‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM DECEMBER 2013 QST  PAGE 90‰
CONDITIONS FOR EME MAY BE EVEN BETTER ON 6 METERS WITH THE LOW SOLAR
ACTIVITY, AS HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY CAN INCREASE IONOSPHERIC PATH LOSS AND
FARADAY ROTATION OF THE SIGNALS.  EME PROPONENT LANCE, W7GJ, HAS WORKED
OVER 90 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES ON 6 METERS VIA EME ALONE.  BETTER RESULTS WILL
BE OBTAINED WITH BIGGER AND MORE ANTENNAS.  A STEERABLE FOUR YAGI ARRAY
SUCH AS USED BY W7GJ ALLOWS YOU TO WORK MANY OF THE SMALLER DXPEDITIONS
WITH 6 METERS.  EME ALONG WITH ES AND SS

FAMILIAR WITH.  SPORADIC E PROPAGATION OFF OF SMALL IONIZED CLOUDS IN THE E
LAYER, OR SPORADIC E ES, OCCURS THROUGHOUT SOLAR CYCLES.  ITS APPEARANCE
SEEMS INDEPENDENT OF SUNSPOTS.  SUMMERTIME ES CAN REACH THOUSANDS OF
KILOMETERS IN RANGE.  SINGLE HOP ES IS USUALLY ABOUT 2200 KM LONG.  THIS
CAN BE EASILY WORKED WITH EVEN WITH 10 W AND A DIPOLE.  A DOUBLE HOP
DOUBLES THE DISTANCE TO 4400 KM AND OCCURS FAIRLY OFTEN.  SMALL STATIONS
CAN WORK IT, BUT IT IS MUCH EASIER WITH 100 TO 1000 W AND COMPUTER
OPTIMIZED YAGIS.  THREE HOPS TAKES YOU OUT TO 6600 KM.  SIGNALS ARE WEAKER
OUT HERE, AND HIGH POWER AND A BIG ANTENNA MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.  THIS PUTS
THE EASTERN HALF OF NORTH AMERICA WITHIN RANGE OF WESTERN AFRICA, EUROPE,
THE CARIBBEAN AND NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA.  THIS IS A TREASURE HOUSE FOR
DXCC.  YOUR LOCATION IN NORTH AMERICA GREATLY AFFECTS HOW MANY COUNTRIES
ARE WORKABLE VIA ES.  FROM VE1, VE2, VE3, W1, W2, W3, AND THE EAST PART OF
THE W4 CALL AREA UP TO 75 OR MORE COUNTRIES MAY BE POSSIBLE VIA ES ALONE.
EVEN FROM THE CENTRAL USA, THERE ARE AROUND 50 POTENTIAL DXCC COUNTRIES
WITHIN A THREE HOP ES OF KANSAS CITY.  GO OUT TO FOUR HOPS, AND THE AIR AND

THE WORLD ABOVE 50 MHZ JON JONES, N0JK, N0JK ARRL. ORG  50 MHZ DX DURING A
SOLAR GRAND MINIMUM  EVEN IF SUNSPOTS TAKE A NOSEDIVE, THERE ARE STILL WAYS
TO KEEP YOUR CONTACT COUNT RISING.  LAST MONTHS COLUMN MENTIONED THE
GLEISSBERG SOLAR CYCLE AND THAT SOME SOLAR SCIENTISTS THINK WE MAY BE
ENTERING ANOTHER SOLAR MINIMUM AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF LOW SOLAR ACTIVITY.
GRAND MINIMUM IS THE GENERAL TERM FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF LOW SOLAR
ACTIVITY, OF WHICH THE MAUNDER MINIMUM AND DALTON MINIMUM ARE SPECIFIC
EXAMPLES.  DURING SOLAR CYCLE PEAKS, F LAYER PROPAGATION COULD BE AMAZING
ON 6 METERS.  STATIONS WITH 10 W AND A DIPOLE COULD WORK EUROPE AND JAPAN
FROM NORTH AMERICA.  DURING SOLAR CYCLE 21, A STATION IN KANSAS CITY
RUNNING A 3 W ICOM 502 RADIO AND A THREE ELEMENT YAGI ON HIS CHIMNEY
ACHIEVED WORKED ALL CONTINENTS ON A NOVEMBER AFTERNOON IN 1979.  WITH 100 W
AND A SMALL YAGI, DEDICATED OPERATORS WOULD WORK 100 COUNTRIES ON A REGULAR
BASIS.  IF A GRAND MINIMUM WERE TO OCCUR F2 PROPAGATION SUCH AS APPEARED IN
RECENT SOLAR CYCLES 22 AND 23 ON 6 METERS WOULD BE ALL BUT GONE IN CYCLE 25
AND BEYOND.  EVEN 10 METER F2 DX MAY BE RARE.  BUT DONT TEAR DOWN YOUR 6
METER ANTENNA DX DOES NOT END ON 6 METERS IN A GRAND MINIMUM.  SO HOW CAN
YOU WORK THE FOREIGN DX ON 6 METERS?  HOW CAN YOU EARN THE DXCC AWARD UNDER
THESE CONDITIONS?  IT WILL BE POSSIBLE USING SOME MODES YOU MAY BE ALREADY
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ