SLOWLY declining solar activity
The slide down from a solar maximum is (usually) slower than the climb from the minimum to the maximum. Very gradually, the sun is going “off the boil” and solar activity is slowly falling away. With each year for several years to come things will get progressively harder on the higher bands. Some are predicting the next maximum may be a “damp squib”, so enjoy the conditions while they last. It is quite possible that 10m will never be as good again in the lifetimes of many of us. Certainly 10m is already not as good as a year ago. Although Es is good at any part of the cycle in late spring and summer, F2 DX is best around the peak of solar activity. In the past 6m has supported worldwide DX at times, but I think those days are sadly over.
Thought for Roger, With the sun going into hibernation for the next 70 to 120 years, with no, or just little sunspots, what effect will this have on the earth’s weather? The Mundor (?sp) minimum of 1450 – 1650 created a mini-Ice Age. So, while we are talking on the radio, what are we going to eat??? What are your thoughts? Robert Rover.
Robert, that was the Maunder Minimum from 1645 to around 1715, a period that coincided with a ‘mini-Ice Age’, as you say. Maybe the reduced sun activity will offset the effects of global warming…who knows?
73
Colin