The planet took a beating about ten days ago from Sunspot 2371, which produced one of the larger geomagnetic disturbances of the Cycle 24 when the CME hit the earth around noon local time on June 22. This event and several others had D-Layer absorption at record levels (the absorption at 15-meters was 35 dB at one point), and produced a G4 level geomagnetic storm.
Fortunately, things calmed down a bit for Field Day, and the SFI remained just above 100, with 20-meters open the entire time. Sadly, 15 and 10-meters were pretty much no-shows this year. With the SFI under 100, and the half-way point of the year reached, its time to look at the my goals for 2015: 
With QSL cards in hand today, I’m sitting at 239 Mixed, and 1122 Challenge points (I hope to travel to ARRL HQ this month to have the cards checked). At the end of 2014, I had 218 Mixed countries confirmed, and 954 Challenge points.
Three of my year-end goals remain:
- Complete firmware for satellite tracker (maybe 20% of the way there)
- Hold two ham radio classes (I’ve completed one and have another scheduled in Sept)
- Participate in four VE sessions (I’ve completed two)
