Interesting propagation on 1900 kHz between 1730 and 1800 UT.  The geomagnetic field was unsettled with a Kp index of 5.  Propagation between KP2AE, W2AZQ, WA4LDU, WB4EZ and W4DEX exhibited fast QSB with ocean wave type distortion.   WB4EZ was very weak but Q5 copy most of the time at W4DEX.  

The real surprise was the CW from WW8II being good copy with no noticeable QSB at W4DEX a distance of 510 miles.  Also CW from KGØVL was detectable at W4DEX, 808 miles.

KGØVL and WW8II completed a solid QSO with WW8II at 443 miles

Click here for MP3 of WW8II-KGØVL CW QSO

The 1700 kHz carrier from KGBB in Des Moines, Iowa received at W4DEX, was above the noise during the above QSO.  See the plot at the bottom of this page.

Space Weather Message Code: ALTEF3
Serial Number: 2911
Issue Time: 2019 Feb 28 1726 UTC
ALERT: Electron 2MeV Integral Flux exceeded 1000pfu
Threshold Reached: 2019 Feb 28 1710 UTC
Station: GOES15

Only one short path to report on today.  Signals between KP2AE and W4DEX were down somewhat from normal.  

WW8II on CW was heard Q5 by KGØVL at 443 miles and W4DEX at 510 miles.  Noise at WW8II prevented a QSO with W4DEX.  KGØVL had ice on antennas so that station was in receive mode only.  W4DEX on CW was not heard at KGØVL.

Today the Kp Index was 3 and the solar wind speed was higher than on the past several days.

Not much to report today.  In the NC/SC area signals between KP2AE, W2AZQ and W4DEX were mostly good with some deep QSB dips.  CW from WW8II was detected by W4DEX at 510 miles but not copyable.  KGØVL also heard WW8II on CW but no QSO was made.

Very fast and deep QSB fades today on 1900 kHz.  On today in the NC and SC area was WA1AC, WA4LDU, KP2AE, KW4DE and W4DEX.  All reported strong signals on peaks with fast fades.

WW8II was detectable on CW at KW4DE, WA4LDU and W4DEX.  After several tries a complete exchange was made between WW8II and W4DEX at 510 miles.

KGØVL on CW was detected by KW4DE and W4DEX at over 800 miles but not copyable. 

A brief solar X-ray burst occurred at approximately 1145 UT.  An hour later MWBC station KGBB on 1700 kHz did an unusual dip at W4DEX.  See the graphs below.  Click for larger image.

There was two 10 dB above noise peaks of the 1700 kHz AMBC Des Moines station received at W4DEX around 1830 and 1845 UT.  Also there was some small solar X-ray energy hitting the earth's ionosphere around the same time.  Probably a coincidence but may be worth noting.  

Good turnout today for the midday test but propagation remains unexciting.  K4DBK activated the Net Logger today.  He made contact with N3ARW, W3BQG and N2CW which was not heard by W4DEX.  K4DBK also had a good signal from WA4PGI and after multiple tries exchanged a report with W4DEX.  K4DBK was S5 at W4DEX ( 308 miles)

In the NC, SC area WA4LDU worked WA1AC, W4NUS, K4CFZ and W4DEX.  WA4LDU also had a partial contact with WA4PGI who lost commercial power during the QSO attempt.  At W4DEX  WA4LDU (103 miles) was S5,  K4CFZ (3.5 miles) S9, WA1AC (73 miles) S7, W4NUS (24 miles) S3 and WA4PGI (176 miles) S5.  QSB was only noticed on the short W4NUS 24 mile path with the signal varying from S2 to S5 quickly.  

KGØVL copied WW8II and was hearing another SSB signal which was not identified.  There was marginal results during a quick CW test with W4DEX (808 miles).  KGØVL had fair copy on W4DEX but the signal was just detectable in the other direction.

The 202 mile path between WB4EZ and W4DEX was marginal again today.  KP2AE at 51 miles was also slightly weaker at W4DEX.  WB4EZ had activity to his north which was not heard at either KP2AE or W4DEX.  AB2UE checked in with also a bit weaker than average signal at W4DEX.  

As has been noted several times before when short distant paths are down the more distant paths have been better.  KGØVL did have some CW copy from W4DEX at 808 miles.  

Propagation out to 200 miles was good with very little QSB today.  At W4DEX WA4PGI was S5, WB4EZ S1, KP2AE S7 and KW4DE S9.  WA4PGI had equal signals from W4DEX and KW4DE with both running about 750 watts.  WB4EZ was copied by KP2AE, the most distant path of approximately 253 miles.  KGØVL was listening but did not hear any of the above over the ~800 mile path.  

Today WB4EZ's signal was weak but readable at W4DEX but the path seems to be better in the reverse direction.  WB4EZ was experiencing some freezing rain at his QTH so it's possible ice on his antenna was the reason for the signal difference.  KP2AE was the usual S8 at W4DEX.  KP2AE checked in after WB4EZ went QRT so there was no report on that path.  K4DBK was heard Q5 at both KP2AE and W4DEX but K4DBK did not appear to copy calls to him.  

W4RTT checked in on NetLogger from Covington, KY.  He was able to hear CW from W4DEX at 339 miles but W4DEX did not hear his SSB transmissions.  

KGØVL was on and several times heard weak carriers but did now hear any CW transmissions made by W4DEX.  AMBC station KGBB's carrier was at the noise level at W4DEX.

Good signals today out to about 250 miles.  The 202 mile path between WB4EZ and W4DEX was much better today than it has been recently.  Some QSB was noticed but signals averaged about S4.  The short path between KP2AE and W4DEX was good with KP2AE averaging S8 at W4DEX.  Even thought this is only a 51 mile path there has been times that SSB was unusable.  KP2AE also had good copy on WB4EZ at 250+ miles.

Propagation on the 808 mile path between KGØVL and W4DEX was poor.  After multiple CW transmission KGØVL was able to only copy a few letters of his call just after 1745UT.

Several times now when local propagation was good there was no or weak DX propagation.  And when local signal are down we experienced the best DX propagation.     

The 1700kc plot at W4DEX shows how the Des Moines AMBC station, KGBB, suddenly dropped into the noise at 1700UT. 

On today for the test was KP2AE, WA4PGI, KGØVL and W4DEX.  The path between KP2AE and W4DEX was about normal running S7 with little noticeable QSB.  Signals between WA4PGI and W4DEX were stable at about S5.  KP2AE also copied WA4PGI at S5.  

KGØVL had some CW copy on W4DEX and at times could hear some SSB so that path was slightly better the past few days.  KGØVL's CW was detectable at W4DEX but not copyable.

Only three participants today for the propagation test.  No signal was detected at KGØVL from several CW transmission by W4DEX.  WA4LDU was again S3, somewhat below a long term normal at W4DEX.  Also there was very noticeable fast QSB nulls on the path.  WB4EZ was heard in QSO with someone prior to 1730 UT by W4DEX.  WB4EZ was S2 and the other station was not heard at W4DEX. 

No sunspots:

Interesting solar activity info below form this URL:  http://sidc.oma.be/

INFO FROM SIDC - RWC BELGIUM 2019 Feb 17 12:30UTC

The solar activity has been quiet over the past 24 hours, with the X-ray
flux remaining below B-class level. The large plage region is still present
in the north-east quadrant of the solar disk with a filament observed
across it. Quiet conditions are expected to continue over the next 24
hours.

No Earth directed Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) have been detected in
coronagraph images. The greater than 10MeV proton flux remained at
background levels over the past 24 hours and is expected to remain so.

Over the last 24 hours the solar wind has continued to return to nominal
values, decreasing from approximately 390 to 320 km/s. The total magnetic
field strength fluctuated around 4 nT, while the Bz component fluctuated
between -4 and 2.5 nT. The phi angle was negative at the start of the
period but changed to become predominantly positive at 14:00 UT. The
ambient background solar wind conditions are expected to continue over the
next 24 hours. 

The geomagnetic conditions were quiet to unsettled over the last 24 hours,
with the Kp (NOAA) and the local K (Dourbes) indices ranging between 0-2
and 0-3, respectively. The geomagnetic conditions are expected to continue
to be quiet over the next 24 hours, with the possibility for unsettled
conditions from the 19th due to the influence of the positive polarity
coronal hole, which passed the central meridian on the 16th of February.

No significant change in the solar charts today and no significant change in local signals.  W4NUS at W4DEX averaged slightly lower than yesterday at S3.  Unlike yesterday when W4NUS's signal peaked S9 at times there was no noticeable QSB on the 24 mile path today.  WA4LDU was a steady S5 also with no QSB.  WB4EZ was weak but Q5 copy.  

K4DBK had a group on in the PA, MD and Northern VA area.  K4DBK was heard at W4DEX several times but no stronger than S1.  No other stations was heard in that area was heard.  

The real surprise considering the poor conditions was KGØVL in Iowa managed to copy W4DEX on CW at 808 miles.  Hardly QSO quality but detectable.  This shows the capability of a dedicated receive antenna at a low noise QTH.  Click the link below for a short audio file:
W4DEX at KGØVL

Mid day propagation still seems to be on a steady decline.  All present today reported signals down from what was considered normal several weeks ago.  Solar X-ray flux remains low although a bit higher than what is was several days ago. 

Stations on to day for the test was W2AZQ, W4NUS, KP2AE, WA4PGI, AD4HG, WB4EZ, AB2UE, WA4LDU, WB4WJC and W4DEX.  Signals from the three stations to the north of W4DEX seemed to average much lower than average than the more southerly stations.  WB4EZ was just barely S1, WA4PGI S4 and AD4HG S1.  W2AZQ and WA4LDU averaged S3.  KP2AE who is usually close to S9 was S6.  The closest to W4DEX was W4NUS at 24 miles who was S9.  Even though this is a short distance past test has shown the groundwave signal averages less than S5.  So this was the only path tested today where the skywave signal appears to have been greater than normal.

The solar X-ray flux was up slightly from the previous few days.  WA1AC was S5 with slight fades at W4DEX.  KP2AE was also S5 with less QSB detected.  KP2AE had good copy on WA1AC who was running 500 watts.  

WW8II on CW was heard by KP2AE and W4DEX but the copy was very poor.  It's suspected that WW8II is still operating from his Georgetown, GA QTH possible with 100 watts.  A partial CW QSO was made between WW8II and W4DEX.

Propagation today was noticeable down from what we experienced the past few days.  AD4HG who was a stable S2 at W4DEX yesterday was S1 at best with fades into the noise.  Also the WB4EZ / W4DEX path which was S2 yesterday would fade close to the noise at times.  WA4PGI was S2 at W4DEX occasionally dipping to marginal copy.  KW4DE and KP2AE was present and noticed about the same conditions.  

Analyzing the Advanced Composition Explorer Real Time Solar Wind charts and comparing the propagation difference we see each day may may be a clue to predicting what conditions to expect.  Just need someone smart enough to do that.  Anyone up for the task?

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/ace-real-time-solar-wind

Today we had WB4EZ, WA1ZC, AD4HG and W4DEX present.  AD4HG was operating his home station in Roanoke, VA remotely from Duck, NC on the Outer Banks.  His signal to W4DEX (141 miles) was stable at S2.  WB4EZ had partial copy on AD4HG.  WB4EZ was also S2 with a stable signal at W4DEX (202 miles).  WA1AC at 73 miles to W4DEX was the usual S8.  The WA1AC could detect WB4EZ's signal but no contact was made.  Also the same was noted on the WA1AC AD4HG path.

Space Weather Message Code: ALTEF3
Serial Number: 2909
Issue Time: 2019 Feb 11 1255 UTC
CONTINUED ALERT: Electron 2MeV Integral Flux exceeded 1000pfu
Continuation of Serial Number: 2908
Begin Time: 2019 Feb 01 2230 UTC
Yesterday Maximum 2MeV Flux: 2669 pfu

No significant change in propagation detected today.  Present today was W4NUS, K4CFZ, N3EIO, WA4PGI, KGØVL and W4DEX.  WA4PGI averaged S5 at W4DEX.  He was also copied well at K4CFZ and W4NUS.  Very deep QSB fades was noticed for the first time on the short 24 mile path between W4NUS and W4DEX.  This seems to indicate either one or both antennas at these locations are high angle radiators.  There is likely some ground wave on this short path but at times the signal must be skywave.

N3EIO was heard on CW by W4DEX but was very weak.  No contact was made.

No signal was detected at KGØVL after multiple CW calls were made by W4DEX .


Space Weather Message Code: ALTEF3 

Serial Number: 2908 Issue Time: 2019 Feb 10 1200 UTC 

CONTINUED ALERT: Electron 2MeV Integral Flux exceeded 1000pfu 

Continuation of Serial Number: 2907 

Begin Time: 2019 Feb 01 2230 UTC 

Yesterday Maximum 2MeV Flux: 3085 pfu

1700 kHz at W4DEX

Only WA4LDU, W4DEX and KGØVL were known to be on today for the test.  WA4LDU averaged S5 at W4DEX (103 miles) with a very stable signal.  KGØVL did detect CW from W4DEX (808 miles) but no signal was heard the other way.  The solar X-ray flux remains low but the solar wind speed was about 450 km/sec.

Space Weather Message Code: ALTEF3
Serial Number: 2907
Issue Time: 2019 Feb 09 1646 UTC
CONTINUED ALERT: Electron 2MeV Integral Flux exceeded 1000pfu
Continuation of Serial Number: 2906
Begin Time: 2019 Feb 01 2230 UTC
Yesterday Maximum 2MeV Flux: 3798 pfu

Solar X-ray flux still very low again today.  Propagation out to 200 miles was fairly good and stable but with a few more very deep slow QSB fades that was noticed yesterday.  WB4EZ (202 miles) was good copy at W4DEX but not as strong as yesterday and with one slow fade into the noise.  WA4LDU S6 at 103 miles and WA1AC was S8 at 73 miles.  The only ground wave signal was from KW4DE the usual S9 at 16 miles.  AB2UE was S3 at 56 miles.  

The KGØVL 808 mile path was again detectable on CW but not solid Q5 copy.

Deep QSB fades on the Huntsville AL 1700 kHz  today