May 1991 Forecast -- Flux Range 148 - 249

by Roy, AD5Q - Houston, Texas

The plummeting MUF of an approaching summer have put an end to the wall to wall DX activity we have enjoyed on 10 Meters for the past several months. This effectively closes paths to Europe, Russia and the Far East. Since most DX signals come from these areas, activity is way down and will remain so until September. Openings will continue through the summer to the East, West and South, so it will still be possible to work Africa, S. America, the Pacific and VK/ZL on 10. It is also Sporadic E season, so there will be plenty of short skip in the evenings. The 10-10'ers will love it, but DX'ers will move to other bands.

The 15 meter season is about to enter it's awesome phase. So far we have enjoyed improved evening propagation, with frequent long path openings to the west and southwest in the morning. Marginal DX openings continue well into the night. From now and into June, these late night openings will improve dramatically. Signals from Russia and Europe will often be very loud, and the band will stay open for long durations. It will be morning there. When it is late morning for us we get the other end of the same path, taking the form of a pipeline to the Far East. Indonesian stations on 15 fone can be as numerous as JA's, and exotic calls like V85, 9M, 9V & XX can be found. Propagation to the rare countries in Zone 26 is also excellent. Long path is open in the early morning as described last month. Polar openings will also be excellent, and Africa is workable in the evening and during the day.

20 will remain a consistently reliable night path band. The first two hours after sunrise is an especially good time to operate. Through the summer we get a pipeline to the Far East, with exotic stations workable daily. Long path openings are different than in winter. LP openings to Europe, Russia, the Middle East, NE Africa and India are out of season and often unworkable. Openings to southern Africa and the Indian Ocean are at their best, including a northwesterly path to some very rare islands.


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