rjr@mgweed.UUCP (Bob Roehrig) (07/17/85)
qst de k9eui hr propagation forecast bulletin nr 28 from arrl headquarters newington, ct july 14, 1985 to all radio amateurs bt since early last fall, sunspot numbers and the solar flux have been close to minimum levels most of the time. february and march solar flux averages were in the low 70s, with some days as low as 69. in february the high was only 76. flux highs in the 90s in april and may, and a peak of 101 this month, are more in line with expectations for a period more than 2 years from the likely end of cycle 21. solar observers found the sun more interesting in early july than at any time in at least a year, but the show now seems over for at least 2 weeks. coming in late spring and early summer, this higher solar activity was of little help to dx enthusiasts of the northern hemisphere. we can only hope that the sun will do as well this fall. until then, dx will be mostly in the lower latitudes and on transequatorial paths, and on 14 mhz and lower frequencies. sporadic e skip will keep 21, 24, 28 and 50 mhz active through july regardless of solar activity. except for e skip influence, the propagation charts in july qst should be quite accurate when the solar flux is above the middle 70s. geomagnetic disturbances held at relatively high levels longer than predicted last week. with only minor flux variations expected, the next 10 days or so should bring more stable propagation on all dx frequencies. american sunspot numbers for july 3 to 10 were between 32 and 83 with a mean of 60.1 ar