Ionospheric conditions HF

[Admin]

Here are some places I check to get up to date conditions.

List of all measurement locations. Real Time foF2

Click here for current Millstone Hill, MA conditions. https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/IONO/rt-iono/realtime/MHJ45_foF2.png

For and updated version of the below, click here. https://www.hamqsl.com/solar101vhf.php

HF Propagation Map

hf.dxview.org

 

[MaverickNH]

Here are some places I check to get up to date conditions.

List of all measurement locations. Real Time foF2

Click here for current Millstone Hill, MA conditions. https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/IONO/rt-iono/realtime/MHJ45_foF2.png

For and updated version of the below, click here. https://www.hamqsl.com/solar101vhf.php

Very useful resources, thanks.

HamCap and DXAtlas combined make pretty good predictions too.

DX Atlas: Amateur Radio software

High resolution World Map software for Amateur Radio. Geographic and Azimuthal projection, Ham prefix and QTH lookup, CQ and ITU Zones.

www.dxatlas.com

I have a 200mW WSPR transmitter in the attic feeding a NE->SW EFHW antenna that can give me an idea of my reach by comparing the current hour’s spots to a 30-day spot record.

 

[240Geezer]

I got licensed 3 years ago when someone from another site badgered me to do it AND told me that band conditions would get better.
Yeah, hasn't happened.
Hope springs eternal but.....

 

[ToddDubya]

10m has been gangbusters this past year.

 

[MaverickNH]

Massive sunspot seen by Mars rover may disrupt satellites and cover Earth with auroras

A team of experts from NASA has recently spotted a colossal sunspot, predicted to expand and possibly produce a large CME.

www.earth.com

 

[timbo]

Massive sunspot seen by Mars rover may disrupt satellites and cover Earth with auroras

A team of experts from NASA has recently spotted a colossal sunspot, predicted to expand and possibly produce a large CME.

www.earth.com

Interesting...I'm not seeing that here

"May" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in a sensational headline.

 

[Admin]

I found this one recently, I like it because it shows the reported coverage of each band on the map by type of prop. I added it to the OP.

HF Propagation Map

hf.dxview.org

 

[ToddDubya]

I found this one recently, I like it because it shows the reported coverage of each band on the map by type of prop. I added it to the OP.

HF Propagation Map

hf.dxview.org

I don't know where that gets its info. Spotting clusters? I've not had luck trying to use that before. It's quite possible I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

 

[Admin]

My psk reports usually match the shape of the ssb in the 80, 40, and 20m maps.

 

[ToddDubya]

That's a good reason to run WSPR from your QTH. I guess that alone would give you your propagation, but it would help build the maps too.

I don't know about y'alls but HF has been rubbish for me for over a week.

 

[Admin]

That's a good reason to run WSPR from your QTH. I guess that alone would give you your propagation, but it would help build the maps too.

I don't know about y'alls but HF has been rubbish for me for over a week.

40m has been pretty great for me this week on JS8Call. I haven't used WSPR, I'll check it out.

 

[MaverickNH]

40m has been pretty great for me this week on JS8Call. I haven't used WSPR, I'll check it out.

I pulled my ZachTek 10-80 200mW transmitter out of the attic to upgrade the firmware. I had it running on a KM4ACK 40/20/15/10 endfed and was puzzled by poor spots. Then I noticed I didn’t have the 15ft coax from my desktop, where the transmitter was sitting, connected to the antenna. I was getting spots on the 15ft coax inside the house!

Here’s WSPR Live for the last 24hr - pretty hot!

 

[ToddDubya]

Antarctica, damn.

 

[Evtide]

On my list to pick up for 2024 is one of those standalone WSPR transmitters. I've been playing around with mostly verticals and want to build out a few wire antennas this year and WSPR seems like a pretty good tool to gauge performance.

 

[ToddDubya]

Interesting beacons. I knew there were beacons out there, but it's neat to see ones that Tx at different power levels so you know that the band is open to a location and how well. They transmit on a round robin kind of system where they take turns on the same frequency.

You either need to know CW or you'll need to use the schedule below to see which station you're hearing at a given time. I might have to save these beacon frequencies in memory locations.

Beacons

International Beacon Project Transmission Schedule

International Beacon Project Transmission Schedule

www.ncdxf.org

 

[MaverickNH]

Interesting beacons. I knew there were beacons out there, but it's neat to see ones that Tx at different power levels so you know that the band is open to a location and how well. They transmit on a round robin kind of system where they take turns on the same frequency.

You either need to know CW or you'll need to use the schedule below to see which station you're hearing at a given time. I might have to save these beacon frequencies in memory locations.

Beacons

International Beacon Project Transmission Schedule

International Beacon Project Transmission Schedule

www.ncdxf.org

I used to have a FAROS monitoring station running - it's still on the list as KC1CJN - but stopped years ago. The beacons are nice but now I run a WSPR station that run 24x7 160m-10m, so I can see where I'm getting spots. There below is the last 10min.

 

[ToddDubya]

I'm not sure what he's referring to, but I've liked using Solar Ham the last year or so.

Space Weather by SolarHam

www.solarham.com