Hi.

I confess that my conspriacy theory was a little tongue in cheek, but it 
sure got a beautiful thread going!  I was just about rolling on the floor 
looking at some of the responses!

73, de Lou K2LKK



At 03:14 PM 2/9/2006 -0600, you wrote:
>         We are just about at the bottom of another Solar cycle.  The
>experts expect us to hit bottom in about a year.  I have been a ham
>since 1969, on the air since 1970 although not much on HF, and I have
>observed 4 Solar cycles during this time.  I think the best one was in
>1978, actually between 1978-1980 and here's what I remember.
>
>         When we hit the lowest point in the Solar cycles, the flux
>number broadcast from WWV at 18 minutes past the hour can reach as low
>as 66.  I have never heard it lower, but that certainly doesn't mean
>it hasn't gotten there.
>
>         When it is like that in Winter, the higher bands suck green trench
>water.  You don't hear much above 18 MHZ and ten meters is as dead as
>a door nail all day long except for the occasional Sporadic E opening.
>
>         forty Meters stays a little long all day and a lot long all
>night if you can hear anything between the broadcasts.  Now's the time
>to find big DX on 80 and 160 because those are about the only HF bands
>open at night in Winter.  As some of you have already said, the
>problem is that those bands are too long most of the time.
>
>         I really don't notice anything at all unusual about this low
>point in the Solar cycle.  At night, the maximum usable frequency
>pretty much hits below 10 MHZ so that as you tune up from there, there
>is lots of dead space.
>
>         The ARRL propagation forecasts expect things to start looking
>up again around 2008.
>
>         I remember that in 1975 which was about the minimum of that
>Solar cycle, one could hear no CB skip or ten-meter activity on Winter
>days.  By 1979, you could hear the BBC television audio on 41.5x MHZ
>from 8:30 in the morning until about 14:00 in the afternoon.  Some
>days, it was much better than others, but there was stuff to hear up
>to almost 50 MHZ, meaning that 6 was open.
>
>         The Solar cycles tend to rise faster than they fall so it is
>not linear at all.
>
>         Basically, be patient and things will get a lot better in
>about 3 to 4 years.
>
>Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK
>OSU Information Technology Department Network Operations Group
>.-- -... ..... .- --. --..

Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
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