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- SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP008
- ARLP008 Propagation de KT7H
-
- ZCZC AP22
- QST de W1AW
- Propagation Forecast Bulletin 8 ARLP008
- >From Tad Cook, KT7H
- Seattle, WA February 25, 1994
- To all radio amateurs
-
- SB PROP ARL ARLP008
- ARLP008 Propagation de KT7H
-
- Solar activity was up last week, but so were disturbances. A major
- solar flare on February 20 blasted the Earth with enough protons to
- cause a major HF radio blackout on February 22. The delay is
- because heavier protons travel slowly. The Boulder A index rose to
- 42 on the 21st and 59 on the 22nd. The worst period was 0600z on
- February 22 when the K index rose to 8. Each point on the K index
- scale represents a huge increase in the disturbance. A level of 8
- is incredibly bad for HF propagation, especially in the higher
- latitudes.
-
- There may be more bad news ahead. If the solar regions that caused
- poor conditions four weeks earlier rotate into view again, we could
- experience more bad conditions around March 5 through 11, with the
- worst period around March 6 and 7. Solar flux should drop
- gradually, reaching a low around 90 during that period, and rising
- above 100 again by the middle of the month.
-
- For the long term, expect solar flux to peak slightly over the next
- couple of months, before continuing the slide toward the probable
- solar minimum about three years from now. In a year, average flux
- should be about 15 points lower than now, and 30 points lower in two
- years. The current best guess is for the next sunspot cycle to peak
- probably in the Summer of 2000.
-
- Sunspot Numbers from February 17 through 23 were 67, 77, 54, 33, 17,
- 68 and 47, with a mean of 51.9. 10.7 cm flux was 106.4, 106.3, 108,
- 108, 105, 106.7 and 107, with a mean of 106.8.
- NNNN
- /EX
-
-