Since the ARRL 10 meter contest is my favorite, I�ll start with that one. One caveat � while I am an avid and active contester I am not a big gun by any stretch of the imagination. These are my opinions � take them with a grain of salt�

Each of us enjoys contesting for different reasons. For me � high rate and good DX make my day. I enjoy domestic contests like Sweepstakes and CQP, but the rate isn�t as high, and there is limited (or no) DX. I also love the �real� DX contests (ARRL DX and CQ WW), but again the rate doesn�t tend to be as good or as steady for U.S. stations. WPX is a great contest � but that will be the topic of another story.

The ARRL 10 meter contest has it all. It is an �everyone works everyone� contest � so the rates are great. Here from the Western U.S. we open the morning with runs into Europe, then settle down for a solid day of stateside contacts before ending with Japan and the rest of Asia. The rate never really drops from the time the band opens around 15:00 GMT until it closes around 03:00. I routinely run at between 150 and 250 per hour on phone, which really keeps the adrenaline flowing! A winning station in SS SSB will work around 2,000 QSO�s. The SSB winners in the 10 meter contest work closer to 3,500. To top it off, U.S. stations can do as well as (or better than) DX stations. In part because DX stations have a longer exchange, the top U.S. stations usually make more QSO�s than the top DX stations.

In addition to rate, the 10 meter contest has great DX. When the band is open (during good parts of the sunspot cycle), you can work around the world on 100 watts and a dipole. With everyone concentrating on one band, there are plenty of interesting stations on all the time. Working 10 meter DXCC during the contest is well within reach � 70 countries isn�t even all that hard.

Finally, the 10 meter contest has two other major advantages.

It is a family-friendly contest. Because the band closes after dark, you can still have a late dinner with your kids and get a good night�s sleep without feeling guilty. You don�t have to spend next week recovering from a 48 hour marathon like CQ WW. For those of us with youngsters, this is a huge benefit.

And last but not least, because it is only one band, you can be competitive with a relatively simple (and cheap) station. K6LL routinely places in the top ten with a tri-bander at forty something feet. You don�t need two radios, stacked 20 meter yagi�s and 1000� beverages to be in the running in the 10 meter contest. One good radio with decent IF filters, a basic amp (an SB-220 works fine), and one good antenna is enough to have lots of fun and do pretty well.

So all that said, here (in no particular order) are some thoughts on how to have a great time and put up a good score in this event. Most of this is from the perspective of a fairly small U.S. west coast station with a phone bias, perhaps others will add their own points of view.

1. Don�t miss the openings. Spend enough time on the band in the weeks before the contest to know when 10 is open to EU and JA from your QTH. Africa, South America and the South Pacific are nice � but the bulk of your QSO�s and mults will come from W, EU and JA. Be especially sure not to sleep-in so late Saturday morning that you miss the early EU�s � you may never hear those mults again. Good sources of information are the propagation charts in QST, and propagation pages on the web (e.g. http://dx.qsl.net/propogation/ ).
2. If you don�t have a beam, build one! A good 3 element direct 50 ohm feed yagi for 10 meters can be built in a day, mounted on a Radio Shack push-up mast, and turned with a TV rotor. L.B. Cebik has a site (www.cebik.com) full of great ideas for 10 meter antennas. The W6SAI design for a direct feed 3 element yagi on a 12� boom is excellent bang for the buck. The difference between a vertical, G5RV or a dipole, and even a 2 or 3 element yagi is huge. It doesn�t have to be that high to work well on 10 meters � 35 feet is probably high enough.
3. If you already have a beam, build another one! (hi hi) The ability to beam in two directions at the same time is a major step up, and will lead to much higher scores. I built a small 3 element yagi to stack with my C-3E for the 10 meter contest in 1999 (http://my.ispchannel.com/~djl/) � that let me beam the U.S. with the low antenna and either EU or JA with the high one (using an Array Solutions Stack Match to split power). What a huge difference it made!
4. While you don�t need a band plan for this one, you do need a strategy. Map out the mults that you expect to work, and get a plan to work them. If you have a big enough signal to run, then let most of the mults come to you. Maybe sweep the band once every 2 hours or so. On Sunday morning, make sure you have all the easy EU mults before the band closes. Don�t miss ON or CT because you didn�t take the time to do a little S&P. The same goes for ZS and any other easy Africans from your QTH. Go looking for them Sunday late morning if you don�t have them in the log. If you have a smaller station, remember that the big guns will be begging for QSO�s on Sunday. Don�t spend 30 minutes on Saturday morning in a pileup for WP2Z when you can work him in 5 minutes on Sunday.
5. Be efficient. When 10 is open, there is no QRN. The band is wide enough that even during the height of the contest there is empty room above 28.500 on SSB. If you are going to run, find a good spot where you can hear well, and run. Don�t repeat yourself. Be friendly, but don�t waste time. The difference between:

• N6BZA, QRZ?
• Whiskey One America Whiskey
• W1AW fifty nine cal
• Thanks, fifty nine charlie tango
• Thanks N6BZA QRZ?

• This is Nancy Six Bravo Zulu Alpha, QRZ contest?
• Whiskey One America Whiskey
• Whiskey One America Whiskey, thanks for the call OM, you are fifty nine in California from Nancy Six Bravo Zulu Alpha
• Thanks, fifty nine charlie tango
• Ok Whiskey One America Whiskey, I QSL your fifty nine Connecticut, thanks. QRZ contest from Nancy Six Bravo Zulu Alpha

1. Have fun! The 10 meter contest is a great contest for first time contesters. You will work lots of folks who recently got their 10 meter HF privileges, or who just wandered into the contest. Be nice. Be friendly. If we make contests fun to participate in, more casual ops will work us � and that makes it a pleasure for everyone.

I hope that others will argue that SS or CQWW are the king of contests, but for me the ARRL 10 meter contest will always be my favorite. With a couple of more years of good propagation to come, we can all look forward to great fun in mid-December. Good luck, and I�ll see you on the air!

Member Comments: Add A Comment