‰  NOW 18 WPM transition file follows‰

JY1Sat, launched on December 3 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California as part of the SpaceX SSO A, SmallSat Express launch, has
been designated as Jordan OSCAR 97, or JO 97. The 1U CubeSat is a
project of the Crown Prince Foundation of Jordan. Telemetry has been
received and decoded around the world since the launch.  The
spacecrafts name recalls the Amateur Radio call sign of Jordans late
King Hussein, JY1. JO 97 carries a 435/145 MHz SSB/CW inverting
Amateur Radio transponder and a Slow Scan Digital Video, or SSDV,
system to transmit stored images.  The telemetry downlink is on
145.840 MHz, the transponder downlink passband is 145.855 to 145.875
MHz, with an inverting uplink on 435.100 to 435.120 MHz.  After nine
days with no sunspots, sunspot group 2729 emerged on December 5.
The sunspot number on that date was 16.  Average daily solar flux
for the week was 68.9, unchanged from last week.  On Thursday,
December 6 the appearance of 2729 continued, with a sunspot number
of 17 and the sunspot area increasing from 30 to 50 millionths of a
solar hemisphere.  Average daily planetary A index rose from 3.3 to
7, while average mid latitude A index went from 2.1 to 4.9.
Predicted solar flux for the next 45 days is 70 on December 7 and 8,
69 on December 9, and 68 on December 10 through January 20.
Predicted planetary A index is 10 on December 7, 8 on December 8 and
9, 5 on December 10 to 16, 8 on December 17 and 18, 5 on December 19
to 27, 8 on December 28, 12 on December 29 and 30, 10 on December
31, 12 on January 1, 8 on January 2 to 5, 5 on January 6 to 12, 8 on
January 13 and 14, and 5 on January 15 to 20.  Ive been curious to
see their prediction for the upcoming solar minimum.  If you look on
pages 10 and 11, somewhat obscured by a formatting error, you can
see the predicted numbers.  The prediction for this month shows a
smoothed sunspot number of 10 for December 2018, then declining to 2
in July 2020 through January 2021, then 1 during February 2021
through January 2022, and 0 after that through the end of 2022.  For
more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL
Technical Information Service web page.  A detailed explanation of
numbers used in this bulletin is also available on this site.  An
archive of past propagation bulletins is also available.  Monthly
propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas
locations can be found on the ARRL/Propagation web page.  Find
better information and tutorials on propagation on the K9LA web
site.  Sunspot numbers were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, and 16, with a mean of
2.3.  10.7 cm flux was 67.8, 67.9, 69.4, 69, 68.4, 68.7, and 70.9,
with a mean of 68.9.  Estimated planetary A indices were 3, 3, 8,
12, 10, 8, and 5, with a mean of 7.  Estimated mid latitude A
indices were 2, 2, 4, 9, 9, 5, and 3, with a mean of 4.9.

‰  END OF 18 WPM transition file ƒ