HFU HF Underground
General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: ChrisSmolinski on March 20, 2017, 1825 UTC
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The sun is currently blank with no visible sunspots and this is the 14th straight day with a blank look which is the longest such stretch since April 2010 according to spaceweather.com. Historically weak solar cycle 24 continues to transition away from its solar maximum phase and towards the next solar minimum. In April 2010 - the last time there was a two week stretch with no visible sunspots - the sun was emerging from the last solar minimum which was historically long and deep. There have already been 26 spotless days in 2017 (34% of the entire year) and this follows 32 spotless days last year which occurred primarily during the latter part of the year. The blank look to the sun will increase in frequency over the next couple of years leading up to the next solar minimum - probably to be reached in late 2019 or 2020. By one measure, the current solar cycle is the third weakest since record keeping began in 1755 and it continues a weakening trend since solar cycle 21 peaked in 1980.
Full article: https://www.vencoreweather.com/blog/2017/3/20/1130-am-the-longest-stretch-of-a-blank-sun-since-2010
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It's nice to hear that Sol's face is finally clearing up. That was a long adolescence.
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Maunder minimum here we come. What's a few years without summers?
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Hopefully -- no Maunder minimum.... I mean, I suppose it would be interesting, except cold weather usually cuts into agricultural production, and higher food prices worldwide is something no one wants.
The amazing thing about the lack of sunspots is that there have been a few evenings / mornings where I've heard some DX on the SW BC bands, it's not like they're completely blocked out.
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The amazing thing about the lack of sunspots is that there have been a few evenings / mornings where I've heard some DX on the SW BC bands, it's not like they're completely blocked out.
I've heard quite a bit of excellent DX, especially on the lower bands. Sure, if you're an 11m operator, the lack of sunspots has got to be frustrating. But overall, the quiet solar conditions are a win.
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The net I monitor most is in the low 11Mhz range and is global, some days the band is long, others it's short. Croughton just came in weakly as I write, but yesterday the hf band was almost dead and I was worried my fancy sdr was in dire straights.