QST de W1AW  
Propagation Forecast Bulletin 43  ARLP043
>From Tad Cook, K7RA
Seattle, WA  October 26, 2018
To all radio amateurs 

SB PROP ARL ARLP043
ARLP043 Propagation de K7RA

We saw no sunspots during the reporting week, October 18-24, so
average daily sunspot number dropped from 12.6 to 0. The dearth of
sunspots continued on Thursday, October 25.

Average daily solar flux declined from 71 to 70.4. Geomagnetic
indicators were quieter, with average daily planetary A index
declining from 7.4 to 3.3, and average daily middle latitude A index
dropping from 7.3 to 2.1.

Predicted solar flux is 68 on October 25 to November 5, 70 on
November 6-18, 69 on November 19-20, 68 on November 21 to December
2, and 70 on December 3-9.

Predicted planetary A index is 5 on October 26-28, 8 on October
29-30, 5 on October 31 through November 2, then 22 and 20 on
November 3-4, 15 on November 5-6, then 8, 5, 12, 8 and 10 on
November 7-11, 5 on November 12-13, 12 on November 14, 5 on November
15-17, then 6, 5 and 12 on November 18-20, 8 on November 21-22, then
5, 8 and 12 on November 23-25, 5 on November 26-29, then 22 and 20
on November 30 through December 1, 15 on December 2-3, then 8, 5,
12, 8, 10 and 5 on December 4-9.

Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period October 26 to November
21, 2018 from F.K. Janda, OK1HH.

'Geomagnetic field will be:
Quiet on October 27, November 2, 13, 15-19
Quiet to unsettled on October 26, 30-31, November 1, 8, 10, 12, 14, 21
Quiet to active on October 29, November 11, 20
Unsettled to active on October 28, November 5-7, 9
Active to disturbed on November 3-4

'Solar wind will intensify on October 30-31, November 3-6, (7-9,) 10-13.

'Remarks:
- Parenthesis means lower probability of activity enhancement.
- Present changes in the configuration of active areas decreases
  predictability and their compilation is difficult.'

Jon Jones, N0JK worked K5TR during the meteor shower on 50.260 MHz
using WSJT mode on the morning (local time in Kansas) of October 22.
K5TR also worked W0LGQ.

Jon wrote, 'FYI -- the majority of stations on Ping Jockey are now
using WSJT-X v 2.0. It is not backward compatible with earlier
versions of WSJT-X. The new meteor scatter WSJT-X frequency is
50.280 MHz. I had a sked earlier with K1JT (he and I both using
older versions of WSJT-X, but did not complete). K1JT suggested
upgrading to v 2.0.'

The CQ World Wide SSB DX Contest is this weekend. See
https://www.cqww.com/ for details.

The latest from Dr. Tamitha Skov:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB-Xbi8P_xM

If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers,
email the author at, [email protected] .

For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL
Technical Information Service web page at,
arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals. For an explanation of
numbers used in this bulletin, see
arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere.

An archive of past propagation bulletins is at
arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation. More good
information and tutorials on propagation are at k9la.us/.

Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve
overseas locations are at arrl.org/propagation.

Instructions for starting or ending email distribution of ARRL
bulletins are at arrl.org/bulletins.

Sunspot numbers for October 18 through 24, 2018 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
0, and 0, with a mean of 0. 10.7 cm flux was 69.5, 69.6, 70.4, 71,
70.9, 71.6, and 69.7, with a mean of 70.4. Estimated planetary A
indices were 2, 2, 2, 4, 6, 4, and 3, with a mean of 3.3. Estimated
mid-latitude A indices were 0, 1, 0, 4, 5, 3, and 2, with a mean of
2.1.