[Lowfer] Propagation reports

[Alan Melia]

Hi Andy It may not be as bad as you find it on AM on the MW. I have been
tracking 136kHz DX since about 2000. All the first transatlantic crossing
were made in relatively active periods and at a time when  3sec dot QRSS was
the best available (Rob Horne's Spectrogram )  Sure there were long sterile
periods and conditions are far more stable at present and there are few very
bad days.

Plus point for LowFers in the active solar period
Daytime skywave could show an average increase of 10dB in normal conditions
and as much as 20dB after a severe geomagnetic storm for a day or so.

Night-time transmission will be dispupted by precipitated abosrbing
electrons after a geomagnetic storm. But as it dies away there will be times
when the conditions of multi-hop paths are favourable and up to 6dB, and
occasionaly more is available but is very localised. I think this is to do
with higher absortion at higher angles reducing the strength of the higher
hop (count) modes.

You need to pick your listening times more carefully in the active periods,
but propagation of comms signals does not stop, any more than they stop in
the mythical "summer season". In fact some very good DX has been achieved in
summer too. The problem with summer is that audible listening is
uncomfortable but this has little effect if you are using a waterfall and
"visual decoding" or data. It is now possible to get a good estimate of how
fast reasonable conditions will return after a magnetic storm, so that
stations should not need to waste their time in poor conditions. Of course
amateurs like doing it the hard way :-)) that the exceptions will always
prove the rule.

It is certainly as easy as it is going to be nearly every night at persent
so make the best use of it. Most recent predictions suggest a rise in solar
activity during Q2....but dont bank on it !! and next winter will be quite
good anyway. Geomagnetic activity tends to peak a year or so after the
Sun-Spot number.

Happy LowFering
Alan G3NYK