Unlocking the Mystery: Why the HF Bands Are DEAD
Рет қаралды 25,797
Күн бұрынHF radio was completely silenced over the past weekend. We get to the bottom of what caused it, but the benefits it can provide to VHF ham radio operators.
⏱️Chapters⏱️
0:00 What has happened?
0:53 Aurora photos
1:22 Bad for Radio & GPS!!
2:06 Too much of a good thing
3:14 Key solar indexes you need to know
3:43 The Carrington Event
4:34 How to tell when HF is going to be good
5:15 It's not all bad news though..
Current conditions at Solarham 👉 solarham.com/
@meggalavk3ktt Aurora video 👉 • #hamradio #6m #aurora ...
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• NASA ScienceCasts: Eff...
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@Macjohn1419 15 күн бұрын
Aurora activity is a bonus for 6 meters. You can bounce signals off of the aurora and contact stations. A 4-element beam is ideal to get great DX. I’ve been doing it for years.
@JohnHill-qo3hb 16 күн бұрын
I have several comments: 1. Excellent explanation, I could never get to grips with the solar physics, you made it so simple, will view this video a few times till it sinks in. 2. Your high school science teacher would be proud of you. 3. I didn't know that Daleks could get an amateur radio license!
@mikeZL3XD7029 16 күн бұрын
Hayden, I remember this very same thing happened during the sun spot cycle back in 1989. At it's peak, the HF and shortwave bands were damn near un-usable, but it got better on the down slope part of the cycle and returned to normality in 1996. Interesting things solar cycles.
@HamRadioDX 15 күн бұрын
Hopefully we get some good conditions soon!
@Jeff-sp7bg Күн бұрын
In 1990-92 i could talk dx 24/7. Was booming day and. Night
@Bill_KL7TC 16 күн бұрын
Cool seeing the lights from Australia. Being in Alaska, we see them all the time, but of course this time we had too much daylights and clouds to see them in Alaska. Normal solar flares usually create so much absorption here in KL7, we can't work anyone, much less hear anyone.
@oldfartonabmx2122 16 күн бұрын
And yes, heard a few fellow farmers complaining their GPS systems were playing up!
@__logan__duvalier__ 16 күн бұрын
There were strong aurora back reflections on 11m CB SSB all over the UK and europe last week ! these phone signals sounded like daleks
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
Yep that's exactly the unique sound!
@youtubeaccount931 16 күн бұрын
It was weird, there was nothing, then I had one QSO to New Zealand (I'm in California) with 50 watts and a dipole, and then nothing the rest of the time. I'm glad I got on the air, I hadn't played radio in weeks and the aurora got me motivated.
@timmotel5804 3 күн бұрын
Good Day and Thank You. Very educational and interesting for this HAM "listener". Best Regards
@HamRadioDX 3 күн бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
@DrWorth-ez5es 16 күн бұрын
Great discussion Hayden! At ~2:36, you mention that HF transmissions can get absorbed by the ionosphere during a geomagnetic storm, so they won't get refracted and therefore no skywave. There's another effect as well as described in the Wikipedia 'Ionosphere' page under the 'Storms' heading. 'During a geomagnetic storm the F₂ layer will become unstable, fragment, and may even disappear completely'. No F2 layer at all is certainly going to make the HF bands go quiet!
@HamRadioDX 15 күн бұрын
Yes very good point! Space weather is very interesting!
@DonzLockz 16 күн бұрын
Great info Hayden. Maybe it's a good time for DMR on hotspots.
@johndavidson1010 14 күн бұрын
Thanks for this informative information. Yesterday I experienced a strange happening, 20 and 40 meter bands allowed me to make contacts as close as 50 miles! Normal distant contacts were not possible. Other Hams were commenting on ability to make close contacts as well.
@dang48 11 күн бұрын
Pretty wild for sure. Last week we went out to get some pictures of the Northern Lights (I'm in Canada), and had to use our GPS. Took longer than usual for our GPS to acquire a satellite so there was the effect mentioned. Watching the lights was amazing.
@HamRadioDX 11 күн бұрын
Very cool indeed!
@basspig 16 күн бұрын
Just for curiosity sake, I put a digital volt meter across my vertical and horizontal antennas and I noticed that my horizontal antenna accumulated the most DC voltage reaching a high of 87 millivolts. Still a minuscule amount of energy induced into a 70 ft long piece of wire.
@HamRadioPrep 14 күн бұрын
Great info! 👌🏼
@HamRadioDX 14 күн бұрын
Thanks! Hope you enjoy Hamvention 👍
@jamesalles139 16 күн бұрын
thanks for the clarity, and kudos for the reference to Dr. Skov
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
Tamitha is the go-to for this kind of stuff!
@mattstosh6960 16 күн бұрын
Welcome to my almost daily issue here in Alaska. Another reason why logging Alaska is difficult for DX certificates. The Aurora Steel pot. Good video and thank you.
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
Thanks! I never thought about it that way - how often do you get disruptions?
@NukaVaultReadiness 16 күн бұрын
Great stuff, and thank you for the deeper explanation!
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
No worries hope it was helpful!
@TheRFResistance 16 күн бұрын
Nice video mate!
@chairforce0928 16 күн бұрын
I was able to chat with a guy that's 90 miles away off of a repeater that's WAY out of line of sight (other side of a large formation of rolling hills) for my handheld GMRS.
@dustyroaddestinations 13 күн бұрын
thanks so much for this video - I'm basically VERY new at HF and even though there were questions on the test about this it has been difficult to udnerstand and put into practice. I did a POTA last weekend and it took 4 hours to be able to activate the park I was in and that included FT8 and SSB - I wanted to do it totally with SSD but I just couldn't hit 10 but at least with the handful of FT8 I was able to do it. It was brutal to say the least...
@HamRadioDX 13 күн бұрын
No problems glad it helped! Good luck on your next activation
@dustyroaddestinations 10 күн бұрын
@@HamRadioDX This weekend was pretty rough too - might have been my antenna...
@vu3mes 16 күн бұрын
Complete washout on Saturday and Sunday and slightly picking up today..even the regularly heard hf nets were not copy able here in Chennai.
@DK5ONV 16 күн бұрын
I am going to take a Break from HAM Radio for like a Week or so. The Bands going to be super crappy...mostly dead as a Horse. Sporadically there is going to be some openings but not lasting long time. It repeatedly happens on every Year in the month of May.
@jstoltenburg 16 күн бұрын
6 meters was open for voice and CW in pockets, but it was strange though - everyone sounded like they were the Borg from Star Trek. I was tempted to call CQ saying that I was Borg!
@dannynova3412 16 күн бұрын
40 meter in east side USA is great. Everything else here mud
@chronicandironic8701 16 күн бұрын
Yeah i noticed the same
@jeffwright6685 15 күн бұрын
You have 1 more year 2025 is the height
@jstoltenburg 15 күн бұрын
@@jeffwright6685 and then it goes south for how long?
@erikk77 16 күн бұрын
During the height of the storms I was not able to hear my state police on 155.58. The repeater is about 40 miles to the north. 18 hours later no problem.
@Drew_TheRoadLessTraveled 16 күн бұрын
I got a new DJI drone the other day.... It is grounded because of solar flares. GPS and 2.4Gh spectrum hopping is affected. Outback South Australia is just one big magnetic solar collector.
@vk4uh96 16 күн бұрын
Interestingly 10m (28MHz) did not receive the memo! Despite the complete dropout of most HF bands, 10m has been wide open (from VK4 at least) to all continents. Who knows how or why this single band was spared - actually enhanced to this amazing level. VK4UH
@paulsengupta971 11 күн бұрын
I would guess as the MUF goes up, the LUF (I just made that up!) goes up as well, so where we can't normally use 80m in the day, I'm guessing we couldn't use up to 15m or 12m, but could use 10m. There's also Sporadic E, there was a lot of that about as well.
@oldfartonabmx2122 16 күн бұрын
Was 6 meters any good? (don't have a 6M antenna yet so idk ?!)
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
Yes 6m was good via auroral propagation. Yagi or directional antenna is really needed, pointing south
@gavindouglas5581 15 күн бұрын
Zl1gam bad on 80 and 40 metre band
@roberthopkins8089 16 күн бұрын
Still working some dx on 11 mtrs from the uk tonight... All short stuff... North Italy Poland and Germany... Great for groundwave as well being quiet.
@AdamDeal-KF0PRI 16 күн бұрын
It's quite amazing how the sun can be our friend one minute and then next our arch enemy!
@k6usy 16 күн бұрын
Worked VK9DX on 6m FT8 with 100w and a HO loop from central CA. The bands are not completely dead you just have to hunt harder for DX.
@yclept9 Күн бұрын
It all happens every day, just over a smaller frequency spread. On 40m, it's open worldwide in darkness, and goes local during the daytime. Why? The ionosphere is always ionized enough to reflect 40m signals back to earth. The radio wave excites an ionized +- pair, which moves and then reradiates the signal a quarter cycle later, inducing a height-dependent delay that does the reflection. In the daytime, the sun ionizes down to lower altitudes, where the mean free path is smaller, and the +- pair collides with something before it reradiates, and the radio wave is turned to heat (absorbed). Higher frequencies survive shorter mean free paths, and even higher frequencies don't reflect at all. So it's always 3 regiemes: absorbed (low freq), reflected (medium freq), unreflected (high freq). Exceptional solar activity ionizes deeper into the atmosphere, turning everything into daytime low frequency. Normal solar produces reflections at 20m and absorption at 40m daytime, and reflections at 40m and no reflection on 20m nighttime.
@boydsharp 16 күн бұрын
I was able to make three 6M contacts on FT8 over the weekend. Saw on the spotter that some areas of the USA was open down your way.
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
Yeah it was open the following morning here (well not here but in Northern VK)
@jplewis01 16 күн бұрын
Pay attention to the BZ index as well. I negative value can indicate a stronger negative interaction of the Storm with our magnetosphere...
@user-ef3nu1eh7z 13 күн бұрын
Here in WI USA our radio been dead starting day before eclipse in april bheavy( 10+s units) static day before and of eclipse then reduced for week and dad since now over month hope turnaround coming
@jimgraham6722 16 күн бұрын
FT8 and JS8 40 and 17 still going somewhat though lower levvel absorption playing havoc. As the lower layers recombine more quickly they should unmask still highly refractive higher layers leading to some good DX off the back of this.
@shanerorko8076 16 күн бұрын
I checked 7mhz on Saturday, it was pumping better than usual in my opinion, I don't know why people were saying HF was dead? Maybe the DX was down but NVIS was fine.
@kurtzFPV 16 күн бұрын
I did pick up a new country on ft8 40m yesterday, though it hasn't been confirmed yet.
@321CatboxWA 16 күн бұрын
Had great backscatter on 11 during storm and arora peak.
@sogent56 16 күн бұрын
Nice job.
@dxer22000 15 күн бұрын
some of the Australian MW frequencies also crashed, with no propagation
@remaguire 7 күн бұрын
Heck, I thought you were gonna say it was FT8!
@1958johndeere620 Күн бұрын
That audio clip just sounded like a normal QSO between 2 heavy smokers.
@HamRadioDX Күн бұрын
LOL
@ethzero 15 күн бұрын
Of course i would test my new SDRplay dx the first night of the aurora in the UK and wondered if i had a faultly unit! Quickly discovered that this was the same for my RTL-SDR then shortly after @TechMinds let me know of this unprecedented phenomenon 😂
@pixeluser175 16 күн бұрын
VHF was great, though...
@moozoowizard 16 күн бұрын
Carrington Event was estimated to be an X45 flare. The largest of the recent bunch was X5 something. Its a log scale. X45 is 10^40 times stronger than an X5 !!!!
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
Imagine if that hit us - ouch!
@drsysop 16 күн бұрын
AM Radio. Shortwave Radio. CB Radio including the Free Band has been awful last few days here in North America & this storm will continue.
@Jeff-sp7bg Күн бұрын
It has been good for the past week now irs back to nothing. Ive been on 38 lsb call freq
@VK4EA 16 күн бұрын
Sunday 6m and 10m FT8 was pumping - go figure?
@kafostad 16 күн бұрын
Was plenty of Aurora and sporadic E aurora on 10m here in norway. No problem to work FT8 via aurora ES. Audio is clear
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
I noticed between VK4 and USA was good. VK4CZ was working them well
@evischlee5578 6 күн бұрын
Das Problem ist das man nirgends mehr eine Antenne aufbauen darf.
@stevefox3763 16 күн бұрын
There have been mass ejections bigger than than Carrington event but earth dodged them as they were on the other side of the sun.
@lomgshorts3 16 күн бұрын
There is no mystery here at all !! This has happened many times in the past, just as severe. Hams have come to expect this every Solar Max.
@stargazer7644 16 күн бұрын
High solar cycles help conditions. X rays from solar flares do not. A little bit of enhancement to the ionosphere is good. Storms are bad.
@MrDschubba 16 күн бұрын
Sounds like Steve and David need to ease up on the ciggies. Interesting stuff thanks
@skyking6989 14 күн бұрын
It's ATROCIOUS. I can't even get out on ft8.
@Jeff-sp7bg Күн бұрын
Ft 8 doesnt even count
@skyking6989 Күн бұрын
@Jeff-sp7bg oh boy here we go..🙄
@TaylorHamRadio 14 күн бұрын
They aren't dead, they're just taking a nap. A really long nap....
@DellFargus 16 күн бұрын
Aurora Borealis!? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen!?
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
Yes champ
@DellFargus 16 күн бұрын
@@HamRadioDX May I see it?
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
@@DellFargus All gone
@regularguy519 16 күн бұрын
Yep. It was dead! Yay first!
@MidlifeRenaissanceMan 16 күн бұрын
Dead on arrival :-)
@HamRadioDX 16 күн бұрын
1st!
@MidlifeRenaissanceMan 16 күн бұрын
🏆
@eyeinidas 16 күн бұрын
Like giant solar pimples popping and throwing junk at us.
@MightySpaceman 15 күн бұрын
5:55 I think he needs a throat lozenge
@cariboooutlaw4852 13 күн бұрын
That's Backscatter skip.
@MightySpaceman 13 күн бұрын
@@cariboooutlaw4852 yeah it was a joke
@paulsengupta971 11 күн бұрын
Check out "Aurora Propagation on 6 Meters Keith’s Ham Radio World" - he has a video of turning his antenna from a direct contact to auroral and back again.
@briankleinschmidt3664 16 күн бұрын
As opposed to low frequency? No. FM is much better. Most of your radio stations are on high frequency wavelengths because AM suffers so much interference.
@Jeff-sp7bg Күн бұрын
Ive seen the sfi at 220+ and the k was 1 k 1. I heard nothing. Zilch. In my opinion those numbers are worthless
@donausmus4281 15 күн бұрын
The record auroras are an indication of our own weakening magnetic field and our own inevitable pole shift by 2050.
@jameskaras4345 16 күн бұрын
cq from hell hahahahahahaha
@dronenuts1156 16 күн бұрын
Why is it nobody is talking about haarp? Its even on their website that the experiments can cause auroras, they transmit between 2.8 - 10mhz and amateurs are encouraged to follow along and send signal reports. The experiments were to run 8-10th may coinciding with the auroras. Nobody in amateur radio is talking about this and you all seem to think its a natural phenomenon
@paulsengupta971 11 күн бұрын
Did you not see the CME from the sun? People saw it happen and gave a warning it was going to hit earth.
@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024 11 күн бұрын
America should stop messing around with the planets atmosphere. It belongs to us all
@Philip-KA4KOE 15 күн бұрын
Activated. Only made 33 qsos via ft8.
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