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Every approximately eleven years, the Sun produces a “cycle” of sunspot activity. At the very lowest point in this cycle, there are few, if any, sunspots observed. Such a lack of sunspots can last for weeks. During the peak of the sunspot cycle, there can be a multitude of sunspots, ranging in size. This cycle is known as the sunspot cycle. It is caused, in part, by the magnetic activity within the Sun. Every eleven years, the Sun’s magnetic polarity flips–the north becomes south, the south becomes north. This is normal. Every twenty two years, then, the Sun goes through one full magnetic flip cycle. The flipping seems to coincide with the timing of solar cycle maxima. When it flips, we know about where we are in the eleven-year cycle. The magnetic polarity of the Sun appears to be in the process of reversing, over the next few months. If so, then we’ve pretty much reached the sunspot cycle maxima for Cycle 24. Observers note that this cycle is quite a bit less active than the last few eleven-year cycles.

A video that talks about this reversal is here:

The flipping of the Sun’s magnetic poles: Sunspot Cycle 24

More information on the Sun and the cycle, radio propagation, and related topics:

+ http://SunSpotWatch.com

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A magnificent eruption ejected a massive cloud of solar plasma out away from the Sun, into interplanetary space on September 29th (2013/09/29).  A long filament of plasma hovered above the photosphere, captured by the magnetism in the Sun’s northern hemisphere.  Then, it erupted in spectacular energy as seen by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, and by Stereo and SOHO spacecraft. This plasma eruption produced a stunningly beautiful coronal mass ejection (CME).

Coronal mass ejections are often associated with solar activity such as solar flares, but a causal relationship has not been established. A coronal mass ejection is also produced when a plasma filament (or prominence) breaks away from the magnetic clutch of the Sun, escaping the gravitational pull. While many plasma ejections originate from active regions on the Sun’s surface, such as groupings of sunspots associated with frequent flares, any plasma formation could break away. Near solar maxima, the Sun produces about three CMEs every day, whereas near solar minima, there is about one CME every five days or even less frequently.

When a CME passes Earth (not all CMEs are directed toward the Earth), it could cause geomagnetic disturbances, triggering aurora and causing disruption of shortwave radio communications.

Although this CME was not aimed at Earth, it passed by the Earth with a glancing blow from the plasma cloud on October 2-3 2013. This caused a geomagnetic storm (minor level), which lowered the Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) over many ionospheric radio-wave propagation paths on shortwave radio.  This lowing of the MUF is often regarded as a
degradation of shortwave radio conditions.  Some aurora is also produced, though this event did not cause much significant aurora.

Here’s a video showing the magnificent plasma eruption and CME:

Credit: SOHO/Stereo/SDO/NASA

More info: http://SunSpotWatch.com and on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/spacewx.hfradio

Aurora Watch: http://Aurora.SunSpotWatch.com

This afternoon I hiked up to Knox Mountain with my wife and daughter. It’s a beautiful fall day. I worked two German stations and a station from Denmark. The trail was covered with dried leaves and as we walked along, we enjoyed the familiar crunching sound and the pungent smell of the season. We reached the pond after hiking 25 minutes or so.

I set up the KX3 under a cherry tree near the pond. I operated only on 20 meters. I tossed a line 50 feet over a branch and pulled up the 10 meter wire. First I heard Soren, OZ0JX in Denmark. What a beautiful signal. He gave me a 559 and we said goodbye.

A few minutes later I heard Rolf, DL3AO in Germany. We have worked a half dozen times before. Rolf was a 599 and he gave me a 559. He told me that he still hikes with his K2 at 80 years old! How wonderful to hear him again. As I finished the QSO Joerg DL2DSL called and we had a quick contact. He was a strong 599 and gave me a 559.

This is a wonderful time of year to hike in the hills. Today it was 21C and sunny. Very warm in the sun. It’s supposed to rain for the next few days, but I certainly plan to come back before the leaves are all gone.

I’ve been experimenting with magnetic loop antennas of various sizes and configurations for the past year or so. They are fun to build and even more fun to use.

QRP and Magnetic Loop antennas go hand in hand for many reasons. They work well, are very quick to set up, and are bidirectional! Its nice to be able to ‘aim’ an antenna at a prospective target, like say ‘Africa’!

Copper face plate with PL 259 and Gamma Match sticking out of the side

Soldering with a plumbing torch is necessary in some places, like attaching the main loop tubing to the PL 259. 

It may not look very pretty here, but believe it or not, my torch soldering skill is actually improving. The PL 259 is attached with screws and is soldered with a regular soldering iron to reduce inter component resistance. I’ve pretty much settled on the Gamma Match for a number of reasons. It’s easy to match and its easy to build. It works well too.

This T’ fitting helps to make the loop more stable, therefore easier to transport for portable ops.

What would hams do without PVC pipe?

Half inch PVC tubing bisects the mast and passes through the center of it. This three point connection stabilizes the loop and makes it much more robust. My first few magnetic loops didn’t have this feature and were a bit ‘wobbly, and bent more easily as they bounced around in the back of my truck.

This is the ‘business end’ of the Gamma Match 

Using a plumbing torch, I attached this copper strip to the Gamma match from the main loop tubing.

Here is another nifty improvement 

You can see the support PVC pipe passing through the center of the mast here, The black piece is a plastic pipe clamp. It is held in place with tie wraps. I try to keep the use of anything made of metal to a minimum in the center of the loop.  I’m not worried about radiation patterns as much as trying to keep the overall weight  of the antenna low. The smaller PVC pipe on the left is a tuning stick. It is tied to the capacitor and is very light and makes reaching way up to tune the antenna unnecessary. Keep in mind that merely approaching this antenna closely affects the SWR. Touching it certainly changes the SWR as well.

How Well Does It Work?

I got great signal reports today, and that is saying something for a high Q antenna and only 5 watts of RF

This is my favorite pavilion at Hagen’s Cove Florida.

Hagen’s Cove is about 17 miles from my home, along the shore route. Its a county park that is right on the Gulf of Mexico. This particular pavilion is only 50 feet from the water’s edge. I bring a sandwich and bottle water lunch, but it took me an hour to eat it today. I had very curious visitors asking a million questions about radio, and my set up. I also keep my QSL cards handy to pass around. Visitors really like seeing them.

Hagen’s Cove

There is a kayak and canoe launching ramp here. Air boats have their own launch site close by. And darn it, I forgot my noise canceling headphones today, again! Air boats pass by in only inches of water and just 50 feet away, so I can’t hear anything on the radio when that happens. I have this place all to myself during the week, but its busier on weekend as you can imagine with such a nice venue.

For more information about Magnetic Loop Antennas go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MagneticLoopAntenna/

or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MagLoop/

Hagen’s Cove is in Taylor County Florida http://taylorflorida.com/

73 de AA1IK

Ernest Gregoire

Hanz W1JSB and I hiked along the river in Bristol this afternoon. We worked Germany, Lithuania and the Balaeric Islands.

On the Old Back Road there are lots of unused mill buildings along the river. Hanz discovered a trail there last year and we went to explore it today. We walked along a narrow footpath across some rocks and cement dam structures that hung out over the river. Soon we came to a trail that lead south right along the river. It was glorious.

After walking a mile or so we started looking for a place to set up our gear. We found a flat outcropping that just happened to be under a large, over-hanging maple tree. Voila! Hanz threw his water bottle over the branch and hauled up a half wave wire for 20 meters. He used the Par End-Fedz and had a perfect SWR. He operated with his souped up SWL rig.

After tuning around a bit, he made a quick contact with DF5DM, Wilfred in Germany. Happy smiles!

Then I set up my KX3 and clipped onto his antenna. I listened on 15 and 17 meters, but didn’t hear much, so I switched to 20. That was very active and I made two quick contacts. The first one was with Pranas, LY2J in Lithuania. He was a 599 and gave me a 559. Then I worked Keith EA6/G3SZU in the Balaeric Islands. Keith was 589 and he gave me a 459. With that we packed up our gear and headed back toward Bristol.

As we got there, the sun was just setting and I snapped a quick shot of the falls above the river.

Like the incoming tide washing away a beautifully constructed and elegant sandcastle, bit by bit, this week’s tropospheric ducting crumbled away with equal inevitability.

At its height, this radio superhighway, formed by different layers of air density and temperature, ‘hotwired’ parts of Europe together on 2m and above like they were connected with RG45 coax itself.

The opening was heralded, accurately, by William Hepburn’s tropospheric ducting forecast (see http://www.dxinfocentre.com/). This site also explains various propagation modes on VHF and above, in a clear and informative manner.

Let me tell you a little about my 2m station here in North Wales. I have a lovely Icom IC-910HX and my antenna is an HB9CV. Yes, you heard right, a peashooter. Two small elements phased together and put up on a pole on the side of the house. You see, I’m starting modestly because our national culture demands that we never do things the easy way. Added to the equation of difficulty, I have a range of 3000ft mountains not too far away from me. Did I mention the HB9CV was fixed? It points plaintively towards the south-east in cold, metallic expectation of flux. It points towards the long, golden beaches of the low countries, the rolling fields of northern France, the great cities of Western Europe and finally, the snow-capped Alps and beyond. But it also has a ‘heart’, a cardiod footprint in fact. The characteristics of the HB9CV trade-off a modest gain with quite a wide beam-width, with a sharp null behind it, giving it its heart shape.

The humble HB9′

You need good hearing. The receive gain is lacking for weak-signal work, but work it does. And this week I worked a station (OE2XRM) in Salzburg, Austria. 5,5 both ways! The pure magic of hearing a man who may be wearing lederhosen over what is normally a line-of-sight form of communication, is thrilling! A couple of stations from Bavaria followed and I was then content to listen as the chatter of stations from France and the Netherlands filled the band.

Later in the afternoon, fuelled by electromagnetic excitement, I ventured onto a local hill (178m/584ft.) with my lovely FT-817 and a 9-element 2m yagi. I also took along a 70cm yagi for fun. A quick scan through the beacons bought in HB9HB in Switzerland! The Alps, the chocolate and cuckoo clocks! Unleashing my 5W on Europe didn’t produce much, unfortunately – just a couple of cheery calls from the UK, so I thought I’d swing the beam round to Spain. Now, the DX cluster was not showing any propagation in this direction and I wasn’t hearing any of the beacons on the north Spanish coast. But suddenly, out of nowhere, and at 5,9+, came a signal booming in. Danny, EB1LA, on the northern Spanish coast was stunned to hear me at 5,9 with my humble five Watts. What a result! I can only conclude that the beacons may have been situated too high to ‘tap in’ to the duct. How many people in the UK and Ireland must have been beaming away from Spain that day having assumed that no beacon = no path? I wonder. A quick scan on 70cm revealed no traffic, but I did receive the Netherlands beacon PI7CIS. Quite a trip for UHF.

My hilltop station

The two metre band can be sublime, but comes in two parts. The FM part of it is like an amateur ‘pub’. It seems the place where people gather in the evening to discuss their day and engage in chat (For example, one QSO I heard earlier this year was despairingly on the subject of “my favourite biscuits”). But the lower portion of the band has the elegance and sophistication of a Grand Cru. It’s as if it’s optimised in terms of antenna size, required power and number of users to give you a fighting chance of achieving glory in the aether. And I did.