‰  NOW 18 WPM transition file follows‰

On May 30 at 0005 UTC the Australian Space Forecast Centre issued a
warning, On 1 June geomagnetic activity is expected to increase to
Active and Minor Storm levels due to arrival of the co rotating
interaction region and high speed solar wind streams associated with
the recurrent trans equatorial coronal hole.  On May 31
//www.spaceweather.com issued this Solar Wind Alert, NOAA
forecasters estimate a 60 percent chance of minor G1 class
geomagnetic storms on June 1st, increasing to 65 percent on June
2nd, when a stream of high speed solar wind is expected to reach
Earth.  The last time this gaseous stream lashed our planets
magnetic field, almost a month ago, it sparked bright ribbons of
purple light, aka STEVE, seen from multiple US states. Visit todays
edition of //www.spaceweather.com for more information.  The Sun
remained active over the past reporting week. Average daily solar
flux rose from 70.1 to 74.9, and average daily sunspot number rose
from 7.7 to 26.3. During the previous week in which the average
daily sunspot number was 7.7, the first four days had no sunspots.
New sunspot regions appeared on May 21, 23 and 24.  Predicted solar
flux is 77 on June 1 to 3, 76, 74 and 72 on June 4 to 6, 70 on June
7 and 8, 71 on June 9, 72 on June 10 to 14, 70 on June 15 to 17, 72
on June 18 to 23, 73 on June 24, 72 on June 25 to 30, 70 on July 1
to 6, 72 on July 7 to 11, 70 on July 12 to 14 and 72 on July 15.
Predicted planetary A index is 25 on June 1 and 2, 15, 12 and 8 on
June 3 to 5, 5 on June 6 to 12, 8 on June 13, 5 on June 14 to 18, 8
on June 19, 5 on June 20 to 23, 8 on June 24 and 25, 5 on June 26
and 27, then 15, 28, 15, 12, 10 and 8 on June 28 through July 3,
then 5 on July 4 to 9, 8 on July 10, and 5 on July 11 to 15.  2018
ARRL Field Day is June 23 and 24. Assuming the predicted numbers
above, conditions should be good for Field Day. We want to see low
geomagnetic activity, and planetary A index at 5 and 8 on Saturday
and Sunday are good indicators. During this period of low solar
activity solar flux at 72 and 73 is also good.  A newbie to our
Space Weather community dared to talk about amateur radio as if it
were an outdated hobby, whoops, bad idea. I gently educated him. In
doing so, I roused many radio amateurs and emergency communicators,
who added their own comments and talked about their own personal
experiences in the field. It was very gratifying. What I hadnt
expected, however, was the strong interest in the concept that
amateur radio will be critical to establishing over the horizon
radio communications on planets like Mars in the near future.  This
idea brings me back to how we managed to communicate over long
distances many decades before we had satellites, internet or
cellular networks. In terms of wireless communications on Earth, we
were very much in the same place back in the early 1900s that we
find ourselves in now when we think about colonizing Mars. Yet few
people realize that despite all our advanced technology, we cant
bring a cell phone to Mars. We will need to fall back on our old
ways of doing things when it comes to communicating on other
planets. Isnt it funny how old things become new again?  Sunspot
numbers were 39, 32, 26, 27, 20, 22, and 18, with a mean of 26.3.
10.7 cm flux was 73.7, 75.7, 72.9, 74.6, 76.9, 74.9, and 75.3, with
a mean of 74.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4,
and 4, with a mean of 3.9.  Estimated mid latitude A indices were 5,
4, 5, 5, 4, 5, and 5, with a mean of 4.7.

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