Continuing the discussion from 10M CHALLENGE (Part 1) - #100 by G3CWI.
Previous discussions:
No. If I was showing off I’d have mentioned that it was all done on 5 watts from a FT-817 and a simple homemade wire antenna… 
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It’d be interesting to see whether there’s a pattern in the modes used. On the chasing side, I’m finding 10 metres quite a challenge. I’m hoping a bit of Es will help, but not managed any yet. My SOTA chases on 10 are either ground-wave (up to about 50 miles on a good day) or well over a thousand miles. That skip misses the vast majority of UK & EU activations. I’ve not caught much inter-continental propagation on 10, and when I have it’s always been marginal…
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How many on CW or SSB?
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10M CW: 38 DXCCs
10M SSB: 45 DXCCs
10M DATA: 65 DXCCs
10M FM: 5 DXCCs
To answer your question specifically:
10M CW & SSB: 56 DXCCs
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So certainly some on data that aren’t on voice, and vice-versa. Do you have a feel for what proportion of the data DXCCs come from you chasing the DX rather than from chasers answering your CQ?
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Yes,
About half.
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Well done Tom,
I gave up chasing DX with my FT817 10 years ago as an exercise in extreme optimism. Today I was running 70 W to a flowerpot vertical on 10 m and relied on a spot and calling CQ. Best DX was from New York. Just 300 km closer than Macclesfield.
I figure if they call they can probably hear me. If I call them then I finish up wasting my battery.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
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In contrast, I have been very pleasantly surprised by how much DX I have heard, but it carries a penalty. For instance in theory I should be able to work SSB activations in the USA, in practice I find all too often they are impossible due to QRM, mainly by other American stations that couldn’t hear them due to skip. I also find quite unexpected things happen, for instance a few nights ago at 2330 UTC I tuned over ten and heard just one very strong station. It turned out to be a YB! Ten is turning out to be a really exciting band and I also hope for assistance from Es, though the paths have to coincide with activations, which cannot be guaranteed!
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I’ve heard a fair bit of DX on 10, but almost none of it SOTA, and much of the SOTA activity I’ve heard has been other chasers working actiators I can’t hear, not activators themselves.
Also, I seem to be good at missing openings, but that’s just a matter of picking the right times. I remember finding during the 12 metre challenge that openings could be brief; great while they lasted, but blink and you missed them…
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Double mult points for me this afternoon on 28495. We had @YO5IA/P and @YO5MCM/P comng into Yorkshire at 5+4. Not direct path though. Signals with me peaking on 150 degrees, when the direct path from here is 105 degrees. Ionisation from somewhere else assisting the QSOs.
Nothing else on 10m today at the times I have been listening. Without SOTAWatch we would get nothing any day!
73 Phil
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A bit more detail that answers the things some were wondering about:
DXCCs worked on Legacy modes (SSB, CW, FM) but not Datamodes (FT4, FT8) on 10m activations in 2024: 19 - 4K, 4L, 5R, 5Z, CT3, D4, EX, FY, GM, HB, KH7, KP2, OK, UN, V2, V4, ZC4, ZD7, ZF
…worked on Datamodes but not legacy modes: 31 - 3A, 4I, 7Q, 9A, A6, CO, CU, DL, E7, ER, ES, EU, FR, HA, HI, HL, ISO, J6, J8, JY, LA, OD, OE, OJ, OZ, SV5, TK, V3, VK, YB, Z6
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I would be interested in seeing which days of the week yielded the best DX (by distance).
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Saturday.
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Of course there is more going on at the weekend
But actually something happens every day…
At the moment the conditions are very moody and the band is only open for a short time… and there are Es-openings from time to time.
Today Africa was strong and yesterday DX went quite well to South America… there was a contest
I’m not a fan of datamodes nor do I use them… I use patience instead.
73 Armin
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If you think datamodes are for the impatient activator, then you’ve obviously never attempted to do SOTA activations with datamodes!
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That’s right… I don’t plan on doing that either… 
73 Armin
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Not enough patience no?
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With data modes (FT8,…) you can have QSOs… when the band is far from open for CW or SSB. That’s what I meant by patience.
Not the operating technology itself.
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It’s a different mode with different characteristics. Different strengths, different weaknesses, and different challenges (especially with regard to a viable operating solution on a SOTA summit).
When it’s all set up and working properly, yes it can demand less patience to compile a satisfying logbook. However, in the journey to achieving that correctly functioning portable FT8 station, one’s patience can be severely tested!
Perhaps the most curious aspect is the confidence with which people can provide an analysis of the relative merits of FT8/FT4 SOTA activating, despite having never undertaken one themselves.
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