subject: Is Using 10 Meter Radio For The Amateur? [print this page] If you are attracted to foreign lands and meeting new people, the 10 meter radio may be for you.There is nothing more enticing then the thought of being able to communicate with someone thousands of miles away, and not have to pay a hefty phone bill. Thanks to 10 meter radio, you can fulfill this dream, and not need to empty your bank account to do it.
Ten meters is normally only used during the day, however it is possible to listen in on Europe in theearly morning, the rest of the US in the afternoon, and the Pacific and East Asia in the evening. What makes the 10 meter so attractive, is that it's possible to communicate over large distances, especially when there is a lot of solar activity. This is because the signal can more easily bounce around in the stratosphere during those times.
The 10 meter wave band is in the shortwave spectrum, where there are a high volume of Morse code transmissions. For those of you more interested in communicating by voice, the SSB, single side band, is available as well. One of the draws to radio is the fact that you can contact people in far away countries, as well as send and receive QSL cards to show off the number of contacts. Think of a grown up version of trading cards, that's essentially what it is.
Single Side Band was originally called SSC, single side band suppressed carrier, and was patented in 1915. In 1927 a commercial service was started for the use of SSB for transatlantic communication. It was an incredibly expensive service at the time. At $75 for a mere three minutes, which is the same as around $760 today.
It wasn't until the second world war that radio communications advanced and the SSB was used by amateur radio operators.
The Collins Radio Company launched the KWM-1 transceiver, the first one to use SSB which was mobile, in 1957. Collins Radio put all their stock into developing equipment for SSB rather than the development of AM equipment. The end result was that since 1957 SSB has been the standard service used for long distance voice communication.
Then ten meter band was opened up and licenses became available to radio amateurs in 1987, and by 2007, the requirement to pass a Morse Code test for licensing was officially dropped. It is not part of the CB radio which doesn't require any testing or licenses to operate. CB is limited to the 11 meter band, and to lower power transceivers.
Because it enables one to communicate over such a long distance, the ten meter radio has quite the fan club. There is even an official club, known as the ten-ten club, which is international and allows amateur radio enthusiasts from all over the world to communicate.
While it may seem a little bit baffling as to why one would go with something as archaic as the radio, in times when we now have the internet, it all boils down to the nostalgia one feels, and the excitement of never quite knowing who you will run into on the air next.
