It was a quiet week, geomagnetically speaking, with the Kp index generally not rising above two. But a lack of sunspots didn’t help HF propagation, which was decidedly uninspiring. There were some highlights though, mostly on FT8. Columbia was decoded on Wednesday evening on 15 metres at a time when CW and SSB users might […]

Our prediction last week that there would be a major geomagnetic storm turned out to be correct, although we got the timing a little wrong. The solar material from a coronal hole actually hit the Earth in the early hours of Saturday morning, rather than later that day, sending the three-hourly Kp index up to […]

The past week was characterised by a low solar flux index and relatively-calm geomagnetic conditions. There were reports of numerous sporadic E openings this week that livened up the 10m band. On Thursday these spread from Serbia through to Germany, Finland and Norway and were probably caused by a strong jet stream, which can be […]

The last seven days have seen quiet geomagnetic conditions but, equally, zero sunspots and a solar flux index of around 67. Nevertheless, the Lighthouses on the Air event last weekend saw UK stations finding people to talk to, even if real DX was a little thin on the ground. Saturday, the 17th, saw numerous short-skip […]