 vk2yoc says: There has been quite a few sunspots over the last month or so, good news for us Ham Radio enthusiasts. This should also put an end to the predictions of an upcoming Ice Age. This is perhaps a silly question, but why is it good for HAM radios?  Hi tn, yes, it's been a while, been pretty busy, I still check out the clips from time to time. To answer your question, sunspots eject high energy particles that, when they collide with our upper atmosphere, create areas of charged particles that act like a mirror to radio waves on the high freqency (HF) and lower very high frequency (VHF) bands. So, a radio transmission from here, that would normally only be heard a couple of hundred klms from here, may bounce multiple times and end up being heard in, say, Sweden. This is often called "skip", like a stone across a pond. The more sunspots, the larger the charged areas, and the more reliable the skip. In a couple of years, when the suns... Aah, I see. How cool is that? Vladivostok, eh? When my Dad was alive, he was totally into amateur radios and got permission from the local council to put up an antenna on top of a 4-story building complex next to us, so he could reach farther. I never quite understood his passion, but he was THRILLED when he could get contact to other countries and he could chat for hours and hours with total strangers! (Hmm...kind of a prehistoric version of clipmarks of sorts, in a way. Oh well, like father, like daughter, I guess.  )Thanks for the explanation, vk2yoc. .  Sunspots don't negatively affect electronics here on earth? Sunspots as such, don't effect electronics on Earths surface, but large Solar flares that occur during periods of high sunspot activity, can and have, taken out electronics on board orbiting satellites. The Van Allen belts can provide some protection from charged particles emitted at such times. The Hubble telescope has it's sensors turned off when transiting areas of high radiation to prevent damage. Interestingly, there has been only one sunspot in the last couple of months, so the Sun is not yet back on track. Oh, okay. I was actually thinking solar storms, but I wasn't sure if that was correct. So they (?) were wrong about the sun getting back on track...are they making any more guesses? Very interesting, thanks for setting me straight. I was a little too brief in my earlier answer. Solar storms are the result of large solar flares emitting high energy radiation, which, upon reaching Earth, effects it's magnetic field and causes auroral effects at the poles, interferes with sensitive instruments, can induce higher currents in power lines, effect satellites and even aircraft. This has caused failures in power grids in Canada and Europe, and destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of satellites. There is some evidence that Earths biology is also effected. But as far as I know, everyday electronics are not directly effected. As for the Sun itself, way too early to tell, we don't know much about it yet, only enough ... |
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