Radio Blackout Now

[K3ZS]

Couple of X class flares today.    While listening on 10M I could hear the background noise level increase during the flare.

[W3GMS]

According to Doug, WA3DSP we just got the 75M AWA net done in this this morning before the bottom fell in!

Well, its radio after all!   

Joe, GMS

[Pete, WA2CWA]

After playing for a little while on 10 AM this morning, I went down to the SSB section and there was wall to wall 20 to 40 db over S9 signals everywhere. I couldn't even find a hole unless I went up to about 28.7. I got a 3 minute phone call and then went back to the radio. All the signals were either gone or just piss weak. I actually looked out the window to see if the beam fell off the tower.

But, not to worry, I'm sure this weekend will be wall-to-wall signals on all the HF bands (CQ DX Contest).

[W2VW]

10 has recovered now. Had a chat with M5AFD and KK7TV both at the same time.

[W1AEX]

Yup, Dave is right. There are big signals showing up on the band again. Nothing heard at the moment in "the AM window" but I will be calling CQ in a minute if anyone is listening.

73,

Rob W1AEX

[K1JJ]

I've noticed a pattern that seems to occur without fail...

Whenever we hear a frying / popcorn sounding static on 75M, there is a solar event reaching Earth the next day.  

Last night on 75M the guys were complaining about this loud popping static that came out of nowhere.

The radiation comes to Earth at the speed of light (8 minutes) but the plasma, which affects the ionosphere,  takes longer.  (hours)

T

[W1RKW]

10m was active today.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

10m was active today.

Can you be more specific? It's been very active for the last several weeks.

[WA2OLZ]

God-awful QRN on 17 & 20 this afternoon. Sounded like a noisey motor running or something.

[Steve - K4HX]

It was Fine Business.

[W1RKW]

10m was active today.

Can you be more specific? It's been very active for the last several weeks.

10m was active (very active) therefore no blackout. And it 's active all the way up beyond 29.0MHz with todays corntest. Specific enough?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

10m was active today.

Can you be more specific? It's been very active for the last several weeks.

10m was active (very active) therefore no blackout. And it 's active all the way up beyond 29.0MHz with todays corntest. Specific enough?

Ah, but there was a short duration blackout when the thread was first started. You must have missed the bottom falling out on most of the HF bands as reported. And, 10 is very active today in the phone portion as others have pointed out.

[Steve - K4HX]

Worked JA up until 9 PM when I shut off the radio. That's 3 hours past our sunset. That seems rather FB conditions since I'm only running 100 watts and a wire loop antenna.

[K3ZS]

It was happening when I posted it.   Check out the spectra graph on spaceweather .com
After 20 minutes everything came back.    What I find interesting is that I could receive the solar increase in noise on 10M.   You can hear that on the link near the spectragraph on spaceweather.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Worked JA up until 9 PM when I shut off the radio. That's 3 hours past our sunset. That seems rather FB conditions since I'm only running 100 watts and a wire loop antenna.

I worked a few contest JA's between 7 and 8 PM last night too. Surprisingly, I haven't worked that many VK's in this contest.

This morning contesters were all the way up to 29.155. I could see and, at times, hear a few AM carriers in-between stations, but, for the most part, they were lost in the bedlam.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

MORE COMING:
From the ARRL web site dated 10/26/13
"NOAA forecasters are estimating a 70 percent chance of M-flares and a 35 percent chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours. According to NOAA, M-class flares can cause brief radio blackouts affecting Earth’s polar regions, while X-class flares are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.

NOAA says that over the next three days — October 26-28 — a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) created by recent eruptions on the sun “will deliver glancing blows to Earth's magnetic field, possibly sparking polar geomagnetic storms.”"

http://www.arrl.org/news/noaa-forecasts-70-percent-chance-of-m-class-solar-flares

[Steve - K4HX]

Hasn't hit yet. South Pacific still coming through, FO, ZL, 5W and other heard on 10. Was only able to break through the masses calling on the FO and ZL. BTW, Europe still coming through now too.

[Opcom]

ok well we did 7160 AM today from 11AM to 3PM, Central & no problems.

[Steve - K4HX]

I did hear very rapid and deep auroral flutter on some South American stations tonight on 10 meters (those way south in Chile and Argentina).