I have just updated my propagation charts for October, November and December 2022 with new sunspot numbers.
Thanks for stopping by. This is where I publish a lot of my features and thoughts on HF propagation, antennas and other ham radio topics. I write for a number of radio magazines, including the RSGB's RadCom and ARRL's QST. I am also chairman of the RSGB's Propagation Studies Committee and produce the weekly HF propagation report for GB2RS. When not playing radio I'm a professional journalist specialising in aerospace, science and technology and am also author of four RSGB books.
So that's a chart for every hour, for every band and for every month, or more than 2,300 charts in total! The process is fairly automated, but it still fairly tedious and takes about a day to do.
The charts are useful as a quick guide to what parts of the world may be workable and which aren't. If you want more accurate charts then the ITURHFPROP-based predtest.uk or the VOACAP-based voacap.com websites are better.
I may need to update them as the year progresses as we get a better idea of how Solar Cycle 25 pans out. At the moment it isn't looking too good. December 2020 saw a sprinkling of SS25 sunspots with a corresponding rise in HF activity. But since January is has been pretty dire really with long periods of no spots
Anyway, to avoid confusion, I have updated form February onwards. This means that January is actually for 2022.
The charts are produced using Hamcap which is a VOACAP-based application and they are for short-path only.
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My Yaesu FT-817 and Winkey |