It is interesting that not a single signal has been spotted today from outside Europe on 10m FT8. At the same time, I have spotted plenty from Europe on 10m FT8, presumably by Es propagation.
I am no expert on HF propagation, but it would seem F2 propagation is upset by poor by solar conditions, but not Es. If Es does suffer, the effect is much smaller.
D2UY in Angola has been a good indicator of propagation. Not seen this station today on 10m FT8.
I would say Es is very much upset by solar conditions. Es here in IM67 has been very poor this year compared with last year, today its been non existent which is ridiculous for late-ish May. I have the 40.013MHz Irish beacon as an Es 'reference' on 8M whether users are on the band or not and the amount of reception is way down on last year.
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Hugh
Es has only really "got going" here in the last week. It would be interesting to see any research in this area i.e is Es adversely affected by high solar activity or solar storms. It would be interesting to see if there is correlation. In my experience, I have not seen a correlation. Mind you, I have not been looking. My only USA contact on 6m was at the depths of solar activity as I recall.
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