Solar activity

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

It is easy to overlook the peaks and troughs of solar activity when looking at averages. When solar activity has brief peaks, conditions can often be way above average. Some have even caught brief 6m F2 openings by remaining alert.

That is why 10m is such a fascinating band . Even in years with almost zero or no sunspots I have worked South Americans with QRP SSB with simple wire antennas. Never give up just because the average sunspot number is low.