Topband: Fwd: Re: Bad 160m Conditions

[kq2m at kq2m.com]

Hi Roger,

160 is notoriously unpredictable, possibly even more so than any other 
HF band except maybe 10 M.
Sometimes just before a flare 160 cndx may be enhanced, and I have even 
seen some instances of flaring and elevated K indices K=3 or 4, where 
160 propagation maybe be temporarily better than expected (if you are on 
160 at night during the onset of the flare), but those times are 
infrequent at best.

The only propagation "constants" that I have seen over the past 4 cycles 
on 160 are:

1) Higher A and K levels generally mean poorer 160M propagation

2) PCA's, CME's, and auroras are all BAD for 160M prop. and find 
something else to do when you hear Stratwarm alerts.

3) 160 propagation worsens as we go up into the new solar cycle and 
improves noticeably
as we go head down towards the bottom of the cycle

4) Almost anything can happen on 160 at any time, a lot of which we 
still don't really understand, such as the difference between "Vertical 
nights" and "Horizontal nights". On those nights in particular, there 
are band openings that may go unnoticed due to the combination of 
stations thinking that cndx are "poor" and don't bother to CQ, plus 
other station using the wrong type of antenna on that night.

5) If I have learned anything about 160, it is that every time I think 
that I understand it, something different and unexpected happens. LOL!

73

Bob, KQ2M



On 2023-01-08 12:16, Roger Kennedy wrote:
> Thanks for that Bob (I must confess that I've never really been into
> understanding all the technical factors that affect propagation)
> 
> But the thing is that I've been DX-ing on 160m for over 50 years . . . 
> and
> never known it be so poor for so long, at any point in the Solar Cycle. 
> (in
> fact I don't even recall the Cycle affecting Top Band very much, unlike 
> the
> higher bands)
> 
> Roger G3YRO