21 Aug 2023

The next solar peak

In the past, there has been a lot of doubt and uncertainty over the timing of this. The site I mostly use has been predicting the next maximum in November or December 2023 for some time. 

Quite often we get a second peak after the first. What is clear from other cycles is that conditions could be good for several years after the peak. 

In the past I have worked stations in Argentina on QRP 10m SSB when the sunspot count right at the minimum has been zero. Quite often 10m propagation is there but there is a lack of activity. With FT8, we can now monitor the higher bands and see. Stand alone 5W FT8 transceivers for 10m can be obtained quite inexpensively freeing up "the big rig".

See https://www.solen.info/solar/images/comparison_similar_cycles.png .

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