[NLRS] 6M & 2M on FD

[W0ZQ at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/21/2005 9:36:34 P.M. Central Standard Time,  
ford at cmgate.com writes:

If you  guys were to guess, at what times would you expect to see 6M open?  
How  about 2M?




Hi Ford, here are my $0.02 worth:
 
6m:   The primary "DX" mode is sporadic E's.   June is  a peak month, so 
there is a good chance the we will see at least SOME sporadic E  during the 24 hr 
contest, but there is no guarantee.   There is a  diurnal cycle with the best 
times around 4:00 to 7:00 pm and again  around 9:00 am or so.   On the other 
hand, there is a reason that the  name for this mode is called "sporadic" E.    
Normal forward  scatter on 6m is good out to about 100 miles, farther for CW, 
and farther to  well equipped stations.   Its also possible to work some 
meteor  scatter which peaks at sunrise ... you may hear short pings from distant  
stations ... be very fast with the mic.
 
2m:   This time of year is getting into our tropo  season.   Best tropo time 
is the early evening hours, through the  night, and the early morning hours.   
During the day the heating from  the sun often breaks down any stratification 
in the lower troposphere that is  causing refraction and ducting.    Normal 
forward scatter  for 2m is about twice the range of a 6m station, but that can 
vary.   
 
There is also the possibility of aurora although in June its more  rare.   
Aurora peaks around the Spring and Fall equinox and is  at its minimum 
occurrence during the Summer and Winter  solstice.   If it occurs, it usually occurs in 
the later afternoon hrs  and again in the earlier morning hours with a 
minimum at midnight local  time.   Point your antennas NNE and play around with 
headings from  there.
 
Good luck with your FD, hope this was helpful.
 
73, Jon
W0ZQ