How do we want to use 10m?

1. Use it all the time similar to 2m using repeaters and some simplex,
or
2. Use it for DX but only during solar peaks which may be present for
3-4 years out of every 11 year cycle?

There are plenty of illegit users on our highways who use it for 1.
above. Purist hams prefer 2..More of the illegits than purists! If we
abandon the band for 7-8 out of every 11 years, you can be sure
someone will try to take it away, Think of all the channels they could
add with an extra 2 MHz. Think of the added commerce for Galaxy, Cobra
and even Uniden at the truckstops across the USA. Truth be told, 10m
most of the time is more suited for 2m style operation than 20m style,
again, most of the time.

Again, 10 and to a great extent 6 also, are unreliable 7 to 8 years out of
the 11 because of the skip. As for the interlopers, When the band is down,
they will be using it, we won't know about it because we can't hear them and
they can't hear us even if we ARE using it. In fact we usually can't hear
each other when we are using it so how can you say it isn't being used.
When the band is up, then we can do something about it, but what good does
it do to trash the band with uncontrolled repeaters, so that we can't use it
either.

The thing is, it is a doable thing, but most people aren't doing it right.
You got to think ahead, think of the other Hams, and ask questions. Never
be afraid to ask as many different people because the only people who aren't
humbled are the newbies that think they know it all, but haven't done it
yet.

Actually, I'm all for remote bases in lieu of repeaters because when the
band is up, everyone forgets to shut down their repeaters so people can use
the frequency. Fully automated stations render us all obsolete. Another
possibility is to use Touch Tone Access to activate the repeater, which will
time out after 10 minutes or so if no one is using it, and forced TT
shutdown as well. This allows usage without leaving it to thrash by itself.

Antennas are a big problem. If you have mountain tops, Ice, snow and wind
kill antennas a lot and the large 6 and 10m antennas are by far the worst.
Several groups have 6 and 10 but every time they get around to replacing the
antenna, it's cool for a few months then it all goes down for a couple of
years until someone finds a good deal again.

If you don't have mountain tops, you are just as well to use VOIP links to
different home stations all over. This is like how FCC and Coast Guard
operate. They have base stations all over that they can dial into remotely.
There are actually several Multi-Band, Multi-mode Ham stations already
around that you can get in on with the right software and DSL line. You can
put yours on line too. Google TS-2000 remote and look into that.

Look up IRLP too because there are repeaters and remote bases that can be
controlled via IRLP from all over the world and some have 10 and 6
capabilities. Keep an eye on the beacon stations too or monitor 29.6 FM
for band openings because that is where it's at. If you do have a
multi-band mobile you CAN always QSY to 10 for local stuff too. Don't
expect that to chase off any interlopers in the next town though.