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Dx431
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 6:27 pm: | 
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I am bit confused about this. I have read some about these Sunspots,but I am no scientist.Some of this goes right over my head. I do know that it goes in 11 yr cycles. I also read that we are at our "PEAK"? maybe in some parts of the country, but I live in the central part of the U.S., and the past 2 months there has not been much on the radio as far as Dx is concerned. Occassionally it will come in with a storm but exists just as fast.
Can someone ( in plan english) shed some lite on this??? When will it come back? |
Biged
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 7:30 pm: |
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Johann Rudolph Wolf
(1816-1893).
National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution,
Washington D.C.
In 1848 Rudolph Wolf
devised a daily method of estimating solar activity
by counting the number of individual spots
and groups of spots on the face of the sun.
Wolf chose to compute his sunspot number
by adding 10 times the number of groups
to the total count of individual spots,
because neither quantity alone
completely captured the level of activity.
Today, Wolf sunspot counts continue,
since no other index of the sun's activity
reaches into the past as far and as continuously.
An avid astronomical historian
and an unrivaled expert on sunspot lore,
Wolf confirmed the existence of a cycle
in sunspot numbers.
He also more accurately determined
the cycle's length to be 11.1 years
by using early historical records.
Wolf,
who became director of the Zurich Observatory,
discovered independently the coincidence
of the sunspot cycle with disturbances in the
earth's magnetic field.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sunspot Cycle
The Sun Goes Through 11 Year Cycles.
During The 11 Year Cycles Peak,
Eruptions Of Solar Energy Increase.
Particles From These Eruptions Travel To Earth,
And Energize The Earth's Atmosphere.
The Increased Solar Activity Ionizes The Upper Levels Of The Earth's Atmosphere.
The Upper Layers Of The Atmosphere Become Reflective,
To Certain Wavelengths Of Radio Waves.
When This Happens,
Your CB's Signal Can Travel (Skip) Over 2,500 Miles.
The Conditions Fade At Night.
We Are Currently At The Peak Of Cycle 23.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cycle # 23
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Don123
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 7:46 pm: |
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Hello DX431:
You asked a good question and one that everyone in communication must know in order to communicate any distance on HF or if they want to recieve far stations. Also how it effects different bands in different ways doing the peaks and lows of the cycles. There are many things to learn and understand about how radio waves actually work...... HF radio waves rely upon reflection in the ionosphere where the air is extremely thin. Because of this thinness, the ionosphere is strongly influenced by the energy reaching it from the sun. Daylight and darkness have a great effect on this gas, and the time of year affects how much solar energy can reach the ionosphere. There really is a lot to this and again it is a cycle and of course there are highs and lows on days and the like within that cycle......here are some links to help you also:
http://library.thinkquest.org/15215/Friend/communications.html
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/sun.html
http://www.sunspotcycle.com/
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/MAEL/ag/agprop3.htm
This subject really is not something simple where one can just post everything about it here but I think those sites can get more detail and give you solar report links and how to read them. It really is amazing how it all works!
Don123
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Dx431
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 9:40 pm: |
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I know that much...........what does it mean "We are at the peak of cycle #23"? Does this mean it will fade out and then return?
I'm sorry for sounding ignorant, but, some things don't make sence....I want to try to understand this, cuz I get asked this alot.
Thanx |
Taz
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 10:25 pm: |
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see where we are at
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Dx431
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 10:43 pm: |
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Good links, Don, thanx. |
Don123
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 11:24 pm: |
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Your Welcome Dx431
There really is a lot to it and for many they study this forever....how the cycle works and how the signals work is amazing....you can get a good idea of the solar and skip conditions by the solar reports and numbers...and also by just turning the radio on of course (but do you know really how good it is or how far your signal has a potential to skip?). There are also Beacons around the world on different bands that one can listen for to see if the band is open ...but that is a whole different subject. Many times one might think the band is dead late at night only to hear a beacon and then call CQ and get a response from a DX station. Do try to understand what is going on and the numbers and all...but...don't spend to much time on it though as you will have no radio time! Have fun!
Don123
good graph Taz |
Big Foot
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 11:32 pm: |
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.... TAZ ( good graph ) THANK YOU !! |
Dx431
| | Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 11:45 pm: |
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I have seen that grahp.....I wanted to understand what I was lookin at.
Thanx alot guys!! |
Apachee
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 1:18 pm: |
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The solar 23 cycle is started on it's down hill slide. But this cycle 23 double peak this year don't happen very often in fact maybe only one or two other times. Some of the weatherman are saying that may be the reason for a mild winter this year. What they will blame it on next winter ------ well we will just have to see. Sometimes the sun is so strong it can cause radio blackout. I watch for the number of sun spots and the A- index & the K-index to help me with skip talk. There are other things that also are a part of it to not just those two numbers. On 6 meter radio at 50.100 to 50.300 ssb you may listen for months and not hear a band opening, then all at once it starts coming in all over the place. i have made contacts as far down as Chile, up as far as greenland, and many others. 73's |
707
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 5:34 pm: |
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If you want to see how this cycle compares:
where:
cycle 21 =Blue
cycle 22 =Black
cycle 23 =Red
As you can see, this cycle is markedly different than the previous two, and this month peak is very close to the previous peak for this cycle. What does this mean? Not a whole lot. The problem is, no matter how high the sunspot peak, if we spend most of the time in "Storm Mode" like the past month, 11m propagation within the confines of the USA(east to west coast) will be down, but you will likely hear lots coming from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America(mostly Brazil), if you live in the Midwest/Southwest U.S. |
707
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 7:13 pm: |
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I suppose the image link didn't go through..
http://www.dxlc.com/solar/cyclcomp.gif
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DeadlyEyes
| | Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2002 - 8:45 am: |
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A simple answer, but first what is a sunspot. A sunspot is a storm on the sun that causes particles from the sun to be ejected into space in enormous amouts and at enormous speeds. These particle colide with the Earths upper atmosphere and cause it to become, hmmm, 'charged up'.
The number of sunspots is important for radio transmissions because radio signals are bent back to earth a great distance away by the earths atmosphere. Think of the earth's atmosphere as a big mirror. The amount of reflection this mirror does is dependant of the amount of charge it has (the charge being caused by the particles ejected by the storms/sunspots on the sun). Thus the greater the number of sunspots the better the reflective power of the atmospneric layers and the farther you signal will 'Skip'.
Which is why there are years when you cannot talk to anyone in your home town (too much skip) but you can talk quite clearly thousands of miles away. |
Taz
| | Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2002 - 11:43 am: |
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This upper layer is commonly called the ionsphere |
Dx431
| | Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2002 - 12:31 pm: |
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DeadlyEyes, thats the answer I was lookin for. So, what you're saying is, the greater of number of sun spots the better the skip conditions. Correct? |
DeadlyEyes
| | Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2002 - 10:18 pm: |
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Re Taz and Dx.....
Dx, Correct in a very general sense. Thre is also something called a solar flare. How to describe it??? Think of when you ar BBQing and the coals flare up because of the grease drippings. These solar flares are extremely intense and powerful They not only charge up the atmosphere but they also have been know to knock out electricity relay stations on the surface of the earth. Big Solar flares are not good for radio communications because they are simply just too powerful. The big ones charge up the atmosphere just too much. They disrupt rather than enhance. See my reply to Taz below.
Taz, this is true. The energized particles from the sun charge up the upper atmosphere but not all the upper atmosphere. The upper atmosphere is divided into sections. The higher the zone that is doing the reflection the greater the skip will be in general. Also frequency has a great deal to do with the abilit of the atmosphere to bend a signal into a skip signal. For a good demonstration just turn on your radio to the AM band before sunset and listen. You will hear only local stations first then far off stations will begin to appear and disappear.
What is going on is that for the frequency you are listening to there is an optimum state of balance/optimum conditions. As more stations to the west of you lose sunlight and their signals get optimum conditions you will hear them but only as long as conditions on their side are optimal.
Catching signals is sometimes like a good game of hide and seek/cat and mouse. |
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