Solar cycle

Looks like things are definitely picking up at long last. Solar flux at 107, highest value for over 5 years. Should make those cross pond s2s contacts much easier. Now to get back to entering my logs from the GM trip :frowning:

In reply to G1INK:

The WX has definitely improved since you left. Can you let me know when youā€™ll next be coming and Iā€™ll get my SCUBA gear serviced ready! :wink:

Hope you had fun and that the WX wasnā€™t too bad. Which way did you do Queensberry? Iā€™m thinking of doing that for the UHF weekend as itā€™s LOS to a good few NP / LD summits and also a unique for me.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

Next Sun / Mon up to Pitlochry for another ā€œall inclusiveā€ do. I notice there`s 2 distilleries & a brew pub in the town.

Managed to fit in 10 activations last week - of those I had views on only two of them. The most manic activation was GM/SS-159 Beinn Ghlas when I worked 113 contacts on 40m in just under an hour, I had to close down with a few callers till trying as it was getting dark & my mother was waiting in the car after sight seeing in Oban (found the brew pub).

Queensberry was done from the NE. Parked at the side of the road at Kinnelhead, down the track to Lochanhead, crossed a burn & got wet feet which didn`t matter as it was raining anyway. Then just followed the tree line up towards the summit & carried on when the trees stopped. Again - no view from the summit. It looks a great take off on vhf & I reckon it would be great to do on a nice summers day.

In reply to G1INK:

The Moulin Inn, Moulin, just outside Pitlochry is the place to drink (and stay). The beer in its microbrewery is sublime.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:
That`s the one - and it just happens to be near the parking spot for Ben Vrackie.

In reply to G1INK:
113 today according to the Propfire add-on for the Firefox browser. It caused an exclamation here!
73
David M0YDH

In reply to M0YDH:
Plus CME earthbound - expect HF blackout and VHF Aurora :slight_smile:

Roger g4OWG

In reply to G4OWG:

Plus CME earthbound - expect HF blackout and VHF Aurora :slight_smile:

Just in time for my brother who is taking a ā€œNorthern Lightsā€ Cruise shortly. Lucky man!

Gerald G4OIG

In reply to G1INK:
SFI of 113 is certainly an improvement and a sign that the sun is not dead, but you have to remember that at the peak it should be 250-300. We have an awful long way to go yet.

The higher bands were certainly a bit more lively yesterday and I managed a bit of DX. But the CME and its predicted blackout is always the bad side of solar storms.

73 Dave G3YMC

In reply to G3YMC:

There was also a fade yesterday from the X2 flare at 0156 UTC on sunspot group 1158. There are currently four numbered groups on the Earthward face of the sun plus a couple of small un-numbered spots, its nice to have them back with us!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G8ADD:

Very poor conditions on 80m this morning.
I managed to work John G4YSS (operating as GX0OOO/P) on G/LD-009 at 559 / 579 on 1.832 MHz just after 1000z, but by 1020z he was down in the noise. I listened on 80m both CW & SSB & could barely detect his signal. Even John GW4BVE running 400 Watts was up & down in the QSB.

I then checked the chilton Ionogram & found the MUF at 35MHZ & the F2 critical frequency at 9.9 MHz, & both are currently rising, that explains why 80m is so poor.

28Mhz is currently wide open to the East.

Iā€™m glad I booked a day off work :slight_smile:

73,

Mark G0VOF

In reply to G0VOF:

Hrd VK this morning on 10m on my vertical CP6. Flux still over 100 for 4th day running.

In reply to G0VOF:

I then checked the chilton Ionogram & found the MUF at 35MHZ & the F2 critical
frequency at 9.9 MHz, & both are currently rising, that explains why 80m is so poor.

I did manage one contact on 80 this morning just after 10:00 but checked back half an hour later and it was flat noise almost everywhere. 40 metres was workable but prone to bouts of extreme fading, presumably down to the same thing. I guess Iā€™d better get to work on my antennas, as I donā€™t have one up for 30 metres through 10 metres at present.

In reply to M6LEP:

Hi Rick,

I did hear you working Carolyn earlier on 40m shortly before she went QRT I think. I remember you worked me just before I went QRT on G/SP-012 last September.

You must have superb patience to wait for the pileup to subside :slight_smile:

Best of luck with the 30m -10m antenna, You will certainly find it useful over the next few years.

73,

Mark

In reply to G0VOF:

I did hear you working Carolyn earlier on 40m shortly before she went
QRT I think.

Even with the QSB it wasnā€™t a bad morning for me. On 40 metres I heard but failed to catch Filip on ON/ON-010 and ON/ON-001, and F4FHM on F/NO-005, but I worked Stef on F/VL-021, F/VL-001 and F/VL-023, and Carolyn on GW/NW-032, and on 80 metres I worked Franz on F/NO-032.

I remember you worked me just before I went QRT on
G/SP-012 last September.

Indeed, that was my third successful SOTA chase, the first two having been a month earlier.

You must have superb patience to wait for the pileup to subside :slight_smile:

Sometimes itā€™s a case of ā€œRight, time to get a cuppa!ā€ 'cos the pile-up will either still be in full swing when I get back, or the activator will have given up on the rabble. :wink:

Best of luck with the 30m -10m antenna, You will certainly find it
useful over the next few years.

Thanks. I have a fan dipole in the attic, but itā€™s the wrong side of the tiles and gets a fine dose of noise from the house electrics. I had a fan dipole in the garden, but it was a bit low for DX purposes. So I put a vertical on the end of that feeder instead, but it only covers 40, part of 80, and a slivver of 160.

ā€¦and Iā€™m also investigating installing some non-visual astronomical sensors, for the purpose of monitoring SIDs and (maybe) magnetic storms. All keeps the brain ticking overā€¦ :wink:

In reply to G0VOF:
10m rocking to Central America just now.
& W4 area

In reply to G1INK:

In reply to G0VOF:

Hrd VK this morning on 10m on my vertical CP6. Flux still over 100 for
4th day running.

Hi Steveā€¦

I put a CQ out on 15M at midday and received a call from VK. He said heā€™d worked the UK on 10M until the band closed his side.

Regards
Mike 2E0YYY

In reply to 2E0YYY:
Sunspots 101 Flux 125 - we`re on the way up. May take 10m dipole to GM next week.

Certainly the longer wavelengths seem pretty well flattened at the moment. I could just about hear G4MD on 60 metres earlier, but not on 80 now (well, thereā€™s the whisper of a one-and-one signal, possibly).

Really must get that new antenna up. Pity itā€™s chucking it down; not good weather for climbing laddersā€¦

In reply to G1INK:

May take 10m dipole to GM next week.

Last time you came up the WX was horrible for a week. Now youā€™re coming back and this time youā€™re tempting fate by bringing a 10m antenna. That will cause the sun to go on strike!

Andy
MM0FMF