Topband: NASA - What's Wrong with the Sun? (Nothing)

[Guy Olinger, K2AV]

Bill Tippett wrote:

>http://tinyurl.com/5l3z8r

...Things will get better...unless they get worse!

======

The spread for 1933 spotless days is very interesting. If 1933 is the pattern 
for the current cycle, the 08/09 season will be very minimal.

Also in the maxima spread back to the Maunder Minimum, it's interesting to see 
how much higher the 1958 maximum was than any of the others.  I still remember 
1957 10 meter "hard sky" with all those "short skip" 10m AM signals when I got 
my first glimpse of ham radio at my school friend's house in Columbus, Ohio.

His dad had a Ranger and a 75A3.  We used anything for an antenna. Window 
screen, bedsprings, and, literally, a wet noodle.

EZNEC-induced modern skepticism suggests we were radiating from the coax and 
power cord, but a wet noodle none-the-less.

I listened to every ham band on the 75A3.  All I remember about 160 was that 
it tuned backwards on the radio, it was all squinched up to middle and ends, 
and had this buzzing noise all over it.  Never once heard a signal there. 
There was an 11 meter ham band too, and I never heard a signal there either.

My low band dx-ing consisted of listening to likes of WHO and WOAI on the 
broadcast band at home late at night with headphones, and a resistor in place 
of the radio's dial lamp so Auntie Helen wouldn't know I wasn't asleep.  I 
sent post cards and got QSL cards back.

I moved to Kentucky that year and got a novice ticket in Kentucky.  I could 
have operated 160 after I upgraded, but nothing I could afford had 160 on it.

What I have now that I didn't have then is tower, big trees, property and 
income...

73, Guy.