On Air Presentations

Las Vegas Thursday Night RoundTable Net - 3/24/2022 - Summary

These are my general notes from the RoundTable Net on March 24, 2022. It was great being invited and being asked to moderate a discussion around HF Propagation and also to introduce myself and my new role with the ARRL. I hope this was informational and provides some insights and answered questions from all those who checked into the net. 73, Tony.

• Vice Director's main role is to fill in when the Director is not able to attend the board meetings and vote on their behalf

• Support the mission of the ARRL.

• Attend events, club meetings and solicit ideas, feedback and answer questions regarding the ARRL.

• Work with the field staff when requested (Section Managers, PIO, etc.).

• For 2022 selected to serve on the Administration and Finance Standing Committe and the Logbook of the World Committee.

• Attend and participate in the two-yearly board meetings in Newington CT.

For newcomers to amateur radio, who have never experienced operating at a peak period of the solar cycle, what can they look forward to? How good does it really get?

During the exit of solar minimum through solar maximum you will be able to easily work distant stations (this will of course still depend on what this solar cycle ends up doing). This will be easily accomplished using a simple dipole and possibly a lower power radio (if costs are an issue).

For those with technician licenses, 10 meters is a great opportunity to experience long distance communications (DX) -- 28.300 - 28.500 SSB and 28.00-28.300 digital. 6 Meters would also be another great band as we get further into this current cycle.

I would highly encourage those who are on the fence of upgrading from a Technician to General class to do so... over the next couple of years as the cycle continues into the peak period, coming around 2024-2025-2026, would be a great incentive to getting on the air and upgrading to utilize the HF bands.

I would also comment that with this current cycle in full swing (or at least getting there), you don't need to go out and purchase an expensive radio. You can get by for the next few years (or more) with a QRP or low power HF Radio which are typically between 5 to 20 watts. Also, a good dipole antenna will be useful in your operating on the bands. Experiment with the various ways of setting up dipoles and or pickup other types of antennas, like vertices or spider antennas for example.

Please explain what the sunspot number, solar flux number, the A Index and the K Index are. What are considered good and bad numbers of each of these? (SSN, SFI and A and K Indices).

Solar Radiation, Geomagnetic Field, lower atmosphere. Day to Day variability of ionosphere

MUF / Enough ionization to refract signals

Sunspot Number (SN) - Values between 0 and 250 | 2 = poor, 90 = good, 220 = awesome

Indicates the number of active sun spots. This is important for HF communications as this emits higher level of radiation.

Solar Flux Number (SFI) -Values between 62.5 to 300 | 70 = poor, 160 = good, 280 = awesome

Solar Noise Measured at 2800 MHz daily - Idea of how the F-Layer in the ionosphere can support radio communication on HF but specifically 20 meters through 10 meters.

Magnetic field is disturbed (F Regions)

K Index - 3 hour index (0-9) P = Worldwide index. Planetary means many stations. | 1 = calm, 5=minor storm, 7=severe.

daily average short-term stability of Earth's magnetic field. Anything over 5 is not favorable. This is updated daily.

A Index - Values between 0 - 400 | 4 = calm, 40 = minor storm, 80 = severe

is more of a Daily long-term stability index of the magnetic field. Updated once a day. Over 100 is not favorable.

MUF US Boulder - in MHz - 14 = 20m to 10m not good | 29 = 20m to 10m good to operate

Measured from one of eleven locations worldwide - Represents the highest frequency that can be reliably used for skywave propagation communications. Updated every 15 minutes.

What online resources dealing with propagation do you find especially useful?

• ARRL is a great resource, here are links to some of the sections of the ARRL Website.

  • Propagation of RF Signals - http://www.arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals

  • Propagation - http://arrl.org/propagation

  • March 2021 Edition of On the Air Magazine, "Here Comes the Sun!" - Read On the Air (arrl.org)

  • ARRL Learning Site - http://learn.arrl.org - This is new, and content is being added regularly to this new site. So, check it often.

  • Understanding Solar Indices - QST September 2002 Edition - Understanding Solar Indices (arrl.org)

  • Amateur Radio Bands PDF - Band Chart.pdf (arrl.org) Vertical Version

• Youtube is another great resource.

  • Solar Cycle 25: What we can expect? Solar indices: how to read them? - Solar cycle 25: what can we expect? Solar indices: how to read them? - YouTube

  • The Exotic World of HF Propagation (VERY TECHNICAL) - The Exotic World of HF Propagation - YouTube

  • Understanding HF Propagation (Simplified) - Understanding HF Propagation - YouTube

  • Understanding HF Propagation (More technical) - Understanding HF Propagation - YouTube

  • Solar Cycle 25 Termination event has arrived and what it can mean - Solar Cycle 25 Termination event has arrived and what it can mean - YouTube

• Live Data Websites

  • QSO/SWL real time maps and lists (dxmaps.com)

  • Display Reception Reports (pskreporter.info)

  • Map | WSPRnet

  • MUF(3000km) (kc2g.com) - updated every 15 minutes.

  • http://reversebeacon.net/

  • International Beacon Project Transmission Schedule (ncdxf.org)

• Other Informational Sites

  • UVARC Shack (noji.com) - A great summary of all indexes.

  • Real‑Time HF Propagation Prediction (hamwaves.com) - Cool Flow diagram of what comes from the sun and how it affects the Ionosphere.