Wow, 40M is interesting last couple of nights

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Wow, 40M is interesting last couple of nights	Reply
by N3QE on April 10, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
40M has been very interesting the past couple of nights. Very little short skip, lots and lots of long skip. Domestically from here on the E Coast, I can hear all sorts of things from the W Coast that normally don't boom in nearly so loud. And I hear a real lack of signals from east of the Mississippi. And DX-wise, wow. I called CQ last night on CW and got callbacks from Gibraltar, South Africa, Central Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and the far east. The usual cluster-f*s on the DX stations were not happening. Not sure if this is because the cluster-f*ers were spread thin among all the opportunities, or maybe it was sporadic enough that I didn't hear my domestic competition at all even though the DX was booming in 599. I had extended QSO's (not quite ragchews but more than just name/qth/weather/rigs) with Gibraltar, South Africa, and Central Africa, and when I was done we both just went our own ways instead of the DX getting pounced on by a million rabid CF's. I have never heard 40M quite like that before. What makes long skip so prevalent now? What can I look for in sunspot numbers to see when this will happen?

RE: Wow, 40M is interesting last couple of nights	Reply
by KY6R on April 10, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
There were zero sunspots for the last couple of days, and the A and K indices showed that conditions were "quiet", meaning less noise. When the D layer goes away around sunset, if there is low noise, you will get generally good conditions for DX. We also have just passed the vernal equinox - where day and night times around the globe are somewhat close. On or around March 21 (depending on your lattitude), the day and night times were about the same - for both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. I always enjoy the fall - after the summer "noise" goes away, the lower bands start showing considerable skip. At the bottom of the cycle, the low bands can be good at night - even during the summer, but lightning storms and other disturbances can ruin what would normally be good conditions. I probably have missed something - there are lots of variables and factors. 73 es gud DX Rich

RE: Wow, 40M is interesting last couple of nights	Reply
by AE6RO on April 21, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
During low sunspot years (like now) the D-layer weakens so lower bands work better. We will be seeing more of that as time goes by and Cycle 24 doesn't start. Unfortunately the MUF will start going below 3 MHz. So it's only temporary. AE6RO

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