Below is a nice example for a good 10m session of over one hour between Gary, NC3Z and me, VK3FFB. we hit the band when it was just opening or recovering from a solar flare. The SNRs improved steadily from 23:10 UTC onwards, settling for the 0 dB line at 23:30 UTC. Noise level at both locations was similar or nearly identical until about 23:40 UTC when at my location man-made noise increased (9am in VK3). Data speed was fast for most of the time. The graph shows 28.105000 MHz as the frequency but the QSO was on 28.105750 MHz after first connecting on the CF.
Give 10m a try. It is a great band with typically low noise and good propagation. And end-fed is not ideal for 10m as the radiation usually splits up into many lobes. A simple 2-element Yagi is small and easy to make. Even a half-wave dipole at say 25 feet above ground will work well.
For VarAC newbies, the graph was produced with the "Verbose SNR" feature of VarAC. This feature ensures frequent exchange of SNR values for a nice & meaningful SNR graph.
You find it on the right side of the VarAC screen. If you click it during a QSO, the other station is invited to allow "Verbose SNR".
73 & cu on 10
Dieter, VK3FFB