Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP

Propagation Report from Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP

03 January, 2010

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP,reports that the solar activity is still at low levels. 2009 ended with a decent amount of sunspot activity. December accumulated a total of
22 'spotted' days.
Current predictions are that sunspots will become a non-stop daily occurrence up to February 2010.

The effective sunspot number is expected to be between 10 and 15 for the coming week. Overall conditions are on the rise.

15 and 20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon onwards. During the late afternoon and early evenings, it will be moderate towards Europe. In the afternoon there is a good possibility of contacts with the USA on 15 m.

Contacts with New Zealand will be possible for a short while on 15 and 20 m during the mornings. Contacts with Australia will be probable on 20 m for a short while during the mornings and the afternoons. During the afternoons and evenings 15 and 20 m contacts may also be possible with Brazil.

Local conditions will be good on 40 m during the day time. 80 m may also perform well during the early mornings and late afternoons over the shorter distances. 30 m will perform well over the longer distances during the middle of the day.

With summer here, 20 m is also once again very useful for contacts over the longer distances, especially during the mornings. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings.

Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.

South African Radio League

• All propagation reports can be found at:
http://www.southgatearc.org/propagation