Bad band conditions

My trip to the top of Mount Prospect was a semi-bust.  Band conditions were not to be. Steve NU7T sent me this on the Polar Bear e-mail reflector:

Sorry Larry Bear,

ALERT: X-Ray Flux exceeded M5
Threshold Reached: 2012 Jul 12 1626 UTC
NOAA Scale: R2 – Moderate
Potential Impacts: Area of impact centered on sub-solar point on the sunlit side of Earth. Extent of blackout of HF (high frequency) radio communication dependent upon current X-ray Flux intensity. For real-time information on affected area and expected duration ( 1800 z ).Grrrrrr
15m – 6dB attenuation Grrrrrr
20m – 3 dB attenuation Grrr
40m – 17 dB attentuation Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Steve, NU7T PB #300

And Steve was 10000000% correct – the entire time I was at the summit, I heard one, watery and warbly signal on 20 Meters.  All my CQing went for naught.  I was heard on the Reverse Beacon Network, however (by at least one skimmer):

WZ7I W2LJ14061.0CQ [LoTW]7 dB20 wpm1629z 12 Jul

  
Oh well, Maybe things will pick up for tomorrow.  In any event, I’ll post some of the photos I took, later tonight.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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