[IRCA] Fw: ARLP013 Propagation de K7RA

["Art Blair" <artngwen@xxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "W1AW Mailing List" <w1aw-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <artngwen@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <W1AW List:>
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 7:59 AM
Subject: ARLP013 Propagation de K7RA


> SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP013
> ARLP013 Propagation de K7RA
> 
> ZCZC AP13
> QST de W1AW  
> Propagation Forecast Bulletin 13  ARLP013
>>From Tad Cook, K7RA
> Seattle, WA  March 23, 2007
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB PROP ARL ARLP013
> ARLP013 Propagation de K7RA
> 
> For the past ten days we've observed no sunspots at all. Periods
> like this, or longer, are expected at the bottom of the sunspot
> cycle. As mentioned in a recent bulletin, the latest projection for
> smoothed sunspot numbers from NOAA Space Environment Center has the
> solar minimum at February through April 2007, with a smoothed
> sunspot number of 11. You can see the table on page 10 of the
> Preliminary Report and Forecast at, http://tinyurl.com/yvw2ke.
> Another way to look at it is that the minimum is projected between
> December 2006 and July 2007, with a smoothed sunspot number of 12 or
> lower.
> 
> Randy Crews, W7TJ notes that the graph at http://www.dxlc.com/solar
> tells the story on recent trends.
> 
> But reports still arrive weekly of operators working long distance,
> even at the bottom of the cycle. Mike Carter, K8CN of Durham, New
> Hampshire says he runs 50 watts CW into a wire 60 feet long and 20
> feet at its highest. He's worked a lot of South Pacific DX on 40
> meters from 1100-1200z, and Europe, Africa and the Caribbean on 30
> meters around 2100-2300z.
> 
> The lower part of the HF spectrum is a good place to operate at the
> bottom of the sunspot cycle. Unlike 10 or 15 meters, 160 and 80
> meters won't be bothered by a low MUF (Maximum Usable Frequency), a
> consequence of the lack of sunspots. With less solar activity comes
> less problems with geomagnetic disturbances, which can be frequent
> toward the top of the cycle.
> 
> Wednesday night about an hour after local sunset I operated 60
> meters from my car, using one of those inexpensive popular
> single-band mobile whips mounted on the trunk. This antenna can't be
> very efficient, as the length is only about .045 wavelength. 60
> meters is an unusual channelized band, with just 5 channels, the top
> at just above 5.4 MHz. Upper-sideband SSB is the only permitted
> mode, with transmit power limited to 50 watts ERP. The atmospheric
> noise was high, and the static crashes probably from far-away
> thunderstorms.
> 
> I made contact with Frank Miller, K9HMB of Harvard, Illinois, nearly
> 1700 miles to the east of me, and was surprised to receive an S9
> signal report. Later, a glance at his antennas at
> http://www.k9ns.com told me what kind of station was receiving K7RA
> so strongly. See if you can find the photo of a large commercial
> crane "adding a third beam to the stack."
> 
> You can see more info on operating in the 60 meter band on the ARRL
> web site at,
> http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/faq-60.html.
> 
> Dramatic solar images from the Japanese Hinode spacecraft prompted
> numerous emails this week. The messages referred to a NASA article
> at http://tinyurl.com/2p5ksk and a New Scientist article at,
> http://tinyurl.com/ypzhof. Spaceweather.com has a movie from the
> spacecraft at http://tinyurl.com/ysjrl4 or for today you can see it
> at, http://www.spaceweather.com. Clicking on the movie URL should
> launch a media player on your personal computer. I found the movie
> better on the second viewing, because all of the content had been
> buffered and the motion was smooth.
> 
> This weekend is the CQ World Wide WPX SSB Contest. There probably
> won't be any sunspots, although a few are on the way. The sunspot
> number will probably be 0 or 11. The higher frequencies won't be
> fantastic, but geomagnetic conditions are expected to be stable and
> quiet. The U.S. Air Force predicts a planetary A index for March
> 23-29 at 5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 10 and 5. Geophysical Institute Prague
> says that March 23 should be quiet to unsettled, March 24-25
> unsettled, March 26-27 unsettled to active, March 28 unsettled, and
> March 29 quiet.
> 
> If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers,
> email the author at, k7ra@xxxxxxxxx
> 
> For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL
> Technical Information Service at,
> http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed
> explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see,
> http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past
> propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/.
> Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve
> overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/.
> 
> Sunspot numbers for March 15 through 21 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 and 0
> with a mean of 0. 10.7 cm flux was 69.2, 68.7, 69.3, 70.5, 70.1,
> 72.6, and 72.8, with a mean of 70.5. Estimated planetary A indices
> were 8, 10, 8, 3, 2, 2 and 2 with a mean of 5. Estimated
> mid-latitude A indices were 5, 11, 8, 1, 1, 1 and 1, with a mean of
> 4.
> NNNN
> /EX
> 
>

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