Solar Cycle 24 - Looks Like a Low One
Based on the recent article on the ARRL site it looks like Solar Cycle 24 is not going to be very active.
For those that are not familiar, the sun goes in roughly an 11 year cycle of sun spots. Currently, and for the past few years, there have been VERY few sun spots, if any. Occasionally we have one pop up but for the most part all has been quiet.
So what do sun spots have to do with anything? Well, these are a major cause for ionization in our atmosphere. The energy that is released by the sun with these spots gets trapped and filtered in our atmosphere, leaving charged particles (ions) up in the sky for radio signals to bounce off of. The higher the ionization level the easier radio signals bounce off of the atmosphere and the more predictable radio wave propagation becomes.
When I got my first license in 2001 propagation was pretty good on the bands, though I wasn't able to get on HF. In 2002 when I got my General license and was able to use the HF bands propagation was still pretty good, but it has gone down ever since. For the past few years propagation has not been great. There have been a few openings, I was able to work Japan on 17m mobile a while back - that is a good sign.
Based on the article, the predicted peak of cycle 24 is 90, the lowest peak since 1928. I wonder what this is going to do for us in a few years as we head back up the hill. I am sure it will be better than none! Some are better than none, the more the better!
For those that are not familiar, the sun goes in roughly an 11 year cycle of sun spots. Currently, and for the past few years, there have been VERY few sun spots, if any. Occasionally we have one pop up but for the most part all has been quiet.
So what do sun spots have to do with anything? Well, these are a major cause for ionization in our atmosphere. The energy that is released by the sun with these spots gets trapped and filtered in our atmosphere, leaving charged particles (ions) up in the sky for radio signals to bounce off of. The higher the ionization level the easier radio signals bounce off of the atmosphere and the more predictable radio wave propagation becomes.
When I got my first license in 2001 propagation was pretty good on the bands, though I wasn't able to get on HF. In 2002 when I got my General license and was able to use the HF bands propagation was still pretty good, but it has gone down ever since. For the past few years propagation has not been great. There have been a few openings, I was able to work Japan on 17m mobile a while back - that is a good sign.
Based on the article, the predicted peak of cycle 24 is 90, the lowest peak since 1928. I wonder what this is going to do for us in a few years as we head back up the hill. I am sure it will be better than none! Some are better than none, the more the better!
posted by Steve at
7:43 AM
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