[South Florida DX Association] ARLP024 Propagation de K7RA

[Bill Marx]

SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP024
> ARLP024 Propagation de K7RA
> 
> ZCZC AP24
> QST de W1AW  
> Propagation Forecast Bulletin 24  ARLP024
> From Tad Cook, K7RA
> Seattle, WA  June 10, 2005
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB PROP ARL ARLP024
> ARLP024 Propagation de K7RA
> 
> Sunspot and solar flux readings were up this week while geomagnetic
> K and A indexes were down a bit, which is generally what HF
> operators want. There were no big events triggering geomagnetic
> storms this week, as indicated by the low A index numbers at the end
> of this bulletin. A solar wind stream last weekend only drove
> geomagnetic indices up to moderately active levels. But two big new
> sunspots, 775 and 776, are rotating to the most effective position
> for affecting earth. Solar flux for this weekend, June 10-12, is
> expected to be around 110-115. Geomagnetic conditions should be
> quiet, although the new sunspots are magnetically complex, and could
> hold a surprise.
> 
> We're moving now toward summer propagation from the recent spring
> conditions we've been experiencing. Summer solstice in the Northern
> Hemisphere is set for June 21 at 0646z. Today we are 80 days past
> the equinox, and the bands are behaving differently than they were a
> few months ago. For instance, paths from the continental U.S. to
> South America are open much later on 17 and 20 meters. You can run
> two instances of W6ELprop, located on the web at,
> http://www.qsl.net/w6elprop/, and run some tests.
> 
> For instance, perform a test from the center of the Continental U.S.
> (by entering W for the prefix) to Brazil for any date this week, and
> enter an average of several days of sunspot numbers (from the end of
> this bulletin). You can do the same for a date in late March, and
> get the numbers from past bulletins at,
> http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Even though average sunspot numbers
> were lower in late March than they've been this week, propagation
> possibilities to Brazil during mid-day on 10, 12 and 15 meters in
> March were much better than they are now. But signals over the same
> path show better current openings much later into the evening on
> those same bands than they were in late March. Plot from the central
> U.S. to Hawaii as the target, and 20 meter signals drop out in the
> evening in March, but are currently strong all night long.
> 
> The ARRL Contest Calendar, located at,
> http://www.arrl.org/contests/calendar.html, shows this weekend, June
> 11-13, is the ARRL June VHF QSO Party. The object is to get as many
> contacts in as many grid squares as possible. Many HF radios these
> days come with 6-meter capability, so it isn't much of a stretch for
> HF operators without a 6-meter antenna to just toss up a dipole at
> the last minute. A half-wave dipole is only about 9 feet and 3
> inches long on 6-meters, and when the band opens up, a simple
> antenna can do quite well. If you don't know your grid-square,
> calculate it at http://www.arrl.org/locate/grid.html. If you hear
> stations reporting unfamiliar grid squares, at least for the United
> States there is a good map at
> http://www.icomamerica.com/downloads/usgridsq.pdf. You can find the
> rules for the contest on the calendar mentioned above.
> 
> There have been many nice 6-meter openings recently, mostly via the
> sporadic-E layer skip that is common this time of year, and Frank
> Fascione, KB1LKB of Manchester, Connecticut sent in a report for
> last Sunday, June 5. He reports an all day opening to the Caribbean
> on 6-meters, as well as Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Among stations
> heard but not worked were FG5FR, FM5JC, FM5AD, 9Y4AT, YU4DDK, and
> PZ5RA. Frank contacted several new ones for him, including FJ5DX,
> YV4DYJ, PJ2BVU, HK4SAN and J69EN.
> 
> Doug, CO8DM uses 100 watts to a 2 element quad at 65 feet on 6
> meters. He reports that around the first of the month he copied
> European stations, including Italy and Sicily, and on CW, Malta.
> The next morning he heard M0BJL in the UK.
> 
> Regarding the urging above to get on 6-meters, Eric Hall, K9GY wrote,
> "... please mention for people to get on with their radios that can
> work VHF and be active in the ARRL VHF contest. It doesn't take a
> lot of stuff to make QSOs!" Eric made his first 6-meter QSO on June
> 5 with an FT-817 and a 6-meter Hamstick whip antenna. He was in FM18
> and he worked N4OX in EM60 on 50.130 MHz SSB. Then he worked KA4DPF
> in EM81 about 20 minutes later. People like me who are unfamiliar
> with grid squares can look on the map mentioned above to see where
> FM18, EM60 and EM81 are.
> 
> Bill VanAlstyne, W5WVO in DM65 seemed almost giddy about the opening
> on Tuesday, May 31. He says it was "one of the most incredible 6M Es
> openings I've ever been part of since moving to New Mexico a few
> years ago. 6M was open from before 7 AM local time until nearly
> midnight, with only a couple hours of rest around mid-day. I think
> we're all still catching our collective breath from this one!"
> 
> Bill runs 100 watts to an 18 foot 5 element Yagi up 25 feet. He made
> over 75 contacts and worked 13 new grids to boost his total above
> 300. He says he "ran pile-ups of calling stations for an hour at a
> time like I was a DX station. Unbelievable! During the hottest
> stretches, even QRP signals exceeded S9 +20 dB and were coming in
> from all over the country at the same time, with path lengths all
> the way from quite short (450 miles) to quite long (1800 miles)."
> 
> He continues, "No so-called 'double hop' here -- these east-coast
> signals were as strong as those coming from half or a quarter of the
> distance away. There were obviously a number of rather interesting
> propagation modalities going on here. If only we really understood
> this stuff!"
> 
> Bill has been a ham since 1962, and says "I don't think there is
> ANYTHING more exciting than this kind of Es opening on 6M. It's
> almost a transcendent experience!"
> 
> Nice to hear such enthusiasm. Maybe that's why 6-meter enthusiasts
> call it "the magic band."
> 
> Currently we're two weeks away from Field Day. The long range
> forecast from the U.S. Air Force shows a planetary A index of 20 (a
> bit high) for both Saturday and Sunday of Field Day weekend, June
> 25-26. This is probably predicted because of coronal holes and solar
> wind from the most recent rotation of the sun. Two weeks is a long
> way off for predicting conditions, so we'll try to come up with a
> more meaningful look in a couple of weeks.
> 
> If you would like to comment or have a tip, email the author at,
> k7ra at arrl.net.
> 
> For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation
> of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical
> Information Service propagation page at,
> http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past
> bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/.
> 
> Sunspot numbers for June 2 through 8 were 69, 55, 74, 77, 89, 94 and
> 100 with a mean of 79.7. 10.7 cm flux was 93.3, 95.3, 96.9, 105.4,
> 106, 109.1 and 115.7, with a mean of 103.1. Estimated planetary A
> indices were 7, 8, 18, 20, 13, 18 and 6 with a mean of 12.9.
> Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 7, 10, 12, 14, 7, 11 and 3,
> with a mean of 9.1.
> NNNN
> /EX
>