Topband: 160m - better at solar max or solar min?

[Tom W8JI]

Now we just went through the deepest solar min in our lifetimes - which also 
means we were hit with more GCRs than ever in our recorded history (about 
19% more than anything we've seen in the past 50 years). So it very well 
could be that this solar min was too quiet geomagnetically speaking - and it 
still is very quiet with Cycle 24 headed towards being an underachiever. 
What this implies is more absorption than the last solar min.

I think if we understand the processes in the atmosphere, 160m will slowly 
give up its secrets. This isn't going to happen overnight, as there's hardly 
any research down at the altitudes that impact 160m propagation.>>>>>

This past minimum was one of the few with many signals directly over the 
north pole, and where stations in northern latitudes had a distinct 
propagation advantage over my location.

I think that also might have benefited Paul in Colorado significantly.

Conditions have been decidedly worse here in the last year or so, and I 
think the poorer conditions may be affecting others.

Paths away from magnetic polar regions are unaffected, as usual, but this is 
definately a low spot in propagation from here. Conditions from here are 
much worse than the last solar "maximum".

The trend here seems to be it was great from 1998 through the solar minimum 
without much change, except for the polar paths that came at the minimum. 
For some reason the last year or so was noticeably worse (except the 
directions normally unaffected by anything from here).

73 Tom