Always a favorite among serious and casual contesters alike, the 2014 ARRL 10 Meter Contest may enjoy excellent worldwide openings, plus a record number of participants! Activity in the CQ World Wide CW contest in late November was through the roof, with some operators reporting better 10 meter conditions than they could ever remember.

“Don’t miss out on this opportunity to work the world, before the Sun works its way back into a slumber,” said ARRL Contest Branch Manager Matt Wilhelm, W1MSW.

There are a few new twists for this year’s running. Single-Operator stations using assistance no longer will be categorized as Multioperator entries. Also, nine new Unlimited categories have been added: Single Operator QRP, Low and High Power CW Only, Phone Only or Mixed Mode.

Want to share the fun? Invite your friends over and enter in the Multioperator category. Even though this is a 48-hour contest, all stations — Single or Multioperator — may only operate for 36 hours total. This means that operators will have to plan the best strategy to be on the air at the right times to take advantage of the propagation.

The 10 meter band features Technician class phone privileges from 28.300 to 28.500 MHz, so operators that are new to contesting and, perhaps, new to HF operating, will be able to take part in the contest and even be competitive. This is a tremendous opportunity for veteran operators to serve as Elmers to the new contesters.

All stations will send a signal report as part of the contest exchange. Stations in the US (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada, and Mexico will send their state or province abbreviations as part of the exchange; stations in the District of Columbia stations will send “DC.” DX stations (including KH2, KP4, etc) will also send a sequential serial number starting with 001. Maritime mobile stations must send their ITU Region (R1, R2, or R3).

The 2014 ARRL 10 Meter Contest gets underway at 0000 UTC on Saturday, December 13 (Friday, December 12, in US time zones). It concludes at 2359 UTC on Sunday, December 14. Logs should be e-mailed or postmarked by 0000 UTC Wednesday, January 14, 2014. Mail paper logs to ARRL 10 Meter Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Soapbox stories and photos can be uploaded on the Soapbox page.