Ten Meters is waking up from a long sleep. As this is written, openings to Europe are still marginal with good signals from Japan in the late afternoon. Ten Meters (and also 15) are the bands of choice among many operators who lack the heavy hardware (and arrogance) required on 20 phone. Ten is also preferred by operators in many of the more exotic DX countries, especially in Africa. The fall season is off to a good start, and conditions will be much better by the time you read this. DX Propagation on 10 is mostly across daytime paths, with east-west propagation across evening areas and short polar openings at grey-line time. 15 has recovered from summer burnout, propagating over the same daytime pattern as 10. 15 stays open later in the evening, giving us longer and broader openings working into or out of evening areas. The extended evening stuff on 15 is at its best in late spring, however. 15 will be good this fall, and less sensitive to wide swings in solar flux that will probably effect ten. 20 will continue to work well across the dark regions, with polar grey-line into Asia. 40 never quits, but don't forget 80 and a sunrise chart. Countries like VK, ZS and LU are uncommon during our winter, but workable now.
Long Path: A variety of paths are opening up on 20, taking advantage of improved nighttime propagation in the southern hemisphere. We now have a path to SE Asia around sunset, daily morning openings to southern Asia and the Middle East, with expanded openings to Africa - especially the northeastern portion. This is a good season to work the antarctic short path, but signals from the Indian Ocean side often come via the north. Opening soon will be afternoon VK and the morning pipeline to Russia and Europe.