[ADXA] The Auroral Oval

[w5zn at w5zn.org]

A couple of Saturday's ago at the North Central Arkansas ARS breakfast 
in Searcy Burt, WA5RN and I along with N5QS, N5QT, N5LKE and K4WPM were 
discussing Burt's quest for WAS on 160 meters. I believe he only needs 
two states to complete, one of them being Alaska. I noted that 
propagation to Alaska is hampered quite a bit by the auroral oval and 
how it shifts, depending on a number of factors tied to the sun. It has 
a major impact on signals traveling over or near both the north and 
south poles however the north pole oval impacts us mostly. We all have 
heard those fluttery signals coming over the pole from Russia and parts 
of Asia.

I mentioned that I like to take a peak at it from time to time just to 
see what's its doing. There are a couple of programs that will project 
the auroral oval however the best place to look at it and get the latest 
prediction is on NOAA's website. Here is the link to their nice color 
graphic that is updated every five minutes. Just refresh your browser to 
see the latest.


https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/aurora-forecast-northern-hemisphere.jpg

Just as a follow up point, do NOT let this stop you from listening for 
signals that may be impacted by the oval. Depending on where in the 
ionosphere a signal is reflected back to earth may allow you to "scoot" 
under the oval and not be impacted by it.

Carl, K9LA, who was one or our guests at our 2017 conference, has a 
number of articles that reference the auroral oval and its impact on 
propagation that you can check out at on his website www.k9la.us

On another note, I haven't yet looked at the V84SAA on-line log on 
ClubLog however I trust all of your are making an effort to get them on 
at least one band and not be a candidate for the ADXA WEENIE AWARD!

73 Joel W5ZN