‰ NOW 18 WPM transition file follows‰ Last weeks Propagation Forecast Bulletin featured zero sunspots for the entire seven days. This week, January 12 to 18, the average daily sunspot number rose to 22.6. Average daily solar flux rose from 72.5 to 77.1. Average planetary A index declined from 14.3 to 6. Predicted solar flux is 80 on January 20 to 23, then 78, 77 and 75 on January 24 to 26, 77 on January 27 through February 1, 76 on February 2, 75 on February 3 to 8, 76 on February 9, 77 on February 10 to 14, 78 on February 15, 80 on February 16 to 21, 78 on January 22, and 77 on January 23 to 28. Predicted planetary A index is 15, 12, 10 and 8 on January 20 to 23, 5 on January 24 to 26, then 12, 15, 7, 10, 12 on January 27 to 31, then 16, 18, 20, 16, 12, 10 and 8 on February 1 to 7, and 5 on February 8 to 12, then 8, 22 and 18 on February 13 to 15, 16 on February 16 to 18, then 12 and 8 on February 19 and 20, then 5 on February 21 and 22 and 12, 15, 7 and 10 on February 23 to 26. Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period January 20 to February 15, 2017 from F.K. Janda, OK1HH. Geomagnetic field will be, Quiet on January 25 and 26, February 10, 13 and 14 Mostly quiet on January 24, 30, February 6, 9, 11 and 12 Quiet to unsettled on January 23, 27, 31, February 1, 3 Quiet to active on January 20 to 22, 28 and 29, February 7 and 8 Active to disturbed on January February 2, 4 and 5, 15 Amplifications of the solar wind from coronal holes are expected on January 20 and 21, 22 to 25, 26, 31, February 1 to 5, 9, 15 Time now to examine the average daily sunspot number for 2016, which was 36.8. Starting from Solar Cycle 24 minimum in 2008, annual average daily sunspot numbers were 4.7, 5.1, 25.5, 80.1, 82.3, 97.1, 121.2, 70.1 and 36.8. The January 11, 2017 issue of ARRL Contest Update, current and back issues available at //www.arrl.org/ , mentions a new online propagation prediction program from G4FKH via RSGB. The link to ITURHFprop is at, //bit.ly/2jTVHFQ . The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, ALMA, telescope in Chile is providing new detailed images of the Sun. See //bit.ly/2ka6JKh for details. More info from regular contributor David Moore can be found on the web at, //www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170117101835.htm . John Kelley, K4WY wrote on January 17, Great timely info as always thank you. I wanted to share with you that on January 2 on 17 meters I worked E51DMC, VK2DX and ZL4FF all within a spread of an hour. I was in VA and running 100 watts to a loop and was really surprised when I checked the SN count, A and K indexes. Could not have been much worse. So I am at a loss as to how to explain the propagation. But I liked it at least for that hour. 73. The sunspot number was 0 on that date, and the day prior. There was one brief sunspot appearance the next day, then none at all from January 4 to 11. But given those numbers and daily solar flux, around 72 to 73, there should be some pretty good propagation during that period. W6ELprop predicts for that date that ZL4FF might receive your 17 meter, 100 watt signal from 1530 to 1930z fairly reliably. To VK2DX the prediction shows good propagation 1800 to 2100z. To E51DMC, South Cook, I assume, it looks good on 17 meters from 1700 to 2030z. Sunspot numbers were 11, 24, 25, 23, 24, 26, and 25, with a mean of 22.6. 10.7 cm flux was 75.5, 74.9, 76.6, 77.5, 78.3, 78.6, and 78.6, with a mean of 77.1. Estimated planetary A indices were 5, 4, 4, 5, 3, 4, and 17, with a mean of 6. Estimated mid latitude A indices were 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, and 11, with a mean of 3.9. ‰ END OF 18 WPM transition file ƒ