There will be a (partial) solar eclipse on January 4th visible in Europe. I will try to be on a summit to observe the eclipse and for a very special SOTA activity. Maximum of the eclipse will be at approx. 08:15 UTC, so it will be an early morning activation. Please stay tuned …
Martin, df3mc
In reply to DF3MC:
Some ham friends has observed nightly conditions during the past solar eclipses. Even 160 m band should open (they say …)
I am sorry I have to work tomorrow morning, being unable to experience the propagation anomalies.
Good luck, Martin!
73 Ruda OK2QA
I hope you had a good view. Here the skies were clear, but the eclipse was not visible. Instead, I spent part of the morning watching whilst the local DTV folks tried to re-figure a satellite dish a monkey had managed to buckle…
In reply to DF3MC:
No sign of the sun here in Bracknell.
Having seen the 1999 total eclipse (in Salzburg) all these partial eclipses are non-events… In this case it was not total anywhere, not even near, so there would be absolutely no affect on propagation.
Hope you had a good day.
73 Dave G3YMC
In reply to G3YMC:
In the maximun eclipse area 86% of the sun was obscured by the moon, that is 86% of the incoming radiation was blocked. Surely it would be no surprise if so much reduction in radiation influx had an effect on propogation?
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
The sun doesn’t rise above my local horizon till about 9.20 at this time of year and it’s a very grey day 
It did look rather darker than normal. At least the snow from last night has melted.
Andy
MM0FMF
This morning I was on Hoher Peißenberg (DL/AM-001) to observe the eclipse and for some SOTA activity. There were about 50 observers – some with rather big fotocameras and telescopes, and the temperature was about -10 deg C.
There was low fog under the summit, and it was a fantastic view to the Alps rising out of the fog. The partly occulted sun was visible behind some thin high clouds. Altogether it was quite a spectacular view.
During the maximum occultation I was able to make about 10 QSOs with stations from all over Europe on 40m. I thought that the signals might be a bit weaker than usual, but signal reports for me were normal. There was a lot of activity on 30m – only two QSOs for me.
After the eclipse, I made another 50 QSOs – this is one of the highest number of contacts for any of my activations.
In summary I could not find any abnormalities in propagation this morning. I am sure that there has been scientific research on this subject – I will try to find out more!
Thanks to all stations for the support. Martin, df3mc
1 Like
There are lots of scientific reports about the effects of a solar eclipse on the ionosphere - I think that nearly every eclipse since 1927 has been the target of one or more scientific investigation.
A nice overview of the effects of the Jan.4th eclipse can be found on the pages of Space Weather Application Center - Ionosphere. (news/solar eclipse)
DF3MC