Propagation

(screen shot)

Forhold på de forskjellige bånd v.h.a. innholdet i denne boksen.

You will notice first off, it states «HF Propagation»: (meaning 160 thru 10 meters)
Next the date and UTC time, then:
Solar Flux and a number beside it.
K Index and a number beside it.
Sunspots and a number beside it.
«Conditions» forecast and a word or two in the right column.
_ signs means stable or no change.
Arrows beside the numbers pointing up or down mean change in the respective direction.

So what do those numbers mean to me?

Look again at the numbers in the box above then compare them below.

Solar Flux  [ HIGH is GOOD ]
70 NOT GOOD
80 GOOD
90 BETTER
100+ BEST
Higher Solar Flux generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; Solar Flux rarely affects the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.
Represents the overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere (?Ap? if averaged from the Kp-Index) (an average of the eight 3-hour K-Indices) (?A? referring to amplitude) over a given 24 hour period, ranging (linearly) typically from 1-100 but theoretically up to 400.

A Index [ LOW is GOOD ]
1 to 6 is BEST
7 to 9 is OK
11 or more is BAD
A lower A-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Ap-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

K index [ LOW is GOOD ]
0 or 1 is BEST
2 is OK
3 or more is BAD
5 is VERY VERY BAD
The overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere (?Kp? if averaged over the planet) over the past 3 hours, measured by 13 magnetometers between 46 & 63 degrees of latitude, and ranging quasi-logarithmically from 0-9. Designed to detect solar particle radiation by its magnetic effect. A higher K-index generally means worse HF conditions.

A lower K-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Kp-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

Next is «Conditions» with frequency ranges on the left and the «condition» of those frequencies on the right :
< 10Mhz (Means less than 10Mhz in frequency
The other two frequency ranges are self explained.

So the most important part of the propagation forecast box above is the «Conditions» section if you don’t wish to refer to those «numbers».