May 1990 Forecast -- Flux Range 122 - 274

by Roy, AD5Q - Houston, Texas

15 Meters: Even at the lowest portion of the sunspot cycle, late spring brings the best out of certain bands. When fluxes are high, nighttime conditions on 15 are spectacular. Fluxes lately have been so so. The cycle is definitely heading down, and we can expect fluxes in the low to mid 100's for much of the time. 10 is out of season anyway, but 15 will be very good. It will also be sensitive to the variations in flux, as it takes a higher flux than 120 to keep the nighttime short paths open to Europe and over the pole.

Daytime paths on 15 deteriorate somewhat due to the overheated ionosphere, so most of the best daytime openings will be into areas where it is night. This ability of 15 Meters to span areas of both day and night enhance propagation to remote parts of the world and lengthen the duration of openings in any direction. Look for openings to remote points in southern Asia in late morning and through the afternoon. Europe will come through most of the day, and often at night as well. As long as the flux is above 150 or so, long path will be open in the morning to the west and southwest for 3 hours after sunrise. East/west long path on 15 is actually open to a broader area of the world than the same paths on 20, with openings to most of Africa and Europe. North/south long path, such as to India and Russia, is rare on 15 and is deteriorating on 20. A great variety of paths are open on 15 at this time of the year, but watch the fluxes. When they are low, move down to 20.

20 Meters: East/west LP openings on 20 are mostly confined to the Indian Ocean and the southern part of Africa. These paths will be very reliable for 2 hours after sunrise. The other 20 meter LP routes are out of season, except for the NW path to the South Indian Ocean. The regular short path circuits will be excellent across any nighttime or grey line path. Don't forget to watch for Africa in the late afternoon and Asia in the morning.


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