What a better way to start a new year in radio than looking at the latest revision to the prediction for Solar Cycle 24 coming from NASA. The quick summary is that the location of the peak has been moved to the beginning of 2013 (it was the middle of 2013). That’s bad news saying we are within a year of the peak and only have sunspot numbers running around 70-90 at the moment. The good news (?) is the maximum has been revised upward based on high solar activity seen earlier in 2011.
The bottom line is we have about 3 years of decent propagation left in Cycle 24. By the time 2016 rolls around things will be pretty bad for the HF bands.
NASA Prediction for Solar Cycle 24
