‰ NOW 18 WPM transition file follows‰ Over the past week, July 9 to 15, just one day had sunspot activity, and that was July 10 when the daily sunspot number was 12. The sunspot was number 2766, returning for a second appearance from old cycle 24. On July 16 Spaceweather.com reported a tiny proto sunspot exhibiting polarity indicating cycle 25. But later it seemed to be gone, and every time I thought Id spotted something, it turned out to be dirt on my computer screen. From the previous week to this week, average daily sunspot number declined from 3.3 to 1.7, but average daily solar flux stayed the same, at 68.5. Predicted solar flux remains low, further evidence of this long, deep solar minimum. All flux values for the next 45 days are predicted to stay below 70. 69 is the predicted 10.7 cm solar flux on July 17 to 22, 68 on July 23 and 24, 69 on July 25 through August 1, 68 again on August 2 to 20, 69 on August 21 to 28 and 68 on August 29 and 30. Predicted planetary A index is 5 on July 17 to 30, then 8 and 10 on July 31 through August 1, 5 on August 2 to 8, 8 on August 9 and 10, 5 on August 11 to 26, 8 on August 27 and 28, and 5 on August 29 and 30. Geomagnetic field will be, Quiet on July 17 to 21, 25 and 26, 28 and 29, August 4 to 7, Quiet to unsettled on July 24, 27, 30, August 1 to 3, 10 to 12, Quiet to active on July 22 and 23, 31, August 8 and 9, Unsettled to active on, nothing predicted, Active to disturbed, nothing predicted, Solar wind will intensify on July 17 and 18, 21 and 22 23 to 25, 26 and 27, August 1 to 4. Remarks, The predictability of changes remains in the long run lower as there are very few indications. George Hall, N2CG reported, Im located in Northern New Jersey, FN20wv, and on July 11th starting around 8 AM EDT, 1200Z, and for the next eleven hours the 6m band on FT8 mode was open to five continents. All parts of Europe were coming in for over 10 hours and I managed to work 11 different DXCC entities, including JW7QIA in Svalbard for an ATNO. In Africa the Canary Islands were coming in and there were a few Caribbean stations as well as many areas of the US and parts of northern South America workable with strong signals. At 2200Z I had to go QRT due to an approaching thunderstorm. When I returned to the air at 2240Z in just a few minutes the HamSpots DX cluster was showing I had spotted over a dozen JA stations on 6m FT8. For the next 25 minutes I managed to work six Japanese stations, with received signals ranging from minus 06 to minus 18 dBm. So, working Japan not only gave me an ATNO, it also gave me Asia, the last continent I needed for 6m WAC which Ill be able to apply for when I receive a paper QSL card from one of the JA stations. So lets hope the remaining weeks of this Summer 6m Es Season will bring more DX supersizes. Mike Schaffer, KA3JAW of Easton, Pennsylvania wrote, On Sunday July 12, 1 pm local, 1700 UTC, heard and worked Elye, KI5DLL from Malvern, Arkansas, 95 miles away from the Texas state line in Texarkana, at a distance of 1,057 miles. Initially his signal report was 1 x 1, but later rose to 3 x 3. On Thursday, July 14, 11 local, 1500 UTC, heard Mark, KI4SWB from Melbourne Beach, Florida at a distance of 924 miles. His signal report was 4 x 7, peaking plus 30 db with deep QSB. Both receptions were on the 10 meter FM simplex frequency of 29.600 MHz. Considering operators on the lower segment 10 meter band, 28 MHz, are having a rough time making DX contacts using SSB, J3E, 3KHz bandwidth, which is four times narrower compared to FM, F3E, 11.25 KHz bandwidth, so it is somewhat amazing that we are starting to hear these type of emissions. Plus, keeping in mind that we are slowly exiting out of Solar Cycle 24, which was reported to be a deep century class lull in solar activity. I urge everyone to continue monitoring 29.600 FM simplex. Even if the frequency sounds closed, give a call out, you might be pleasantly surprised with an unexpected DX reply. Sunspot numbers were 0, 12, 0, 0, 0, 0, and 0, with a mean of 1.7. 10.7 cm flux was 68.7, 68.8, 68.7, 67.6, 68.2, 68.9, and 68.4, with a mean of 68.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 3, 3, 3, 6, 11, and 5, with a mean of 5. Middle latitude A index was 4, 3, 2, 3, 7, 9, and 6, with a mean of 4.9. ‰ END OF 18 WPM transition file ƒ