Everyone has heard of Amateur Radio, but have you heard of ‘Ten – Ten International Net Inc’ ?

The 10 meter band is a part of the shortwave radio spectrum allocated for amateur radio use and is made up of frequencies stretching from 28 MHz – 29.700 MHz.

At times of high solar activity, like sunspots, the 10 meter wave band is alive with transmissions which span the globe, making this band a favorite for many amateur radio enthusiasts. But 10 meters has times of famine. When solar activity is at a minimum there is far less exciting activity, and as the solar cycle is typically 11 years, those lean times can last a while.

Ten – Ten, more often known as 10-10, is an organization specifically for radio amateurs and fans of the 10 meter band, but not a lot is known about how it began.

What we do know is that among the list of founders is Irv Hunter K6PWO of Glendora, CA. The ten ten website tells us that The 10 – 10 International Net is to all intents and purposes the ‘projection of his thoughts, reflection of his enthusiasm and it’s growth was the fruits of his labors’.

In the fifties Ten meters had been going strong, then came the sixties and a huge lack of interest ensued, many amateurs abandoned Ten meters altogether for greener pastures. Many enthusiasts, who realised that the exciting activity oin 10 meters would return, were afraid that the mass exodus of users would allow the FCC to reallocate 10 meters and make it unavailable for amateur radio use. As a result, Irv Hunter (K6PWO) began talking about the formation of an organisation to promote activity on the ten meter band. In March ’62 they held a meeting in San Dinas Canyon Park (near Hunter’s home) to discuss the setup of such an organisation, several local hams attended the picnic lunch and the work began.

This small group decided that the net would meet every day (except Sunday), at 10.00am local time (or 1800 UTC) so ‘See you on Ten at Ten’ became a natural phrase and the organisation got its name, ‘The 10 – 10 Net of Southern California.’ 28.800 MHz was chosen as the primary daytime net frequency.

Each sunspot cycle brought both high and low activity depending on the period of each cycle. During the good parts of each cycle 10 – 10 continued to grow and soon became ‘International’, Southern California was dropped and the official name became ’10 – 10 International Net Inc.’

As with all organizations ten-ten had its fair share of growing pains. Originally 10 – 10 was organised purely for the purpose of activating ten meters, the By-laws etc. stated that 10 – 10 was a ‘traffic net’, however 10 – 10 net was not satisfying the ARRL standards for a ‘traffic net’ so a decision was made to become more of a social net with the prime purpose of maintaining activity on the 10 meter band.

There is a large following of hobbyists on the 10 meter band, but the major group of enthusiasts by far is 10 – 10.

Author Bio: If you would like to learn more about CB radio or 10 meter radio you can visit us at ThorsCBradio.com. 10 meter radio has become more popular because they offer greater power than a traditional CB radio.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: cb radio, 10 meter radio