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 Previous: Field Day 2006: NASA Releases ISS North and South America Pass Times |  Next: League Asks FCC to Protect 902-928 MHz Operations |
SEATTLE, WA, Jun 16, 2006--Solar activity continues at very low levels. Andy Gudas, N7TP, of Nevada, was wondering about the bottom of the solar cycle and noted that we still see solar flux values in the 70s. We're probably not at the bottom of the cycle yet, because during long periods of zero sunspots at solar minima, we observe solar flux values in the mid-60s. Check out the numbers at the bottom of a bulletin from October 18, 1996, when there were no sunspots for weeks on end.
Five days from now is "the longest day of the year" in the Northern Hemisphere. We're moving from spring to summer propagation conditions. A couple of things you might notice compared to a few months ago: 40, 60 and 80 meters will be open for shorter periods due to fewer hours of darkness. You can also look forward to long-distance 20-meter openings later into the evening.
These effects become more noticeable at northern latitudes, where there are more hours of daylight than in the south. For instance, on the summer solstice Wednesday, June 21, Costa Rica will have about 12-1/2 hours of daylight. That same day, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada will see about 16 hours of sunlight.
Six meters remains hot. ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, reports he worked 123 Japanese stations in one recent evening. He says ARRL Vice President Rick Roderick, K5UR, worked 130 JAs in the same day recently.
David Greer, N4KZ, in Kentucky writes: "Six meters continues to dazzle from Frankfort, KY, EM78. I worked 17 stations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho on SSB between 0025 and 0130 UTC on June 15. Most signals were strong".
"On June 9 at 2208 UTC, I worked CT3FT, Madeira Islands, for my first Africa QSO on 6 meters. What a thrill that was. I even managed to catch a very brief European E-skip opening at 1700 UTC on June 3 and worked IK5MEJ and IW5DHN in Italy, a new country for me."
On 6 meters Dave runs 100 W to a four-element Yagi at 60 feet. Many other 6-meter reports came in from the VHF contest last weekend.
Nick Elias, N3AIU, in Flagstaff, Arizona, says that on June 9 on 6 meters he worked P4/W1XP on CW by loading up his full-wave 80-meter horizontal loop.
The All Asian DX Contest (CW) is this weekend.
From the US West Coast, 20 meters may open all night to the Far East. Forty meters looks good from 0900-1400 UTC. From Texas, the 20 meter opening should be much shorter, from about 0630-1400 UTC, and a 40 meter opening may also be short, around 0930-1200 UTC.
From the center of the 48 contiguous United States, check 20 meters toward the Far East around 0800-1330 UTC, and 40 meters from 0930-1200 UTC. From Chicago, 20 meters toward Japan looks best 0800-1230 UTC, and little chance of a 40 meter shot at all, perhaps around 1030-1100 UTC.
From Cleveland no band looks good toward Japan, but 20 meters has possibilities 0700-1400 UTC.
New York also does not look promising, but hams there may encounter some 20 meter Far East propagation around 0700-1300 UTC.
Atlanta shows a possible 40-meter opening around 1030 UTC, and 20 meters 0700-1330 UTC.
By the way, remember that ARRL Field Day is next weekend.
For more information concerning propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page and the article "The Sun, the Earth, the Ionosphere: What the Numbers Mean, and Propagation Predictions," by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA. An archive of past bulletins is on the ARRL Web site.
Sunspot numbers for June 8 through 14 were 67, 42, 46, 46, 32, 23 and 35, with a mean of 41.6. 10.7 cm flux was 80, 77.6, 76.1, 74.4, 74.2, 77.1, and 75.3, with a mean of 76.4. Estimated planetary A indices were 20, 10, 8, 5, 4, 3 and 7, with a mean of 8.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 18, 9, 7, 4, 2, 2 and 6, with a mean of 6.9.
Amateur solar observer Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, provides this weekly report on solar conditions and propagation. This report also
is available via W1AW every Friday, and an abbreviated version appears in The ARRL Letter. Readers may contact
the author via e-mail.
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