Last year about this time and my location, I had zero DX RX or TX at all for 23 days. People thought I was lying or doing something wrong, it was my antenna, my radio, my location or maybe the moon. Then one day, BAM, skip was back like it never left. People in the region around me were getting some skip through this whole time, which I only found out slowly over time and by meeting them on chats or in forums.
This year, almost the same thing, but about 2 months later in the year and not so severe. It will go for 1 to 5 days of zero reception and no transmit, then over an hours time it will fade in and I can log maybe 5 to 10 contacts from Texas around to New York. [I live in Wisconsin along the Mississippi River valley] Two or three hours later it fades out and that's it for another day or 3.
The spring swing does not explain this. I normally have California in the afternoon and EU or Florida in the morning and SA in the afternoon. Common enough to have logged over 3000 contacts during the rest of the year. So it's not the rig or antenna.
So here is my theory. I live in a narrow canyon that cuts down from the surrounding table land along the bluffs of the upper Mississippi. That is about 700 feet higher than me. The canyon is maybe a half mile wide. to the wast it is open down to the river, but generally speaking, I am in a topographical hole. Still, I get out cause I have concentrated on Vertical takeoff antennas that work very well most of the time.
The only thing different from my location and say a similar location in Missouri or Tennessee is, I sit over one of the earths largest iron ore deposits and I am on the 44th latitude. The 44th latitude ensures that I will have more static and HF disruption during geomagnetic storms than say, people in Florida have on the same day and geo storm. There are plenty of other people living on my latitude that still are able to get out fine. But they do not have this iron ore under them that goes out 200 to 300 miles in all directions.
So what do you think? Geo magnetic storm, fluctuating lines of earths magnetic field, over a huge deposit of rich iron ore. Can it affect HF radio propagation that much?
This year, almost the same thing, but about 2 months later in the year and not so severe. It will go for 1 to 5 days of zero reception and no transmit, then over an hours time it will fade in and I can log maybe 5 to 10 contacts from Texas around to New York. [I live in Wisconsin along the Mississippi River valley] Two or three hours later it fades out and that's it for another day or 3.
The spring swing does not explain this. I normally have California in the afternoon and EU or Florida in the morning and SA in the afternoon. Common enough to have logged over 3000 contacts during the rest of the year. So it's not the rig or antenna.
So here is my theory. I live in a narrow canyon that cuts down from the surrounding table land along the bluffs of the upper Mississippi. That is about 700 feet higher than me. The canyon is maybe a half mile wide. to the wast it is open down to the river, but generally speaking, I am in a topographical hole. Still, I get out cause I have concentrated on Vertical takeoff antennas that work very well most of the time.
The only thing different from my location and say a similar location in Missouri or Tennessee is, I sit over one of the earths largest iron ore deposits and I am on the 44th latitude. The 44th latitude ensures that I will have more static and HF disruption during geomagnetic storms than say, people in Florida have on the same day and geo storm. There are plenty of other people living on my latitude that still are able to get out fine. But they do not have this iron ore under them that goes out 200 to 300 miles in all directions.
So what do you think? Geo magnetic storm, fluctuating lines of earths magnetic field, over a huge deposit of rich iron ore. Can it affect HF radio propagation that much?
