Topband: Propagation During Solar Minima/Maxima

[K1ZM at aol.com]

Hi Guys

There has been some dialogue lately on this subject and I can offer some 
observations from my end.

SOLAR MAXIMA

While I would not characterize this as a great time for 160M, there are, from 
time to time, some excellent openings to lower latitude places from here - 
often with very fine signal strengths.  Several footnotes should be stated:

1) These openings do not occur every day - you really have gotta BE THERE 
when one occurs 

2)  Even when you get one, it may not recur for weeks again 

3) What is NOT USUALLY available during a solar maxima are the openings into 
DEEP near Asia at their sunrise - eg: UK8, EZ, YA, YI, VU and the like.  These 
stations are on (we see them spotted in Europe on packet!) - but their 
signals (and ours) just do not penetrate the absorption very well

(VE1ZZ - with a greater REACH into these areas can SOMETIMES work a few of 
these guys - but even Jack advised when we met summer before last that he had 
not worked a UA9 on Topband in two years!  So, even Jack is impacted by such 
condx albeit to a lesser degree.)

4) I'd have to note also that JA openings occur far less often into New 
England on the short path in the mornings during solar maxima - I manage to catch 
one or two days during such years and my log shows JA's in it in January in 
every year since 1983 EXCEPT for 2003 - but even during 2003, the band was open 
one morning in January but I slept in that day.

5) Even the long path at sunset (meaning the 21z opening over the SE path 
into JA, VK6, 9V1, etc) takes a hit during solar maxima and such openings occur 
very RARELY in years such as what we have just come through.

The BRIGHTER SIDE

Well, in the next 2-3 years, we should see all of the above occur far more 
frequently - with some really good signal levels on the better days.  The Far 
WESTERN USA will start being able to work bunches of EU stations in January 
again and from the NE USA, signals into Near Asia will be there far more often 
with good signal levels.

The long path into Far Asia at sunset will occur with greater regularity from 
the NE USA - and this even for stations on the margins (meaning not merely 
for stations in Maine and MA).

JA's in the mornings in January will be available nearly every morning in 2-3 
years and on some days JA1JRK and JA1HQT are going to sound like your local 
buddy next door - even in Northern New England!

We LIVE for those times on 160M - and those heady days are coming fairly soon 
now.  The 2004/2005 season will show even more reliability on these difficult 
paths than we are seeing at the end of THIS SEASON - which has been far 
better over the past 5 weeks than many of us expected.

In just the past month, 9V1GO has been worked by many stations on both the 
long and short paths (note that Bob has almost NO ANTENNA at his end- yet he is 
still able to do it because he is a remarkably savvy operator who has learned 
EXACTLY when to look for these openings at his sunrise and sunset peaks!)  
YI9ZF has been in with only 100w to an 60 foot high inverted vee.  VU2BGS worked 
W4ZV last week using 100w to a gladiator!   

What that should tell us all is that we have definitely TURNED THE CORNER on 
Topband - things are going to get better from here onwards......

Hang in there folks - the good times are just ahead.

73 JEFF

K1ZM at aol.com

We live for