Being we are on the downslide of the solar cycle and the current numbers are
Current Solar Flux report:
SFI: 112 A-index: 11 K-Index: 3

Conditions on 10M are poor at the moment.

Two places to look for propagation conditions --

1. ARRL prop charts at URL:
http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/
Shows predicted propagation by time and locations
This will help optimize you calling times.

2. The NCDXF/IARU Beacons at URL:
http://www.ncdxf.org/Beacon/intro.html

For the NCDXF 10M beacons from around the world -- tune to 28.200 megaHertz
Programs are available to ID the beacon locations since the ID's are sent at
22 WPM in Morse.
Great real time propagation aid.

Being in the downside of the solar cycle 23 -- it will get worse and hit
bottom around 2006 with cycle 24 peaking in 2010 !

So would suggest you upgrade and use the lower frequency bands.

There may be some Sporadic E openings on 10M in a month or two so you can
work several hundred miles via sporadic E
WHEN it occurs -- but as the name implies it is sporadic. Check a DX packet
cluster for openings URL:
http://ac6v.com/dxcluster.htm

Good Luck and Gd DX

--
Incognito By Necessity (:-(

If you can't convince them, confuse them.
- - -Harry S Truman




"Dan" wrote in message
om...
I have had my htx-10 for a few days now and have not heard anything.
No CW, no beacons, nothing. Tried calling CQ about a hundred times
but no answer. I have tried two different antenna configurations..
First, a dipole with about 8' of wire on both ends, and then a
magnetic mount CB/Ham antenna from radio shack. I trimmed both of
them using a SWR meter (I get about 1.2-1.3 on both of them). Using
RG58 cable. I have read many posts by people using the same exact
configuration who were able to make contacts within 1 hour of hooking
it up. I am able to hit the local 10M repeater 35 miles away but that
is about it. I keep my RF gain all the way up and have my mic gain at
about 1 o'clock. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dan
KE5BCC