I gotta ask , who was around 4500 years ago to tell ya what the weather was like, and what the solar cycle was doing? Sorry but I hada ask.
I remember 1989: I made a 3 ele quad from bamboo sticks. put it up on a 10 storey building. 28 MHz was open 18 hours per day, 21 and 14 Mhz round the clock. Going to bed meant you could miss a rare Pacific station. California stations were like a swarm. Beacons on 28MHz were heard nonstop. Even 1 or 5W beacons from W6, KH6, ZL, VK. You could talk to W6 even on 10m FM ! It was like local 2m FM QSO ! there were days when the 10m band was open at midnight to 3 AM. All with a humble 3 ele bamboo quad and a modest IC-735... anyway, next month I will be QRV from Mindanao as DV8/KH7EA. 100W, hexbeam. 73 de Irek SP3SUx in London, England.
Let's talk reality Solar Cycle 24 has been DOCUMENTED as the WORSE SOLAR CYCLE in recorded history. The next 3 Solar Cycles will be worse than Solar Cycle 24 according to Long Term Solar Forecasts The Sun is entering a quiet period where sun spots will be sparse to none. Given this forecast we can only hope that the forecasters are wrong though that is very unlikely No matter what , for those of us who have played radio forever , we have memories of what Ham Radio was Fortunate to have enjoyed Ham Radio during its Hey Day
Having lived and operated thru Cycle 19 I was completely spoiled and the following ones were all a letdown by comparison. Some times 10M was open around the world for days. That was also when I discovered the "magic" of 6M. OTOH I do remember a few great F layer openings on 6M during Cycle 22 that started with EU, then to AF and on to SA/CA and ended in VK and ZL. I was working at home then and got very little of that done!! Carl
The sun spot numbers are now, zero. How could it get weaker? Are we to move into negative sunspot numbers?
top tip in low sunspots: use an aerial with a very low angle of radiation (a simple vertical right next to the sea is what i use). you might be suprised at how much is still coming in at really low angles on 20m and above!
The science guys are saying it's going to be about the same. I would favor their opinion over the front-porch "physicists".
The science guys are only talking about sunspots and not about LF thru VHF propagation. It is the active hams that discover various openings that often defy explanations. Others just sit behind their keyboards and make believe they are experts when they tell others to not waste money on decent antennas for 10-15M. Granted a wet noodle and 5W on SSB from an apartment will experience very little of this propagation but FT8 and beyond will provide many pleasant surprises for those willing to make the effort and also others to upgrade from Tech. It is a well known and repeatable fact that 6M opens every year coast to coast and intercontinental DX, and does not depend upon what the sun decides to do. It is called Sporadic E for a reason. There are several DX alert websites that report those openings in near real time so constant monitoring is a thing of the past for the less than paranoid operator. We are entering the E season now and it will peak in June-July. Carl
