Want to Work 6, 10 or 12 Meters But No Sunspots? Don’t Miss Your Chance with Summer E Skip and FT8.

You may have heard the doom and gloom about being in the depths of the 11 Year Sunspot Cycle:

• “No propagation above 20 Meters”
• “Ten is dead!”
• “Might as well sell the radio”
• “The sun will never return”
• “It’s 80 & 160 Meters only for the next few years”
• “#$@&%*!”

Well, the idea to concentrate on 160 and 80 Meters is a good idea, but not until late
fall or winter. In the meantime, there is a way to make contacts on 6, 10 or 12 Meters
most days of the week by taking advantage of the summer enhanced E Skip season
and the new mode of FT8.

Typically during high sunspot activity (solar flux) ionization of the F layer of the
atmosphere facilitates refraction of signals on higher HF bands allowing
worldwide communications. The E layer is below the F layer and is responsible
for a propagation type known to abnormally effect VHF and higher HF frequencies
called Sporadic E or E skip.  This happens went ionized particles appear in the
E layer of the ionosphere. Sporadic E as the name implies occurs sporadically
throughout the year and is not dependent on 11-year sunspot cycle.
In the Northern hemisphere, sporadic E activities are more frequent during the
summer months.

The lower height of the E layer results in shorter skips than the F layer.
During sporadic E events, the E layer becomes heavily ionized in specific
small thin areas, sometimes called clouds.  This can last a few minutes or
up to several hours. The effect is normally more pronounced with lower frequencies.
The short duration of this type of propagation can mean openings can easily be
missed so frequent monitoring of bands is important. Fortunately, in this internet age,
there are, of course, websites that can predict or at least define sporadic E,
DXMaps.com has maps similar to the one below.

Another good way to monitor activity, especially with FT8 contacts is PSK Reporter.

Speaking of FT8, it is a great way to maximize your number of contacts during the
sometimes marginal propagation characteristics of Sporadic E. For information on
FT8 visit www.k8zt.com/digital. Sporadic E is available for all license classes as Technicians
have privileges for all modes on 6 Meters and voice and CW on 10 Meters (FT8 is
not yet included for Techs on 10 M).

The table below shows contacts made at K8ZT during the months of May through
August of 2018 and May to mid-June of 2019 with a power output of 5 watts.
The antenna was a 3 element beam at 50 feet.