Since the solar cycle is "on the way down" I thought I would ask...

[guitar_199]

To those with lots of experience who have stayed "active" through all the years.........

When the solar cycles hit "rock bottom"........ does 11m do anything at all??? Ever???? Or is it "flat dead"!!!!!!!!!!

I was just sitting here thinking about antenna topics and one of them is NVIS (near vertical incident skywave).
This tends to happen when antennas are mounted "closer to the ground than is normally ideal"! Apparently ... closer
proximity to the ground causes the wave to take off at an angle MUCH closer to straight up...... which causes a "skip" to come down
in a closer radius. Or does THAT KIND of reflection go away during solar lows?????

Just kind of curious about this and thought I would ask....

Bob

 

[Rick330man]

NVIS generally works from 1.8MHz to 10MHz. I'm not aware of anyone every having had any luck with it on 11 meters/CB.

 

[BC Coyote]

When the solar cycles hit "rock bottom"........ does 11m do anything at all??? Ever???? Or is it "flat dead"!!!!!!!!!!

I've been on and off 11 meters from western Canada for over 40 years now. While there is way way way less happening during the bottom of the cycle I don't remember the band ever being completely dead for more than a week or two....maybe a month at most.
There's no F2 skip to speak of during these periods, but E-skip can still be active during the bottom of the cycle, as can both TEP and aurora skip. It'll be dead for days in a row and then there'll be some little opening to somewhere for a while, then it dies again.
From out here on the far west coast places like California, Hawaii, and Australia can all be heard (and talked to) during the dead part of the solar cycle.......just nowhere near as often as during the more active parts of the cycle.

One thing I will say, is that having a great location and a REALLY GOOD ANTENNA matters big time during the bottom of the cycle. When the cycle is at its peak you can work the world on a wet noodle and a few watts. At the bottom of the cycle skip is marginal when it does happen...... so having the equipment, location and antenna to take advantage of it is paramount.

If you live in an urban area, or in the bottom of a valley, or have 5 S units of noise all the time, or use an inside antenna, then forget about it and put the radio away for the next six or seven years. If you're out in a rural area with low noise and a big antenna you will still be able to work skip, at least occasionally.

And regarding NVIS.....that only works on frequencies below 10 MHz or so. Not much use on 11 meters!