[South Florida DX Association] Fw: ARLP024 Propagation de K7RA

[K2EWB]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ARRL Web site" <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
To: <k2ewb at comcast.net>
Cc: <Subscribed ARRL Members:>
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 3:01 PM
Subject: ARLP024 Propagation de K7RA


> 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 12, 2009
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB PROP ARL ARLP024
> ARLP024 Propagation de K7RA
> 
> Sunspot numbers from May 31 through June 5 ranged from 13 to 23,
> then the Sun was blank for two days, followed by sunspot numbers of
> 12 for both June 8 and 9.  This fleeting sunspot was number 1020,
> and like last week's spot, 1020 had the magnetic signature of a new
> Cycle 24 spot.  Alas, it was another of the frequent sunspots we've
> seen lately which appear briefly, then vanish.
> 
> The last Cycle 23 spot was number 1016, which appeared April 29-30.
> 
> Leonard Halversen, WA2AMW of Princeton, New Jersey asked how Cycle
> 24 spots are differentiated from Cycle 23 spots, and we last
> mentioned this in Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP044 from 2008,
> so now is a good time to go over it again.
> 
> The sunspots have a magnetic signature.  As you watch them move from
> left to right, they lead with a dark patch in front and a white tail
> in the rear.  That is how Cycle 24 spots appear above the equator,
> and it is just the opposite south of the Sun's equator.  Also, new
> cycle spots tend to appear at higher northern or southern latitudes
> away from the equator, while old cycle spots appear nearer the
> equator.
> 
> Go to http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/ to look for
> images.  Click on the "Search and Download Images" link, and select
> MDI Magnetogram from the image types.  Try entering start/end dates
> of April 28 and April 30 of this year, and click Search.  Select one
> of the links from the middle of the list, and note that the sunspot
> on the right side is near the equator, indicating a spot from the
> old cycle, and that it leads with black on the right.  Because it is
> slightly below the equator, this indicates a Cycle 23 spot.  If it
> were above the equator, a Cycle 23 spot would lead with white on the
> right side.
> 
> Now go back and search dates June 1 through June 3.  Note that you
> can up the resolution to 1024 from 512.  Select one of these images,
> and note the large sunspot above the equator has a Cycle 24
> signature.
> 
> Still more comments arrived this week about how dead bands may be an
> illusion.  Guy Cossette, VA2WT of Saint Roch de Mekinac in Quebec
> wrote to tell us about his 80 and 40 meter operation.  Using 100
> watts CW and a 40 meter dipole, he worked Crete, Cyprus and Tunisia
> at 2200z and he also worked Cyprus on 80 meters at 2300z.
> 
> Ken Sturgill, WS4V in Marion, Virginia says he likes to use the
> intelligent features at http://www.ve7cc.net/.  If you wish, you can
> set it for the countries you are looking for, and you can also set
> it to only accept spots from tipsters in your country, so you get
> the spots you can work.  He recommends hitting the "Tell Cluster"
> button often, so the info isn't lost.  He also recommends reading
> the manual.
> 
> Jim Sullivan, N7TCF of Phoenix, Arizona likes to use "DX Sherlock,"
> at http://www.vhfdx.net/spots/map.php.  He uses it to check out band
> conditions, mainly on 6 meters.  One feature I like is the Es MUF
> tab, where you can see the MUF in various places.  I believe this
> data comes from ionospheric sounders (ionosondes), which fire a
> sweeped RF signal straight up and then measure the strength and
> frequency of the signals bouncing back.
> 
> Mark Lunday, WD4ELG of Hillsborough, North Carolina sent a link to a
> nice map mash-up of 6 meter beacon stations at,
> http://www.k9mu.com/map/.  Mark wrote:
> 
> "I have also been experimenting with WSJT weak signal software from
> Joe Taylor, K1JT.  It's pretty neat to tinker with meteor scatter on
> 6 meters, and very challenging with my modest station.  But I have
> really gotten addicted to JT65A mode on 20 meters.  There always
> seems to be somebody on the air in the vicinity of the calling
> frequency of 14076 kHz, and I have worked some terrific DX that I
> normally would struggle with from here with 20 watts.  I have also
> heard DU on JT65A for the first time ever on any band or mode!  All
> of my QSOs have been with 40 watts or less, mostly with 20 watts.
> In just two months of part-time operation, I have worked 25
> countries on JT65A including VK, JA, CX, lots of Europeans.  Also, I
> worked ZS6 on 80 meter WSJT last weekend!  There were horrendous
> thunderstorms all up and down the east coast, but the software
> decoded just fine.  I could barely see the DX on the WSJT spectrum
> waterfall, and decoded his CQ almost by accident while doing
> something else in the shack."
> 
> For this week, geomagnetic conditions should remain very quiet.
> Solar flux is estimated to be about 68, rising above 70 June 24
> through July 1.
> 
> If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers,
> email the author at, k7ra at arrl.net.
> 
> For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL
> Technical Information Service web page at,
> http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html.  For a detailed
> explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see
> http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html.  An archive of past
> propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/.
> 
> Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve
> overseas locations are at http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/.
> 
> Instructions for starting or ending email distribution of this
> bulletin are at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html#email.
> 
> Sunspot numbers for June 4 through 10 were 17, 13, 0, 0, 12, 12, and
> 0 with a mean of 7.7.  10.7 cm flux was 71, 70.1, 69, 68.9, 69,
> 69.1, and 69.2 with a mean of 69.5.  Estimated planetary A indices
> were 6, 6, 5, 6, 4, 3 and 5 with a mean of 5.  Estimated
> mid-latitude A indices were 5, 5, 2, 3, 2, 2 and 2 with a mean of 3.
> NNNN
> /EX
> 
> 
>