Cycle 24 Screenshot Project | 12 May 2012

Good afternoon from the shackadelic after the latest of solar storms to pummel our ionosphere. It was a enough to cause radio blackouts on a planetary scale and, only now, is our vital natural resource returning to stability. I'm noting that radio blackout recovery is first taking shape on 20m with 15 and 10m reaching tepid signal density levels.

Likewise, the current sunspot count continues rising (102) while the A-index declines to favorable high frequency levels with a slight uptick in the K-index. However, recovery after the storm, may stretch through the remainder of the weekend, potentially moving operators to the magic band? The current 6m signal density pattern is not promising anywhere on the planet according to DX Sherlock 2.3 map visualization.

Additionally, #hamr Twitter band reports are down at the moment, although the terminator has not approached the eastern seaboard of North America. In contrast, I heard a Papa Yankee 2 (PY2) Brazil and a Zulu Lima 3 (ZL3) New Zealand on 10m a few minutes ago, that's promising when considering my antenna farm.

We are out of the radio blackout and the ionosphere is slowly recovering from the latest storm to strike our planet. A north-to-south and west-to-east path on 10m from the central coast of California speaks well of improved terrestrial conditions at shackadelic.

Definition
According to the Glossary of Solar-Terrestrial Terms Bz is defined as, "A measure of North/South orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field measured perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. When Bz is southward, or antiparallel to the Earth's magnetic field, geomagnetic disturbances become much more severe than when Bz is northward."

Stay thirsty for DX my friends.

P.S. My Amateur Extra class license arrived in the mail however I'm looking to log my first station using my improved privileges.