630m And Recent Geomagnetic Activity

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28 September 2016 | by Steve VE7SL | Share | | Leave a Comment (1)

High levels of geomagnetic activity have usually, but not always, been the kiss-off-death for LF/MF propagation.

These past few months have seen fairly regular field disturbances, often pushing the K index to a level '5' or higher. However, while usually attenuating the east-west and northerly polar paths, the Trans-Pacific path often seems to benefit from these events ... particularly last night.

Perhaps it is related to the equinox's normal preference for this path or maybe the goop the sun is sending us at this point in the cycle is different or not as energetic as it is at mid-cycle. Nevertheless it's really encouraging to see that not all disturbances are detrimental to LF propagation.

For a daily summary of all overnight activity and much more, see KB5NJD's '630m Daily Reports'.

The WSPRnet map reproduced below shows the extent of reception during my own overnight WSPR 630m beaconing session. Missing are many of the normal spots from the eastern provinces and east coast states, indicating the attenuation on this path. Everything else seems enhanced.

courtesy: WSPRnet

The path to down under, in-spite of my obstruction in that direction, perked-up as well, with VK4YB decoded here 19 times as well as VK3ELV's 150W and inverted-L near Wangaratta, Victoria.

         13:56     VK4YB     0.4756     -28   QG62ku   11820
               13:50     VK4YB     0.4756     -28   QG62ku   11820
               13:44     VK4YB     0.4756     -24   QG62ku   11820
               13:40     VK4YB     0.4756     -24   QG62ku   11820
               13:30     VK4YB     0.4756     -27   QG62ku   11820
               13:24     VK4YB     0.4756     -20   QG62ku   11820
               13:18     VK4YB     0.4756     -24   QG62ku   11820
               13:12     VK4YB     0.4756     -22   QG62ku   11820
               12:42     VK4YB     0.4756     -26   QG62ku   11820
               12:14     VK4YB     0.4756     -20   QG62ku   11820
               12:02     VK4YB     0.4756     -23   QG62ku   11820
               11:58     VK4YB     0.4756     -25   QG62ku   11820
               11:52     VK4YB     0.4756     -25   QG62ku   11820
               11:40     VK4YB     0.4756     -29   QG62ku   11820
               11:32     VK4YB     0.4756     -26   QG62ku   11820
               11:24     VK4YB     0.4756     -25   QG62ku   11820
               11:12     VK4YB     0.4756     -22   QG62ku   11820
               10:56     VK4YB     0.4756     -26   QG62ku   11820
               10:54     VK4YB     0.4756     -25   QG62ku   11820

Merv, WH2XCR in Hawaii, was spotted here 56 times, with numerous transmissions at 'easy CW' levels. He even spotted me twice, with his 80m dipole, presently laying on the ground!

It was also encouraging to see 21 spots from Eden, ZF1EJ in the Cayman Islands, with several at CW levels.

The following stations all uploaded spots of my overnight WSPR signals, as nightly activity continues to grow with the DX season now at the doorstep. Given equal ERP, most of these stations would be workable on either CW or on JT9.

              WH2XGP     DN07dg     319     122
               WG2XSV     CN85sr     353     169
               WI2XJQ        CN87ts     138     150
               NO1D         DM34tn     1825     147
               N3IZN/RX DM13ji     1796     161
               WW6D     CM88pl     1155     177
               VE7CNF      CN89ng     55     33
               VA7MM     CN89og     59     38
               WE2XPQ     BP51ip     2151     321
               W5EMC     EM10cl     2963     124
               K5ACL     EM10bd     2987     125
               WG2XXM    EM15lj     2610     115
               ZF1EJ/1     EK99ig     4977     116
               KE7LGT     DN26xm     739     107
               W3PM     EM64or     3365     104
               ZF1EJ        EK99ig     4977     116
               VE7KPB     DN29cm     550     79
               KU7Z        DN41af     1227     129
               WH2XCR     BL11je     4295     236
               KB0BRY     EN17nc     1966     86
               WD2XSH/20 CN83     598     178
               WG2XIQ     EM12     2841     120
               WE4X     EM65ut     3326     102
               VE7BDQ     CN89la     26     44
               KB7W     CN93jx     565     163
               W6LEO     DN17oq     498     103
               WH2XAR     DM33vp     1924     147

As interest in 630m continues to expand, many U.S. amateurs are already building their stations so they will be ready to go when the word finally comes. I suspect that 630m may soon sound like a small slice of 40m on a busy night ... will you be ready?

Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Ron NI7J/WH2XND FCC Part 5:

30 September 2016 at 16:21 UTC

Very nice article Steve.
As you know the USA crowd is still waiting on the FCC to release the 137, 475 bands.
I personally think the Experimental license is the way to go for now.
Yes I spent the money and went through the FCC paper chase as we all have, I added in additional frequency’s outside the 137, 475 window. This out of the bands move will enable me to transmit higher power to enable off shore stations to hear my station, this will not be possible with the low EIRP regulations.

I feel that the FCC is issuing Experimental licenses at a fast pace because of the extensive amount of data they collect from each Experimental station. Its a well know fact the operators location, power, etc., is cross checked with Utility companies, Military, etc. This data for the most part will help to eliminate possible interference with the utility companies. I have a feeling it will be a while before the Utility companies finish their fiber optic cable installations and once completed the 137, 475 bands release will follow.
73,
Ron NI7J/WH2XND

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