Amazingly Poor Propagation

[ChrisSmolinski]

Wow. I knew things were going to be bad last night, with a K index of 6, but I didn't think they'd be that bad.

Barely a carrier from TCS, RFW's test was buried in the static, and I could not hear Amphetamine Radio at all.

[clobdell]

Could not hear anything last night, even CFRX on 6070 was missing along with CHU on 7850.
Worst reception in a long time.  The MUF must have been below 6 mHz

[ChrisSmolinski]

Just checking CFRX, it is back to S9+ as is CHU, so perhaps things are improving?

Just a weak signal from OTR.

[Pigmeat]

We're three and half weeks from the equinox. Prop's have a tendency to go goofy in the weeks around the equinoxes.

That being said the last couple of nights have been worse than normal even with the above factored in.

[ChrisSmolinski]

Cold Country Canada is on 6969u right now, and is coming in about an SIO 222.

[jFarley]

Props have been kwap!

[ChrisSmolinski]

Doesn't sound like things will be improving much in the near term:

G1-Minor geomagnetic storm levels are still in progress as effects from the coronal mass ejection (CME) continue to influence the Earth's magnetic field. A G2-Moderate geomagnetic storm warning has also been issued for the latter half of the UTC day for August 28th, 2015.

[Zoidberg]

I'd call it amazingly odd propagation.  TCS and OTR were stronger than usual near gray line, fading quickly after dark.  Not strong, but stronger than I've heard either most of this year.

I also noticed some flip-flops in propagation from other stations I use for indicators, including various aviation weather frequencies.  The more distant stations were stronger during the same time -- approx 0100-0300z -- while closer stations were weaker.  And the usual Spanish language pesques on 6900 were barely audible -- those fellows are usually S9+ here.

[Skipmuck]

Last night after tuning around a bit and realizing that prop kinda sucked, I headed over to 49 meters and was surprised to hear Radio Aparecida on 6135v coming in loud and clear, with Santa Cruz weak in the background. Even the het was greatly attentuated. Santa Cruz is almost always the dominant station on this frequency, but not this evening! After listening for about 15 minutes and realizing I was going nowhere with this, I called it a night. Seems no matter how funky the propagation is, there is always something to be heard!

[Pigmeat]

Yep. Nigeria was blasting on both 7255 and 9690 despite being jammed on both frequencies. Even Guyana on 3290 was listenable. The top catch of the night was Cairo on 12000. You could actually understand what was being said during their English service. The audio was still under modulated, but by God you could hear it clearly and understand it!

That's only third time in the past 20 years or so I can say that. Amazing!

[John Poet]

Everyone who wasn't getting close to 1000 miles out seemed to be totally bypassed...

Yeah. Weird.

[jFarley]

Props have been kwap!

And LW has been absolutely miserable for the last three days.  Been trying to test an antenna, but there has been VIRTUALLY NOTHING to hear down here.  Normally I can count on 3 or 4 dozen reliable NDBs from IL-WI-IN-MI at night, and many of these are consistent daytimers.  I have been struggling to hear the 2 strongest IL beacons, day or night, for the last few days.

Things may be looking up, at least temporarily.  As of 1845z today, the band is hopping with daytimers, clean with steady props.  Cross fingers...

[Chanter]

Would you believe that during the worst of the rubbishy propagation on local Thursday night, I had Brazilian domestics on 60M?  I caught Radio Difusora Londrina on 4815 (weak but present), Radio Congonhas on 4775 (very weak but there, and only the second time I've ever heard it), and Radio Daqui on 4915 (fair to good, wow!)  

I also had something too weak to properly ID, but that I suspect was Radio San Miguel from Bolivia on 4700.  Also a few other carriers - Roraima on 4875, Cancao Nova on 4825 (darn the static or I may well have had audio there, grrr), and a loudest carrier of all from Guyana down on 80M, and darnitall I wish I'd gotten audio there!  

Everything else pretty much shot to heck.  CHU's 3330 outlet was super fluttery, WWV on 5mHz was hardly audible above the noise, and 10mHz or CHU on 7850 - forget it.  Even CRI's usual super signal on 9580 was comparatively awful. 

[John Poet]

Clearing up now, finally.

K Index=1
A Index=16

[Zoidberg]

Well, I hope you denizens of the 500 mile zone are happy again.  You stole all the propagations.  The recent solar sneeze actually improved conditions for me.  Now I'm hearing nada again.