the sun is ... spotless

[Sam KS2AM]

http://www.dailytech.com/Sun+Makes+History+First+Spotless+Month+in+a+Century/article12823.htm

[k3zrf]

Interesting article. If so I wonder what long term HF would be like, VHF, etc. Do we have radio propagation data for these recorded events?

Maybe the calm before the storm.

[flintstone mop]

It might mean a wonderful Winter season of radio ahead. Any guesses??? How many more years of great 80 and 160M???

Fred

[k4kyv]

Solar physicist Ilya Usoskin ...who notes the sun has been more active since 1940 than at any point in the past 11 centuries, says the effects are most important at certain latitudes and altitudes which control climate. He says the relationship needs more study before we can understand it fully.

So maybe it's merely returning to a more normal level of activity.  Maybe everyone should start working on their 160m antennas.  The 75m skip may be l-o-o-o-o-n-g this winter and perhaps for years to come.  More frequency ownership hassles on 160, and more transoceanic DX on 80/75.

Maybe that explains the incredible DX reported on lower frequencies back in the earlier days of radio.  Maybe Marconi really did span the Atlantic at high noon on 150 kHz in 1901.  December 12, 1901 was the lowest of low -a day of absolutely zero sunspots.

Interesting article, but the political nut-job responses in the comments section makes me wonder if Daily Tech is a scientific source to be taken seriously or if it is a site promoting some kind of political agenda.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

No more 'nut job' than the opposite argument, Don. More and more folks are pulling back from the original hype, hopefully a more common sense basis will be found. 'Global Warming' has become 'Climate Change' which is much more forgiving. And now the sun wants to get in on it, sheesh.

Last winter conditions stunk locally, but made for easy left-coast contacts as well as the trans-Atlantic AM DX many enjoyed. 160 sounds better all the time, listening to 'GFZ and some of the guys recently gave me ant-envy. They sounded great and easily walked over any static crashes.

Besides, when the cycle does move up, the ownership issues will simply spread to 20 and 15 as before.

[k4kyv]

The "climate change" issue is undoubtedly a complicated combination of factors that include multiple natural phenomena as well as human activity.  It has yet to be determined how much the human factor enters the equation. 

Those who proclaim that they positively know for sure, whether they are amongst those who maintain that humans are nearly 100% responsible for "global warming", or amongst those who deny altogether the existence of climate change or at least the possibility of the human activity has had any effect, are operating off blind faith, not science.

Examine closely the vast majority of those individuals, whether politicians or other public figures, down to people who post on this message board, and you will find that in nearly every single case they advocate or follow some identifiable political agenda.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

True enough, Don. In this case, it seems more a case of mocking than establishing.

Bet there's more than a few impatient folks out there who thought 20-10 would be hopping by now, or well on its way....

[Jim, W5JO]

Maybe that explains the incredible DX reported on lower frequencies back in the earlier days of radio.  Maybe Marconi really did span the Atlantic at high noon on 150 kHz in 1901.  December 12, 1901 was the lowest of low -a day of absolutely zero sunspots.

Interesting Don, today sometime just before lunch here, I heard you talking to some 5 station.  I didn't pay much attention to his call but definately recognized your voice and heard you ID.  It is a pretty good jump from Woodlawn to Sulphur for mid-day.

[W3DBB]

.

[k4kyv]

Interesting Don, today sometime just before lunch here, I heard you talking to some 5 station.  I didn't pay much attention to his call but definately recognized your voice and heard you ID.  It is a pretty good jump from Woodlawn to Sulphur for mid-day.

One of the stations was in OK, but his signal rapidly deteriorated to the point that I had to turn the BFO on to detect his weak carrier to tell when he stopped transmitting.  Then WW9W (am I remembering  his c/s correctly?) located in Dallas came back, and we talked for a few minutes before he, too, began to fade out.  By then I decided it was time to turn off the radio and get back to work.

One of my best daytime DX contacts ever was back in mid-winter of 1960 or 61, when I worked a k2 station in NJ on 160m CW, running about 100 watts at high noon local time, using a 240' long inverted vee about 35' high at the apex.

[AF9J]

I had a QSO like that on 160m, back in early Aug. 1987.  The antenna - 1/2 wave inverted V up 100 plus feet (about 30 feet above the roof of a 3 story building).  The rig - Kenwood TS-830S barefoot on LSB.  I was bored, and had just graduated college 2 weeks previously (I was waiting for the weekend, when my dad would pick me up from college, to take me home). So, I fired up the club station at W9YT (Univ. of WI amatuer radio club) at about 1;30 PM.  Since 160 had been opening up relatively early in recent times, I decided for a laugh to call CQ on 160.   I ended up in a QSO with a station in New Jersey for the next 2 1/2 or 3 hours!  We were both Q5 the entire time, and signal strengths ranged from S5 to S9 plus.  The only reason the QSO ended, is because the guy on the other end was being called for supper by his wife!   What a trip of a QSO!

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[WU2D]

TGV,

I had a nice QSO with Ashtabula Bill today on 40M. The band is not in great condition but at least it is working!

Mike WU2D

[W2PFY]

I almost got on there today as well but I wus on slop bucket