rjr@mgweed.UUCP (Bob Roehrig) (01/23/85)
qst de k9eui hr propagation forecast bulletin nr 3 from arrl headquarters newington ct january 20, 1985 to all radio amateurs bt the solar flux rise of last week was still goin on, through at least the 20th. it held at 75 january 16 to 18, then rose to 77, holding for three days. it went to 78 on the 19th and then was reported by (??) to be 91 on the 20th. this is a remarkable one day rise, after the very low readings in recent weeks. if it holds, or moves higher, there should be a major change in the character of all dx frequencies, approaching their usefulness in the early months of last year. the level of geomagnetic activity is critical. if the wwv k indices hold to mostly 3 or more, as they have recently, propagation should be much as shown in the qst dx charts for december and january. these were based on a solar flux range in the low 90s. it should be emphasised that the timing in these charts is quite accurate, as it is based on the suns position with respect to the paths shown. the timing does not change with various solar flux or sunspot numbers. the useful frequency range for a given time period is affected by the solar activity levels. for the balance of january, good conditions should prevail through the 22nd. high latitude paths will suffer intermittently january 23 through 29, with good propagation returning at the months end and holding through about february 5 ar