10 Meters: Full Details

Due to its unique spot in the spectrum, 10 meters can be fascinating, if not occasionally challenging, to work. At peak times of the solar cycle when sunspots appear on the Sun's surface, 10 meters can be alive with extremely long-distance signals, refracting from the F2 layer in the ionosphere. Primarily a daytime band, 10 meters will come alive during high solar periods not long after sunrise, and often remain "open" until after sunset.

Because the propagation on 10 meters can vary drastically throughout the day, propagation beacons are very important to gauge the current conditions of the band. With some differences in each ITU Regions and also from country to country, the beacon sub-bands fall between 28.100 MHz and 28.300 MHz. ITU Region 1 is generally 28.190 MHz - 28.225 MHz and ITU Region 2 is generally 28.200 MHz - 28.300 MHz.