Propagation News – 27 December 2015

This week we have a slightly different approach to the HF propagation news. We want to help you and your family contact Santa’s elves in Lapland, Finland.

The station Oscar Foxtrot Nine X-ray, OF9X, is once again on the air this Christmas from Santa Claus land in the Arctic Circle. The station, which is near the city of Oulu, will be active until 28 December on all bands. This is actually the 30th anniversary of their operations.

To work the elves at OF9X, the best starting point is the DX cluster or reverse beacon network to see where they are operating. They have been spotted on many bands and modes over the past week.

Looking at VOACAP Online, the predictions suggest that 17 or 20 metres, 18MHz or 14MHz, both give a good possibility of a contact with a probability of greater than 90 percent from about 0900UTC to 1600UTC. Even 15m may be possible around midday.

Forty metres, 7MHz, should also give a high probability for the whole 24 hours, while 80m and 160m may be open during the hours of darkness in the UK.

Watch out for the effects of coronal mass ejections and coronal holes, as these can impact HF propagation to and from the Arctic Circle. Check for a low K-index at solarham.com.

VHF and up propagation news

Well, Santa will be on his way back to base and there is still no real sign of a cold winter snap to help tropospheric conditions. The main reason has been the prevailing strong south-westerly weather pattern, which has given us all a very mild start to winter.

This will continue through this last week of December into the New Year. The rather windy, unsettled weather will again limit the options for Tropo, although late Sunday and Monday show promise for southern Britain, but it is unlikely to last long.

EME windows are still long, but with increasing losses that leaves meteor scatter and the occasional aurora perhaps to keep our spirits up. Along with all the usual Christmas fare, of course! Remember that the Quadrantids meteor shower is just a week away, so be ready.

That’s all for this year, so good DX and Happy New Year from the propagation team.

Category: GB2RS Propagation News