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Here we have a few interesting cards received this week for contacts in the CQWW CW contest in November (6Y1V) and the CQWW WPX CW contest back in May (KL7RA). Both of these are in response to direct QSL requests.
Alaska (KL7RA) was an all time new one for me at the time so it’s nice to get that confirmed for number 153 (of 170) confirmed by paper QSL.
6Y1V (on 40m) was a highlight on the recent CQWW contest and I had a pretty quick response via the QSL manager in Finland (Kari, OH3RB) which was nice. The card also confirms a 20m and a 40m contact from the WPX CW contest in May.
In other news, SpaceWeather.com reports that sunspot 1035, having burst onto the scene 3 days ago, continues to grow and is crackling with C-class solar flares with a chance of M-class flares.
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the KL7RA and 6Y1V QSL cards
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Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures 6Y1V, CW, KL7RA, QSL, sunspot
The sun is showing signs of life. Over the weekend, sunspot 1029 emerged and it is crackling with B and C class solar flares.
The sunspot’s magnetic polarity identifies it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24. If it continues to grow at this rate, sunspot 1029 could soon become the biggest sunspot of 2009.
This and more at SpaceWeather.com.
Dean Amateur Radio, Totally random contest, propagation, Solar Cycle 24, sunspot
Small but significant, sunspot 1028 of cycle 24 is barely visible in the upper left quadrant of the solar disk but this is the sunspot that has broken a run of 18 consecutive days without any sunspots.
Now if only there could be a few more sunspots emerge over the next few days in the run up to the 2009 CQ World Wide DX SSB contest this weekend…
Dean Amateur Radio, Totally random contest, propagation, Solar Cycle 24, sunspot
This in a report yesterday (Wed 14th Oct 2009) at SpaceWeather.com entitled ‘Deep Quiet’. Today will be the 14th such day and there is no sign at the moment of when this streak might be broken.
So far this year, the sun has been spotless 79% of the time, topping the 73% mark recorded in 2008. Cycle 24 seems to be a long time coming and there have been a few false dawns. Long after many forecasters thought that solar minimum would be finished, the quiet is not only continuing, but actually deepening. So much so that some are now asking “are sunspots gone for good?”, as this article on the NASA website explains.
Opinion is divided - those suggesting a decline say that “sunspot magnetic fields are dropping by about 50 gauss per year, if we extrapolate this trend into the future, sunspots could completely vanish around the year 2015″ whereas those with a more positive outlook say that “other indications of solar activity suggest that sunspots must return in earnest within the next year.”
I for one am hoping that the optimists are proved to be correct in their assessment rather than those predicting a gradual decline. Shortwave propagation is much improved when there are lots of sunspots and those of us with modest antennas really need all the help we can get!
Dean Amateur Radio, Totally random antenna, propagation, Solar Cycle 24, sunspot
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From SpaceWeather.com…[2009-09-01]
“SUNSPOT 1025: A new sunspot emerged yesterday and interrupted a 51-day string of blank suns. It wasn’t much of an interruption. Sunspot 1025 is small and may already be fading away.”
That might explain the CQ fatigue I’ve been reporting!
A massive 51 days without any hint of a sunspot - that’s quite a stretch. It goes a long way towards explaining why conditions have been so poor recently on HF.
Indications are that this could be just another false dawn for cycle 24 but let’s hope that it does perk up soon!
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some actual sunspots *
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* Just to clarify, this image does not show sunspot 1025. Sunspot 1025 was much smaller than the sunspots shown here.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures propagation, Solar Cycle 24, sunspot