On January 3, 2019, K7UV started a discussion in the Amateur Radio sub-reddit about a report by K7RA—in the first ARRL Propagation Bulletin for 2020—about indications that Solar Cycle 25 has begun; good news for DXers and other Amateur Radio Operators who rely on the effects of sunspots for propagation.
Sunspots appeared recently, all indicating Solar Cycle 25 due to their polarity, opposite from spots in Solar Cycle 24. Sunspots appeared December 24-26, and it looks like a new Solar Cycle 25 spot on January 1. NOAA did not report it (too weak?) but Spaceweather.com reported a sunspot number of 11 on January 1.
On January 2 NOAA reported the new spot with a sunspot number of 23.1
The propagation bulletin continues with technical analysis—including solar flux predictions—of upcoming propagation conditions and includes numerous useful links for those interested in the subject of propagation.
ARRL Members who wish to receive ARRL Propagation Bulletins via e-mail may subscribe to these bulletins on the W1AW Bulletins section on the Edit Email Subscriptions page of thier member profile.
ARRL Propagation Bulletin ARLP001 (2020) is also available as The K7RA Solar Update for January 3, 2020.
An archive of ARRL Propagation Bulletins is available for review.
“ARRL Propagation Bulletin ARLP001 (2020)”, ARRL The national association for Amateur Radio, retrieved January 4 2020, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive/ARLP001/2020. ↩︎
