10M SSB was really dead today.

[TNFrank]

Didn't hear nearly as many folks as I normally do and only 1 POTA and I couldn't get a QSO from him. I'm going to set the inverted V back up to see if it'll work better.

Anyone else having issues with 10M today?

[Northcutt114]

10m has been bad the last few days. Really bad. It's my understanding that for 10m to work well, the SFI number really needs to be north of 135 or so, with 150 being ideal. It's been hovering around 100 the past two days. 117 today.

I got an EFHW and hooked it up on the back porch yesterday and only heard one guy talking. And I suspect, he was running a massive power station. I couldn't hear who he was talking to but the entire rest of 28.3 - 28.5 was silent. The only POTA activations I saw yesterday and today were FT8 which, to me, is another indicator that the band is bad.

 

[TNFrank]

I heard 3 Rag Chews, 1 POTA that I couldn't make contact with and I made 1 QSO. Maybe I'll have better luck with the inverted V.  I need 3 more POTA Hunts to get the next reward. I have to work tomorrow afternoon so I'll probably just study for my General in the morning.

[WSHL413]

10m was ranked as "Poor" yesterday but I got a POTA contact in Massachusetts from home in southern California!

Otherwise not much activity during the time I was monitoring the band.

@TNFrank I've had very good luck with an inverted-V wire dipole during POTA activations. You can see a pic on my QRZ.com profile under call sign KO6IOJ. When tuned, the inverted V has been very successful for 10m, 15m and 20m bands in the field. Even when "sloppily" set up (lots of sagging).

Edited January 14 by WSHL413
added information

[WRYZ926]

10m was worse today than it has been. I tried 10m FT8 this morning and was only hearing about 15 stations at the most and their signals were weak. 12m wasn't much better either.

[TNFrank]

Did everyone else get a lot of "crackling" on certain sections of the Band? 

I hope I better luck tomorrow.  

Also, I have some pics on QRZ.com but when I look I can't see them. Maybe you can let me know if you can see them.

KM7BVY

[WSHL413]

No pics appear on your QRZ.com profile, only the text.

I've heard the crackling too. In my area there is a lot of interference from solar inverters and the like. Noise floor usually around S1-S2 but during hot summer days it can spike up to S5 or greater.

Not sure how much of the noise comes from Mother Nature.

[WRYZ926]

Solar flares/storms can cause a high noise floor. Thunder storms will cause noise too. Bad electrical connections on transformers will cause noise too. Sometimes that won't show up until there are high winds and/or heavy rain.

[TNFrank]

I kicked on the noise reduction to 3 and it helps some. Still, not a lot going on today. There's a "Special Event" on 28.455MHz from S. Carolina and a few folks Rag Chewin' but I could find any POTA Activations to log. I'll try more later.

[WRQC527]

On 1/14/2026 at 11:10 AM, TNFrank said:

I kicked on the noise reduction to 3 and it helps some. Still, not a lot going on today. There's a "Special Event" on 28.455MHz from S. Carolina and a few folks Rag Chewin' but I could find any POTA Activations to log. I'll try more later.

Normally I do 10 meters from my van with a hamstick. 10 meters has been finicky all week. But since the QT60 does 11 meters, I switch over to CB and there's all kinds of activity. I talked to a guy in Wisconsin who was on an old Radio Shack Navaho on SSB from here in southern California when there was hardly any POTA activations. Amateur radio folks are a fickle bunch. We look at the Solar Terrestrial Data widget, and if it says conditions are poor, or if there's no POTA activations, we turn off the radio. CB folks, not so much. Apparently they've never heard of the Solar Terrestrial Data widget, because at the same time it said 10 meters was poor, there was a pileup all over 11 meters.

[TNFrank]

Part of the reason I sent the QT60 back and got the QT80 was because it'll do(by moving a jumper)not only 10M but 11M, 12M and 15M. Once I get my General I'll have 3 legal bands to play on.

[WRYS709]

57 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

Part of the reason I sent the QT60 back and got the QT80 was because it'll do(by moving a jumper)not only 10M but 11M, 12M and 15M. Once I get my General I'll have 3 legal bands to play on.

Now is the time to enjoy 15. 

[TNFrank]

10M is listed as "Good" today so hopefully I can make some POTA contacts. I also have an SWR/Power meter coming today so I can see the actual watts my "80 watt" radio is putting out and my actual SWR.

[WRYZ926]

The 15m, 20m and 40m bands are the go to when at the bottom of the solar cycle,

[WSHL413]

Looks like 10M has opened up again and we're mostly back in business. HF bands ranked "fair" instead of "poor".

Hunted a half-dozen POTA stations today including stations from WI, MI, FL, AL and TX. Not bad!

Anyone else make contacts on 10M?

[TNFrank]

I checked and 10M was listed as "Good" for daylight hours. Not much going on today though, a couple rag chews that I heard. I did make 1 QSO in Indiana and a POTA contact. Other than that I got less QSO's today then I did yesterday.

[Northcutt114]

2 hours ago, WSHL413 said:

Anyone else make contacts on 10M?

No, but I did hear a guy in CA. So it appears the band is opening back up. Hopefully I get this stupid little radio problem I have sorted and I can get back on the air.

[Northcutt114]

On 1/15/2026 at 11:28 PM, WRQC527 said:

Apparently they've never heard of the Solar Terrestrial Data widget, because at the same time it said 10 meters was poor, there was a pileup all over 11 meters.

It doesn't hurt that they are running Kilowatt stations with antennas on the roof of the Tower of Babel, either.  

[TNFrank]

Tried to hunt some POTA today. The 2 in AZ. and the 1 in CA. were too close(I was in the skip zone) and I could pick up GA. or FL. I'll try again a bit later after the band shifts. 

I did have a nice QSO with an 84 year old gentleman 250 miles North of Vancouver B.C. and he gave MD a 5/9 signal report from my inverted V so it must be doing ok. 

Anyway, 10M seems to be open pretty well today so jump on and have some fun.

[WRQC527]

1 hour ago, TNFrank said:

10M seems to be open pretty well today

Lots of activity on 10 meters today. I've contacted several parks back east, and a World Wide Award contest station in Boston just at lunchtime.

[TNFrank]

I did manage to get another POTA QSO so that's 2 for the day. DX from S.America was really busy. It's crazy how those guys get such pile ups. Makes it hard for a little station like me to get a QSO. 

Oh well, not a bad day all in all. 

[WRQC527]

There's a contest going this month so when you hear the suffix "WWA" on a call sign, it might be someone trying for contacts for the World Wide Award. It's a good chance to make some DX contacts. 

[TNFrank]

I've got W1AW/4,5 and 9 in my call log on QRZ. They're doing a Club Call for the American 250 award. 

[WRYS709]

1 hour ago, TNFrank said:

I've got W1AW/4,5 and 9 in my call log on QRZ. They're doing a Club Call for the American 250 award. 

What does W1AW/4,  W1AW/5 and W1AW/9 mean?

[TNFrank]

W1AW is a Club Call Sign being used for the American 250 Contest. The /4, /5, /9 are sub groups for each different Club. I'm sure a quick search will let you find more info.

http://arrl.org/w1aw