Sunspots and 10m - Tues June 28th 2016

Solar flux is 75 today and the sunspot number is zero yet again (K=2). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is again "poor". Luckily there is Es about on 10m.

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
I'm glad to inform about new Club 72 member -
US5ERQ op. Sergey (Dnipro region, Ukraine), membership card # 87.
Remind  about "72 QRP" round table (Rendez-Vous) tomorrow at 9 UTC on
14060  +/-  QRM,  QRL,  keep  RIT  for  xtal  stn's.  See you also on
"rendezvous"  on  Thursday  and  Saturday.  Comments  and reports are
appreciated to "mr72" e-mail, please.
72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

6m JT65 and 10m WSPR today

Apart from a couple of G spots of my 1W ERP signal on 6m JT65, all is quiet on both bands here with no signs yet of Es.

UPDATE 0920z: I see there were a couple of EA stations spotted here on 6m JT65 around breakfast time, so there was Es on 6m earlier.

UPDATE 1628z:  EA8CNR (2929km) is best RX DX today on 6m JT65.

2m UK activity contests

Last week, the RSGB published the results of the UKAC 2m so far this year. Even though I have been only active of about 40% (or less) of the time in each session, I only use 5W QRP and an omni antenna, I am half way up the table (AL section) and I appear to be moving up too. Contests have never really been "my thing", but I enjoy these sessions until my voice gives in. Because of my stroke I usually manage less than an hour. Activity levels are usually good, although the last 70cm UKAC was dire here.

UPDATE 0922z: The next 2m UKAC is on the first Tuesday in July starting at 1900z (8pm UK clock time).

Slowly declining solar activity

We have had several days recently with a total absence of sunspots. There is now little doubt that we are now on the slow, downward slide to the next solar minimum. The slide on the downwards few years is usually slower than the rise to the next peak after the minimum. The next peak is expected to be very poor.

Next autumn could be very interesting, although conditions on 10m are very unlikely to be as good as the last few years.

In my lifetime it is very unlikely I shall ever see 10m F2 conditions really good again. This is quite a sobering thought. Es (multi-hop) may be the only real hope of E-W DX on 10m in some summer months. Such DX may also happen on 6m too. The only time I worked the USA on 6m (this was 2.5W CW QRP) was by Es in a quiet part of the solar cycle when F2 propagation was poor on the higher HF bands.

As always, this is the law of averages. There may be good days when 10m is "open" but such openings may be missed as people follow the activity ever lower in frequency.  In the minimum even 20m may be dead. This is a few years away.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/.

Sunspots and 10m - Mon June 27th 2016

Solar flux is 76 today. Sunspot number is zero again (K=3) and the forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor".

OK, you win!

OK, I am truly convinced that JT65 is much better than WSPR as a guide to propagation on 6m. The map shows where I reached on 6m (1W ERP) today. If I had been on 6m WSPR, which is better at digging weak signals out of the noise, I would have been lucky to get a spot at all! On 10m, I am still using WSPR as the activity levels are higher on WSPR than on 6m.

See https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html .

UPDATE 1918z: This is the 6m log today. Not bad for 1W ERP and a simple vertical omni.

Click on log to see a clearer version.

Working in garden - NOT amateur radio

Back Garden

Yesterday, I was going to cut our lawns but it was too wet. Today, the weather was good so I managed to cut both the front and back lawns. My XYL did a bit of weeding and chopping back. It is amazing how everything seems to have grown in the short time we were away.

10m WSPR today

I am still using 500mW on 10m WSPR. There is widespread Es about with spots from Germany, Italy and Spain already.

6m JT65 today

So far today, my 6m JT65 beaconing (1W ERP) has only been spotted in the UK. Last night I spotted an Italian late evening on 6m JT65.

6m JT65 spots so far today (1W ERP)

UPDATE 1038z: One Croatian station has been spotted on 6m JT65 (Es) but all the spots of me on 6m so far have been by G stations. JT65 is far more productive on 6m than WSPR in my view. I think this is because there are far more stations active. I am still hopeful of transatlantic spots on 6m JT65 even at my QRP level.

UPDATE 1218z:  My 6m QRP JT65 was spotted in Finland 20 minutes ago. I assume this is Es.

UPDATE 1255z:  Several more 6m JT65 Es spots from listeners in Finland.

UPDATE 1700z:  More spots on 6m Es (see map).

UPDATE 1755z:  Spots from right across Europe on 6m JT65 (1W ERP). Spots from 18 stations today.