Longtime readers, and in particular those who are also hams, may well remember this meme I created and posted in November of '25. At that time, I was concerned about a different layer.
The F-layer is the highest layer of the ionosphere and when solar flux is highest, it splits into an F and F2 layer that's even higher. In short, when the F-layer is propagating signals around globe, the stations we can work (contact) are the farthest ones we'll ever hear. Pretty much around world.
So while it's the best for long range contacts, I've worked Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and several small island countries in the pacific on 6m, F-layer propagation is actually too long for working around the US. For that we tend to rely on the E-layer, and what's referred to as Sporadic E or Es propagation. Sporadic E is possible for more of the year than just summer, but Es is most dependable as summer mode. It's just not available for as large a part of the day as in the summer.
The days when the Es first appears tend to be a celebrated surprise, but when it just suddenly stops, it's the ending of some of the best times of the year, depending on what you're pursuing. The last "good" opening in my neck of the woods, west to Montana and Idaho - for example - was on August 10th, so just under two weeks ago.
I've mentioned before that I'm trying to work what's called The Fred Fish Memorial Award, or FFMA, for working all 488 Maidenhead Grid Squares (which are rectangles because they're two degrees in longitude by one degree in latitude) in the continental US. This ES season I added around 30 grids (I'd have to dig out some notes to be more accurate than saying "around 30"). I'm not quite at 100 left, but I'm close: something like 385 worked instead so 103 left.
I also mentioned DXCC as a target, which I expect to achieve as opposed to the FFMA which I'll be lucky to be around long enough to get all 488. I have worked over 100 countries on 6m, but I'm at 97 confirmed. I could use the F layer, too.
So whom do I report the theft of the E layer to? FCC? EPA? It's part of the environment, after all. I bet that Greta kid stole it. Someone convinced her the E layer added to global warmening.
Dad had the Ham radio setup. He was an instructor at the Army Signal School at Ft Gordon. I didn't fall far from the tree. I started the USAF a a Crypto maintenance tech and eventually was cross trained into satcom maintenance.
ReplyDeleteMy Ham experience has been minimal. My biggest achievement was recording the BBC's midnight transmission of new albums. I could only pick it up in the winter months but I sometimes had a copy of an album before it released in the states. That was 40 years ago.
"Daily 10.7 cm flux values have recently been in the ~120–150 sfu range (e.g., ~124–126 sfu around 22–23 August 2026), consistent with the declining phase after the peak of Solar Cycle 25. This level indicates moderate activity—noticeably above solar-minimum values but well below peak-cycle extremes." (Services.swpc.noaa)
ReplyDeleteHmmm!
We're absolutely past the peak of cycle 25. While the cycle has been stronger than 24 for every data point they plot all that says is 25 was better than the weakest cycle in the last hundred years. The puzzle is what Es correlates best with. We had some good Es in June and July, the peak months every year. Is it due to something like the angle of the sun being as far north as it gets and shining on the E layer farther north?
Delete