Topband: Is this solar min better or worse?

[Carl K9LA]

  Hello to all,

In April I asked this reflector for opinions on whether this solar 
minimum (2006 onward) is better or worse on 160m compared to the last 
solar minimum (1995-1998).

The result of your inputs and some ionospheric physics is at 
http://mysite.verizon.net/k9la/Is_This_Solar_Minimum_Better_or_Worse.pdf.

Please realize that the question "Is this solar min better or worse?" is 
very subjective given the fact that we generally don't collect good 
long-term data. So it's probably best to consider this a work in 
progress for now. But it is interesting that there may be a physical 
reason why this solar min is different than the last solar min.

Carl K9LA