HF Band Conditions

[pjxii]

I've been on and off again regarding SWL over the decades and luckily happen to be "on" whenever it was at the top or near top of a sunspot cycle. This is the first time I remember trying to listen during a sunspot low point. I've never, ever heard the HF bands so dead. Is it normally this bad for low cycle? To make matters worse (for me), thunderstorm activity has been in full bloom here in Florida so longwave is out, too.

Gonna try my hand at FM Tropo for a while...

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Gonna try my hand at FM Tropo for a while...

There ya go.
Also peak Es season is now.

Let us know how you do.

addendum: Also, you may want to give NOAA WX DXing a try.

 

[ebuchanan1970]

I listened to shortwave a lot in 1984 and in 1992. The sunspot cycle was higher then. I got back in around 2009 and sometimes it was really bad. It was not always bad though. I can remember around 2009 that I would listen to 15 meters and it was so quiet I wondered if something had happened to my antenna. Propagation was just really bad. I also bought a 70 mm refractor telescope with a solar filter so I could see the sunspots myself. I saw zero the last time I checked. I remember up until about 2016 there were a lot of sunspots. Have you tried 11670 khz, 11760 khz, 11840 khz, and 12000 khz out of Cuba? I can hear them pretty good some of the time from California around 0000 UTC. Also I remember that when we had zero sunspots for a long time I was still hearing 40 meters and 41 meters well around sunset. I was listening to 13840 khz out of New Zealand a second ago and it did not come in that well.

 

[ka3jjz]

And sadly it doesn't look good for the foreseeable future. We're in a low zone right now - so low, in fact, that there's whispers of an extended low cycle. Heck even the supposed cycle we just went through was the lowest recorded in nearly a century, and scientists don't know precisely why.

Better antennas and better radios help, but when old Sol ain't cooperating, there's little you can do...Mike

 

[DaveNF2G]

Some scientists know why. They just can't explain it using mainstream "ball of gas" theory. We are heading for a Grand Minimum that happens every several hundred years.

Coincidentally (maybe), the Earth's magnetic shield is weakening due to a combination of low solar activity and the impending flip of the magnetic poles. This means that the effects of solar wind changes on the ionosphere are muted. It also means that the earth's surface is receiving more cosmic rays than ever.

 

[krokus]

To make matters worse (for me), thunderstorm activity has been in full bloom here in Florida so longwave is out, too.

Gonna try my hand at FM Tropo for a while...

Low band VHF could work out well for you, with the amount of military are in, and near, Florida. Same for military air bands.

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[N9PBD]

Some scientists know why. They just can't explain it using mainstream "ball of gas" theory. We are heading for a Grand Minimum that happens every several hundred years.

Coincidentally (maybe), the Earth's magnetic shield is weakening due to a combination of low solar activity and the impending flip of the magnetic poles. This means that the effects of solar wind changes on the ionosphere are muted. It also means that the earth's surface is receiving more cosmic rays than ever.

See, and they told me that my tin-foil hat was crazy!


:lol:

 

[Turbo68]

I remember when i started monitoring hf aircraft with a discone use to pick up aircraft from all over but condition havent been the best so a few months ago i took my wellbrook ala1530 active loop hooked up to a 12 volt battery mounted on a pa speaker stand which can extend up to 3 metres high using my alinco dx-r8 hf receiver can actully hear aircraft from all over by going down the beach location is tasmania
australia but at home can barely hear anything on my hf dipoles and i actually enjoy going hf mobile another location i go too can hear ndb stations up to 3000km away..

Regards Lino..

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

Actually, our Earth is overdue for a reversal of Her ( ) polar magnetic fields. This has happened thru out history; the last one occurred about 3/4 of a million years ago. and we may be seeing the begining's of next one right as I type.
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The geomagnetic fields have been progressively weakening for some time now, signalling this coming change. In the past, North was South and visa versa- that last change believ'd to occur'd in less than a single human life time---- and today all the signs are there. That actual shift can be but a eye blink in geo-time, but proceed'd by years of progressive decay- and we may be seeing that now.
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What's this all mean to us? Well, its highly unlikely to fully occur during any of our lives, but the progressive decrease in the magnetic fields decreases the ionized layers of our atmosphere that protect us from cosmic rays. Over extended periods these can cause genetic mutations that will effect all life on earth (and those tin foil hats won't save you... lol... )
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There could be major disruptions to our electric grid, radio communications of course- and among others, neatest of all (to me); as the poles move we may be seeing Auroras as far south as the equator.. (I love auroras).......... Ah, but like I said, not likely in our life times.
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The magnet field reversal is caused by changes in the earth's internal swirling iron core- an interesting phenomenon in itself- and crucial to the survival of life on our planet. Maybe its not such a bad thing, this decrease in solar activity. Major solar eruptions during these periods of lower'ed protection can strip off our thin protective gaseous mantel, leaving us in time, as sterile as our neighbor Mars.
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Radio wise?...It could always be worse. A fascinating subject, all the same, No?
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Lauri
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[pjxii]

Low band VHF could work out well for you, with the amount of military are in, and near, Florida. Same for military air bands.

Sent using Tapatalk

This is a good idea, but I don't know if I have anything to receive the band. What frequencies are you referring to? Any recommendations for antennas?

 

[WA8ZTZ]

VHF low band is 30-50 mcs., mostly FM. VHF airband is 118-136 mcs AM. UHF airband is 225-400 mcs AM. A something simple like a Bearcat BC125AT handheld scanner wiil cover all those freqs (and more). A properly installed outdoor discone antenna fed with RG-6 would give good results.

 

[ka3jjz]

A gentle reminder - this forum is concerned with frequencies below 30 Mhz only. There are other forums for different ranges...'nuff said

Mike

 

[DaveNF2G]

Based on the movement of the poles with respect to the rest of the planet, the shift seems likely to be completed when they meet in the southern Indian Ocean in an estimated 20 to 30 years time.

The flip could happen sooner as nobody really knows how close the magnetic poles have to be to each other to trigger it.

In any case, modern civilization will not be prepared for the consequences. Too much divisiveness, politics, and out-and-out dishonesty in the way human affairs are managed. Some "scientists" are even denying the current progress of the shift, and governments have an interest in suppressing opposing views (look at the "global warming" debacle).

 

[ka3jjz]

Even if this so-called shift does happen, it will not happen overnight. It would likely take a very long time - maybe centuries - to complete. Nothing geophysical happens fast.

Nothing to worry about in terms of a common lifetime...Mike

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

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Is this excursion into geophysics a distraction from the original radio topic?.... maybe; but all things of science are all connected- understand the subtle phenomenons and you gain insight into the bigger picture.
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Pole reversals are a fact of life. Though in terms of one occurring within a (our) human life time is extremely rare, their is current evidence that a reversal can occur in only a matter of years. In certain paleomagnetic samples taken from ancient lava flows **--- the alignment of magnetic deposits show realignments frozen in time that occurred over only a matter of years. It was previously thought to take 4-6 thousand years for this to occur- but there is this new evidence.
And based on past history, we are overdue.
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The signs are all there- the steady weakening of the magnet fields over the last hundred years, the last stable realignment three quarter's of a million years ago.
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But even with an 'overnight' flip, very few people will even be aware of what occurred. Planes won't fall out of the air, radios will still work, disruptions to the power grids are highly questionable, there maybe Northern Lights visible in Florida....you might want to buy a new compass...
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But in geophysical time I wouldn't worry about it anytime soon.
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Now Global Warming is something else.
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Love it- Embrace it !
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We are living in one of the rarer earthly epoch's- an Interglacial. The history of the Earth is one written ln ice.... we have been in this period of warmth far too long...and we are definitely due for another ice age. It was only a blink in the eye of God that major portions of North America were last cover'd in 2 mile! thick ice sheets--- and an interglacial warm period can begin to collapse in just a single lifetime.
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Your 40 metre dipoles on the shores of Lake Michigan aren't going to work worth a hoot under all that frozen stuff ...
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Lauri
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** Awhile others bask in the sun of the Pacific shores of Hawaiian Islands, geeks like me drive up to mountains geology field stations to see this stuff.
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[ka3jjz]

OK that's enough with the Mulder and Scully type stuff. This thread is now closed. Mike