rjr@mgweed.UUCP (Bob Roehrig) (10/23/84)
qst de k9eui hr propagation forecast bulletin nr 43 from arrl headquarters newington ct october 22 1984 to all radio amateurs bt it would not have been front page news a few months ago, but substantial sunspot activity appearing on the eastern portion of the sun october 15 and 16 was welcome, indeed. for a few days, something more than north south dx was available on 28 mhz, for the first time since last spring, and 21 mhz was active almost worldwide for several days. then the flux fell back to 74, and action on both bands tapered off. as usually happens, the solar outburst was followed in two days by rising geomagnetic activity, which tended to knock out propagation in the higher latitudes. cconditions for the forecast week are likely to be no better than fair in this respect, through the 23rd. solar flux values are expected to remain in the low seventies through about the 28th, but conditions will be improving after the 24th. a small solar flux rise is likely at the months end, with a move toward higher muf through about november 2. in general, november is expected to bring slightly better conditions than october has up to this bulletin issue date. american sunspot numbers for october 11 through 17 were between 0 and 22 with a mean of 10.0. ar
rjr@mgweed.UUCP (Bob Roehrig) (10/29/85)
qst de k9eui hr propagation forecast bulletin nr 43 from arrl headquarters newington ct october 28 1985 to all radio amateurs bt since the middle of july the solar flux has been so consistently near the quiet sun level that some observers felt the end of cycle 21 to be imminent. but on october 13 a major new active area came around the east limb of the sun and the solar flux curve turned upward. from 67 the flux rose to 95 by october 22. it was back to 80 by the 27th, but the curve appeared to be flattening out. an active area that produced a slight flux peak on october 3 is returning to view this week. it could keep the flux above minimum levels through november 1 at least. occasional peaks of solar activity had been expected with cycle 21 still less than nine-and-one-half years old. this one came at the right time of year for maximum effect on the higher dx frequencies. worldwide dx brought a rush of activity back to the 21 mhz band and 24 and 28 mhz pulled back from almost total quiet for a few days at least. though solar activity is falling again, conditions will be mostly favorable through october 30 at least. higher geomagnetic activity october 31 through november 4 will tend to restrict dx activity to the lower latitudes and transequatorial circuits. best overall conditions for early november should be with us about the 5th to 7th. american sunspot numbers for october 17 to 23 were between 15 and 53 with a mean of 32.6. ar