K7RA Propagation Reportn 17 August 2019

17 August 2019 No sunspots were visible over the recent reporting week, Thursday through Wednesday, August 8 through 14. According to Spaceweather.com, 67% of the days so far in 2019 have been spotless, and for all of 2018 it was 61%. In the previous solar minimum in 2008 and 2009 the spotless days ran 73% and 71%, respectively. Solar flux has been minimal and unremarkable, with average daily solar flux changing only to 67.4 from 67.2 last week. Predicted solar flux for the next 45 days is likewise unremarkable, at 67 from August 15 til September 29. Predicted planetary A index is 8 on August 16, 5 on August 17, 6 on August 18, 8 on August 19 and 20, 5 on August 21 to 25, 8 on August 26 to 28, 5 on August 29 to 31, then 38 and 14 on September 1 and 2, 5 on September 3 to 5, 8 on September 6 to 8, 5 on September 9 to 11, 8 on September 12, 5 on September 13 to 21, 8 on September 22 to 24, 5 on September 25 to 27, and in a recurrence of geomagnetic activity reported in last week's bulletin and also predicted for September 1, 38 on September 28 and 14 on September 29. On Tuesday, September 10, 2019 I will be conducting an informal presentation on space weather, propagation and my involvement in amateur radio since being licensed at the end of cycle 19 at age 12, at the monthly meeting in Seattle of the Western Washington DX Club. See https://www.wwdxc.org/ for details. Last weekend was the 65th annual Pacific Northwest DX Convention, and among the presentations was an excellent talk by Space Weather Woman Dr. Tamitha Skov, WX6SWW. If you ever get a chance to see her give a talk, don't miss it. Her presentation was excellent. Jim Brown, W5ZIT of Farmersville, Texas (or Tucson, AZ) wrote on August 15: "I had just finished an Olivia QSO with Fergus ZL2VF via grey line (7 dB s/n peak) as we usually do around 0300Z when I noticed a very strong PSK31 signal on 20M which I assumed was a nearby local. "When I checked I found that it was Suke JM7OLW at 30 dB plus s/n ratio. Suke runs 200 Watts to a 5el up about 100 ft, but still that is a very strong signal to propagate into Tucson, Arizona. Suke gave me a very good 20 dB plus s/n report. "This morning I tuned across a dead 20M band and again saw a 30 dB plus s/n signal which I again assumed was a local. Instead it was W4PKU, Fred in VA. With signals barely copyable on 20M PSK in the last few days, I was really surprised to see this kind of signal. Fred gave me a 30 dB plus s/n report also, from my 30 Watts into an 80M OCF antenna. Turns out he had also worked Suke in the last few days also. The bands can still surprise you even at the low end of the cycle." Be sure to check out the W5ZIT page on QRZ.com. Ken Brown, N4SO wrote on August 15: 18.1 MHZ FT8 mode I added Reunion Island and Fiji to the list as worked "new" countries on FT8. I have also added a note on both Pacific and Europe being decoded at 2210 UTC. On several days, 18.1 MHZ was monitored on the digital mode FT8, and some contacts were made with 10 watts and a half square antenna. The band stays open until about 0300 to 0400 UTC. The numbers on the left are UTC. It is possible to receive weak Pacific Ocean stations or W8-(K8FAM), until the band closes completely. 033915 -17 -0.5 1083 ~ CQ E51BQ BG08 S. Cook Is. 033830 6 0.1 1198 ~ CQ K9OM EN65 USA The band opens at approximately 1200 UTC to all of the Northeast USA, Canada, and also to Europe. 130800 -12 0.5 306 ~ CQ TO5M GN16 Reunion Is. 131130 -9 0.5 305 ~ N4SO TO5M 73 (Reunion Island new country) 120430 -14 -0.0 418 ~ CQ EA6VQ JM19 Balearic Is. 122200 -14 0.1 902 ~ CQ IZ8VYU JN71 Italy 123130 -11 0.1 902 ~ N4SO IZ8VYU 73 124830 -17 0.6 1930 ~ CQ 9K2NO LL39 Kuwait 125215 -3 0.3 1692 ~ CQ HA7TM JN97 Hungary 131415 -10 0.2 1713 ~ CQ OK2WMC JN99 Czech Rep. 120730 -6 0.0 1452 ~ CQ W9XB EN52 USA 134700 4 0.1 883 ~ CQ N4TZ EN70 USA 122215 -17 0.3 1333 ~ CQ HA7TM JN97 Hungary 124745 -19 0.2 831 ~ CQ F8DZU JN15 France 131915 -15 0.4 2214 ~ CQ VE3MGY EN92 Canada 141115 -18 0.1 709 ~ CQ PA9CC JO32 Netherlands During daylight hours, the 18 MHZ band continues to remain open to North America, Europe and also to the Caribbean and South America. Africa? Around 1800 UTC 184700 0 0.4 2513 ~ 9G2HO KA1J FN31 Ghana Europe and Pacific Ocean? The point of this is to show that propagation to both Cyprus and Fiji is possible, with the signals from Europe and Russia very weak and not workable. Fiji was worked though. 221000 -16 -0.1 949 ~ CQ 5B4AMX KM65 Cyprus 221300 -13 0.2 2098 ~ CQ 3D2AG RH91 Fiji (new country) 221700 -17 0.4 2095 ~ N4SO 3D2AG -11 Before sundown (7:36 local time) there is a possibility of Japan and Far East stations, or to New Zealand and also Australia. Good times are 2200 to 0200 UTC. Japan is favorable after 2200 UTC. Most of these were easily worked: 222300 -14 0.1 1825 ~ N4SO JF8QNF -19 222300 -12 -0.4 654 ~ N4SO JH0INP PM96 222900 -12 0.1 1908 ~ N4SO JH7CVM 73 222930 -13 0.1 2043 ~ N4SO JH2FXK RR73 224230 -13 0.4 474 ~ N4SO JA1XEC RR73 224900 -7 0.1 787 ~ N4SO JA1NCZ RR73 020000 -16 -0.1 2155 ~ N4SO VK7WX R-10 020015 Tx 2375 ~ VK7WX N4SO RR73 020030 -17 -0.1 2156 ~ N4SO VK7WX 73 222415 -17 0.1 1859 ~ CQ DX JA7QVI QM08 Japan 000700 -13 -0.1 485 ~ CQ JA8KSF QN03 Japan 004300 -16 0.1 1650 ~ CQ VK4PY QG62 Australia This ZL station was worked with 10 watts, and the numbers (-1) show good signals propagated to New Zealand. 004730 -3 0.1 1536 ~ CQ ZL2IFB RF80 New Zealand 004830 -1 0.2 1536 ~ N4SO ZL2IFB R-02 During the evening hours the band is open to the West coast and British Columbia, Canada, and the Pacific such as FK8 New Caledonia. The band usually closes with W6, W7, W0 or W9 in the USA, or a Pacific Ocean station (South Cook Island E51BQ)." If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at k7ra@arrl.net. For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals. For an explanation of numbers used in this bulletin, see http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation. More good information and tutorials on propagation are at http://k9la.us/. Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at http://arrl.org/propagation. Instructions for starting or ending email distribution of ARRL bulletins are at http://arrl.org/bulletins. Sunspot numbers for August 8 through 14, 2019 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, and 0, with a mean of 0. 10.7 cm flux was 68.6, 67.2, 67.2, 67.6, 67.2, 66.8, and 67.4, with a mean of 67.4. Estimated planetary A indices were 7, 6, 8, 6, 5, 7, and 5 with a mean of 6.3. Middle latitude A index was 6, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8, and 5, with a mean of 6.9. • All propagation reports can be found at: http://www.southgatearc.org/propagation