Welcome to a new series that takes a look at a different HF band each month. In each column, I'll choose a band that I believe will offer beginners and newly-licensed amateurs good DX openings. I'll tell you a little about HF propagation and what you can expect to work or hear. Over the next few months we'll look at what some of the propagation forecast information means.rnAt this point in the solar cycle it is going to be tough to get the predictions right. We expect solar cycle 24 to kick off at any time. Solar Flux is a measure of the radio output from the sun at 2800MHz (10.7cm). This has been found to correlate quite well with the effect the sun's ultra violet output has on or ionosphere - the higher the solar flux, the higher the ionisation lever. At the time of writing, the solar flux was sitting stubbornly in the 65 - 70 zone, with no visible sunspots whatsoever. This is as low as the solar flux ever gets.
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