TEK NET
The Henderson Amateur Radio Club is pleased to present our Tek Net every Sunday evening, starting at 8pm local time (0300 UTC).
The audio portion of the Tek Net will be found on the Henderson Amateur Radio Club Repeater Network (RF). The audio may also be accessed via Echolink (W7HEN-R node 740644) and Allstar (node 44045).
The audio will refer to this page, so that the listener can more fully understand the concepts as they are presented.
All are welcome!
July 2, 2023
“Solar Cycle 25, everything you need to know about it”
As most hams that operate on the HF bands know, we are currently experiencing Solar Cycle 25 conditions.
As you can see above, a typical solar cycle is approximately 11 years in length.
Solar Cycle 24 is lower in magnitude that many of the previous solar cycles, with the current cycle 25 showing to be the weakest in several centuries.
To the right, it’s clear what a solar minimum and a solar maximum looks like.
These are actually the two extremes of the Sun’s 11 year activity cycle.
Solar Maximum is when the Sun’s magnetic field reaches its strongest and most disordered and dynamic point, the Sun’s magnetic poles also flip at Solar Maximum.
At a Solar Maximum, the Sun is scattered with sunspots, solar flares erupt, and the Sun hurls billion-ton clouds of electrified gas into space.
It appears that we are headed to Solar Cycle 25’s Maximum around July 2025, with a peak of 115 sunspots as indicated by the overall number of sunspots activity recorded.
The Solar Minimum occurs when the peaks of several solar cycles in a row are less than the average intensity.
Solar Cycle 24 had the 4th-smallest intensity since regular record keeping began with Solar Cycle 1 in 1755, it was also the weakest cycle in 100 years.
These quiet times on the Sun have lasted for decades and even centuries in the past.
As we move forward, we will see longer and stronger bursts of activity with many more larger flares erupted during this solar cycle as it approaches it’s Maximum.
It’s pretty obvious why the Earth’s propagation of radio waves is disrupted.
The presence of sunspots indicates solar activity which affect the ionosphere’s ability to defract radio signals back to earth.
The ionosphere is made up of layers of the atmosphere in which electrically charged particles are created that collectively have a bending effect on RF signals, directing them back toward the Earth from high in the atmosphere.
What this means is the fewer sunspots means less solar activity an less signals back into the Earth’s ionosphere….which is bad news for ham radio operators.
A handy Solar Cycle data location is on QRZ.com and is updated daily.
You’ll find that the HF as well as the VHF conditions are helpful when determining what bands are open.
Don’t just go by this listing of band openings, you should always give a look see on your favorite band, the level of band opening at your location may be adequate for some decent QSO’s.
The Sun’s effect on the Earth’s magnetic field can be seen below caused by the #3 Particle bombardment of Earth’s magnetic field.
