[South Florida DX Association] ARLP026 Propagation de K7RA

[Bill Marx]

> SB PROP ARL ARLP026
> ARLP026 Propagation de K7RA
> 
> First the outlook for ARRL Field Day, which is this weekend, June
> 25-26.
> 
> A projection from early Thursday from Geophysical Institute Prague,
> Geomagnetic Department, shows active geomagnetic conditions on
> Friday, June 24, followed by unsettled to active on June 25-26.
> This is from an early Thursday morning prediction.
> 
> Thursday afternoon Air Force Space Weather Operations predicted a
> planetary geomagnetic A index of 20 for each of those same three
> days. They've predicted a planetary A index of 20 for Saturday and
> Sunday since June 7. Prior to that they predicted values of 18 for
> Saturday and 20 for Sunday. These aren't great conditions for HF,
> but are not at the level of a geomagnetic storm like we had on
> Thursday June 23 when the planetary K index went all the way to 7,
> and the planetary A index was 48. Sunspot numbers and solar flux are
> expected to remain low, with solar flux around 85.
> 
> This operating event gives no multipliers for DX or the number of
> states or sections worked, so it isn't like a DX contest in which
> poor conditions leading to no opening to Europe or Asia becomes a
> bad thing. Given the low sunspot numbers, 20 and 40 meters are going
> to be the best bands for working cross country, with 80 meters open
> after dark. 40 and 80 should be the best bands for working stations
> less than 1000 miles away, day or night.
> 
> To review the past week, sunspots and solar flux numbers were lower.
> Average daily sunspot numbers dropped nearly 28 points from the
> previous week to 51.1. Average daily solar flux was off over 15
> points to 87.7. The big geomagnetic activity of note was one day
> following our Thursday through Wednesday reporting period, on
> Thursday, June 23, when the mid-latitude A index was 30 and
> planetary A index was 48.
> 
> Markus Hansen, VE7CA in North Vancouver wrote with some propagation
> observations on the longest day of the year, June 20. He notes that
> southern West Coast stations (I assume California) were working East
> Coast on 6 meters, but he heard nothing in British Columbia until
> 8-9 PM that evening, when he worked California on 6 meters. He
> called CQ beaming West and Northwest to try to work KH6 or KH7, but
> had no luck. He reports that on 10 meters the KH6WO beacon "was
> pounding in at S9+10-20 db."
> 
> Markus says, "Just after midnight I returned to have another listen
> and there was no 6-meter activity, but 20 meters was wide open to
> Europe and the South Pacific with many stations across the band. On
> 20 meters the OH2B beacon was a steady S9+20 dB and no arctic
> flutter. Pointing to the Pacific, the W6WO, KH6WO, ZL6B, VK6RBP,
> JA2IGY and VR2B beacons were all readable, some very strong. On 15
> meters the KH6WO and ZL6B were still all readable both over S9 and
> on 10 meters I was hearing KH6WO at between S5 - S2."
> 
> He continues, "I called CQ on both 15 and 10 meters but no answers.
> Amazing. The longest day of the year sure can produce some very
> interesting propagation."
> 
> Check out VE7CA's personal web page at,
> http://www.shelbrook.com/~ve7ca/.
> 
> Matthew Chambers, KC0QEV in Macon, Missouri reports nice 2 meter
> tropospheric openings on June 21. With 10 watts PEP into a 7 element
> antenna only 4 feet above the ground he worked Northern Michigan and
> Arkansas from EM39. The stations he worked were in EN82 and EM36. A
> neighbor of his running 300 watts on 2 meters into a pair of big
> Yagis at 100 feet worked into Southern Texas and could hear stations
> in Mexico. Matthew reminds us not to forget VHF for Field Day this
> weekend.
> 
> Roger Bonuchi, AC9Y from the Chicago area mentioned great 6 and 10
> meter openings on June 17-18. He heard East Coast stations on both
> bands when mobile at S9 and above, and worked a number of stations
> on 10 meters. When he returned home, he used an attic mounted
> horizontal loop on 6 meters to work many stations on CW and SSB.
> His best was VE6TA in Edmonton via CW, where he received a 559
> report. This was about 1500 miles from his QTH on Chicago's South
> Side.
> 
> He also passes on an interesting resource, which he referred to as
> "Hepburn's Tropo page." This is a tool for predicting tropospheric
> ducting based on weather patterns. Check it out at,
> http://home.cogeco.ca/~dxinfo/tropo.html.
> 
> Bob Sluder, N0IS wrote about a fantastic opening to Hawaii on 6
> meters from the Midwest. He's in Imperial, Missouri, and said the
> opening to KH6 did not last long that evening, but he heard many
> beacons from the west, and could still hear them Thursday morning at
> 7:00 AM.
> 
> One last note about Field Day propagation. As I'm finishing this
> after 0800z on Friday, I noticed that the IMF (Interplanetary
> Magnetic Field) is now pointing south, which is not what we would
> like. Earlier it was pointing north, which better protects Earth
> from solar wind. Perhaps it will change direction again before
> Saturday.
> 
> 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 16 through 22 were 67, 59, 50, 43, 47, 53
> and 39 with a mean of 51.1. 10.7 cm flux was 98.1, 90.8, 90, 86.9,
> 86.1, 82.8 and 79.5, with a mean of 87.7. Estimated planetary A
> indices were 26, 14, 7, 7, 5, 4 and 7 with a mean of 10. Estimated
> mid-latitude A indices were 19, 9, 5, 3, 2, 1 and 6, with a mean of
> 6.4.
> NNNN
> /EX
> 
>