HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY - Check the Bands!

The Sun as observed on October 24, courtesy of SolarMonitor.org

HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY - 

Check the Bands!


 I'm still "on-the-road", having been in southern Queensland for the past week. I've now crossed over the border and staying in northern New South Wales for the next 7-10 days. Here's a quick report from my hotel room, using the Sangean ATS909 receiver and 10 metres of wire hung across the room. Obviously the noise level from this location is high, especially from those awful "Touch Lamps" that make such a racket across the shortwave spectrum…….I've unplugged my lamps, but all the other lamps in the hotel are still connected!

 What prompted getting out the radio and wire was a report I received of high solar activity during yesterday, October 24. As of last night, the sunspot count was 126, solar flux was a very high 227, the A index was 11 and the K index was 2. This can often mean somewhat enhanced propagation conditions on the higher frequencies. This morning, the K Index has risen to 4 (out of a 9-point scale), which could indicate solar disturbances may result in poor reception conditions over the next few hours.

 What one can say about all this is that it could be useful to turn your attention to the higher frequencies - above 12 mHz - over the next few days. You may hear some good DX on the 22, 19, and 16 metre bands, and even on the 13 mb.

 Here's what was noted last night between 1010 and 1200 UTC (9 to 11pm local time):

 SF = 227, A = 11, K = 2  SUNSPOTS = 126 on Oct 24, 14

Sangean ATS909 and 10 metres of wire antenna.

19mb:
15090   KUWAIT. R. Azadi - Kuwait. Dari service 1108, poor signal.
15120   NORTH MARIANA IS. RFA - Tinian. Lao to SEAs 1110, weak signal.
15135   CHINA. CRI - Kunming. Indonesian at 1112, poor signal.
15160   CHINA. CRI - Nanning. Khmer service 1114, poor signal.
15180   DPRKorea. VoKorea - Kujang. Occasional wisps of a signal at 1116 in French.
15195   UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. RFA - Dhabayya. Weak in Tibetan at 1118, no jamming heard on this occasion.
15225   CHINA. CRI - Kashi. Czech to Eu at 1118, weak but readable.
15250   PHILIPPINES. VOA - Tinang. Mandarin at 1120 but equal strength CNR 1 jammer also present.
15285   SINGAPORE. BBC - Kranji. English to EAs 1122, poor.
15440   CHINA. CRI - Kunming. Mandarin to Oceania 1125, good signal.
15500   IRAN. VOIRI - Kamalabad. Dari service 1127, fair signal.
15620   GUAM. KSDA-AWR - Agat. S/off in Indonesian at 1129, then into Javanese at 1131. Weak signal.
15660   CHINA. CRI - Kashi. English to SAs 1132, weak signal. 
15690   SRI LANKA. R. Farda - Iranawila. Weak in Farsi at 1134.
15795   UNID. Believed to be WWCR but too weak to ID at 1136.
15800   CHINA. CNR 1 Jammer at 1138 meant for Sound of Hope.

16mb:
17485   THAILAND. VOA - Ban Dung. Mandarin to EAs 1020, fair signal under CNR1 jamming.
17490   CHINA. CRI - Kashi. English to Eu at 1016, fair signal and a great indication of how good the band was on this occasion.
17495   CHINA. CNR 1 programming at 1015. Legacy jamming ?
17500   CHINA. CRI - Kashi. Mandarin to SAs, 1010, fair signal.
17530   CHINA. CRI - Xian. Mandarin to SEAs 1005, good signal.
17540   CHINA. C RI - Beijing. Mandarin to SEAs 1012, fair to poor signal.
17550   CHINA. CNR 1 - Beijing. Mandarin 1021, // 17485. No sign of scheduled VOIRI's Arabic or KSDA at this time.
17590   VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. The Friday service in English at 1140, fair to poor.
17595   CHINA. CNR 1 - Shijiazhuang. Mandarin at 1040, poor signal.
17605   CHINA. CRI - Kunming. Indonesian at 1044, great signal.
17650   CHINA. CRI - Kashi. Mandarin to Eu at 1046, fair to poor.
17670   CHINA. CRI - Kunming. Cantonese to Oceania 1025, booming signal.
17690   KUWAIT. R. Azadi - Kuwait. Dari service at 1046, fair signal. Later noted in Pashto at 1142 with a good signal.
17750   CHINA. CRI - Kashi. English to SAs with Mandarin language lesson at 1050, good signal.
17770   THAILAND. R. Thaniland - Ban Dung. Thai service to ME at 1054, weak signal.
17820   IRAN. VOIRI - Kamalabad. English to SAs 1057, good signal.
17830   UNID. Perhaps R. Cairo in Arabic. Very weak at 1100 and unable to read an ID.
17830   THAILAND. BBC - Nakhon Sawan. Weak signal in English at 1144.
17860   TAJIKISTAN.  Vo Khmer M'Chas Srok - Dushanbe. Haven't heard this one for a while but it came through with a reasonably good signal during these enhanced propagation conditions at 1145 UTC. Pleasant Khmer vocal pop music then a recording of a live speech at 1148. 
17840   GERMANY. R. Farda - Biblis. Farsi to Iran at 1102 but very weak signal.
17870   THAILAND. BBC - Nakhon Sawan. Pashto service s/on 1030, fair signal.
17895   INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. DRM English to Aust/NZ 1032, s/off by 1100.

13mb:
21580   KUWAIT. R. Kuwait. Filipino service to the Philippines 1107, weak and variable signal.
21670   SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA - Riyadh. Indonesian at 1104, fair signal but variable.

So, not a bad list of loggings for a little portable radio, a short length of wire and a multitude of touch lamps humming away in the background!!!

Hopefully, propagation conditions will be kind to you in your part of the world over this weekend. Good luck with your listening!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

Comments

  1. Rob WagnerOctober 25, 2014 at 11:31 AM

    UPDATE:
    Since writing this blog post early this morning, because of all the solar activity, a major solar flare affecting D layer absorption is currently in progress (since about 2100 UTC). Reception conditions will be poor over the next few hours. Should return to normal later in the day…..perhaps!! Grin…..Who knows with propagation and good old Mr Sol!!! Further details at:

    http://www.solarham.net/globald.htm

    Rob

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. If your comment isn’t visible right away, it has been received and will be published shortly.

Popular posts from this blog

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW # 21 - The Kenwood R-5000

Image
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #21 (You can click on all photos in this article for a close-up view) KENWOOD R-5000 Performance and Innovation by ROB WAGNER VK3BVW This extended blog post first appeared as a feature article in the February 2024 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Further details on this excellent publication are available at www.thespectrummonitor.com I have always wanted to own a Kenwood R-5000 receiver. Perhaps I was dazzled by the mystique that appeared to surround this rig. Somehow, it had always been on top of my bucket list of pre-loved rigs that I wanted sitting on the desk of the radio shack.  Finally, one showed up at a local Sunday morning Hamfest, and I happened to have just enough dollars in my pocket to make a purchase. It appeared to have lived a hard life. The case looked knocked around and was pretty dirty inside and out. So, while I would have liked to have owned a unit in better condition, the price was right, and I decided to take it on as a l...
Read more

REVIEW: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ LOOP ANTENNA

Image
PRODUCT REVIEW: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ LOOP ANTENNA by Michael Stevenson (Guest Contributor) This is a review and my opinion of the Wellbrook ALA1530S+ P–1 Active receiving Antenna. For further information, details and specifications then please visit: www.wellbrook.uk.com Background I have been a keen shortwave listener since 1970 and have had many receivers and antenna types during this time. Currently I have two wire antennas, a PAR Electronics EF-SWL 15 meter with impedance matching transformer, made in the US; and a home made 17 meter wire with balun. I also have a dedicated multi-stake ground or earthing system to compliment my receiver and antennas. I live in suburbia Port Macquarie, New South Wales on the east coast of Australia. Even though all our electricity wiring is under ground in our housing estate, I live in an environment where there are all types of man-made noises coming from modern electronic and electrical equipment used by my neighbours The wire a...
Read more

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 - The SONY ICF-5900W

Image
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 SONY ICF-5900W by CRAIG SEAGER VK2HBT This time around, I thought we might direct our attention to one of the many portable receivers of yesteryear, and it is perhaps appropriate that we choose a manufacturer that continued to produce quality equipment featuring shortwave coverage until long after. I’m sure our Japanese friends will concur with the submission that Japan is a land of short-lived, but enthusiastically embraced fads.  Whether it be karaoke, yo-yos with brains, electronics pets or Pokémon, each craze sweeps the country in such a way that captures the attention of the rest of the world and is usually associated with some pretty smart home-grown technology.   In the mid to late 1970s, shortwave listening (or “BCL”) was the flavour of the month, with teenagers (and some older folk!) compiling large QSL collections and forming SWL and DX clubs all over the country.  Nowadays, you’d be fairly hard-pressed to find any external broadcas...
Read more