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A pair of sunspots are currently visible on the earth facing side of the sun. Sunspot 1054 which was numbered on Wednesday is located in the northern hemisphere. This region continues to show some growth. There is a chance for B-Class flares and perhaps a slight chance of a C-Class event. Another new sunspot also formed in the southern hemisphere and was off […]

A pair of sunspot groups have formed on the visible solar disk. A new region which is located in the northern hemisphere towards the eastern limb was numbered 1054 on Wednesday. Meanwhile in the southern hemisphere, a new region quickly formed during the later part of Wednesday and should be numbered 1055 on Thursday. There will be a chance for B-Class flare […]

Solar activity remains low. Sunspot 1046 and 1048 are both small and do not pose a chance for strong solar flares. The new region I reported on Tuesday evening has formed some sunspots as you can see in the image below. This region should be numbered 1049 on Wednesday. […]

Out of nowhere Sunspot 1046 produced a strong M8.3 Solar flare Friday morning which is now the largest flare of Cycle 24. An R2 Radio Blackout did take place. The image is below and more updates to follow. […]

Solar Update - Solar activity has been moderate the past 24 hours with several M-Class flares taking place. The largest of which was an M4 event at 07:43 UTC Monday. Sunspot 1045 remains an impressive sunspot cluster with a magnetic beta-gamma-delta configuration, but it now looks like it may be starting to thin out somewhat. There will remain the chance for […]

Largest Flare of Cycle 24 - Three M-Flares including an M6.4 have taken place around Sunspot 1045. The flare at 03:19 UTC Sunday is the largest solar flare of Cycle 24 thus far. Any earth directed explosions could trigger geomagnetic storming. The latest blast did trigger a R2 Radio blackout. […]

Sunspots are now starting to pop up in many areas on the visible solar disk. There is probably another sunspot hiding on the eastern limb as well. Sunspot 1043 remains a single sunspot. New Sunspot 1044 which formed just below 1043 has vanished for the time being. A few new sunspots formed on Friday evening. Click on the image below. There will be a small (3 […]

Sunspot 1043 which formed on Saturday has been fairly quiet. It has produced some B-Class flares and there will be a slight chance of a C-Class flare. […]

Solar activity has been very low the past 24 hours. Sunspot 1042 in the north is approaching the western limb. Sunspot 1041 in the south has been quiet as well. There will continue to be a chance for B-Class flares and perhaps a C-Class flare. […]

The new sunspot that formed in the northern hemisphere Friday morning was numbered 1042. It did show some growth during the day. Sunspot 1041 in the southern hemisphere has produced B-Class flare activity. There will remain a chance for C-Class flares and a slight chance for an M-Class event. […]

In one of my earlier posts I had some information on the relationship between vertical height and optimum radial lengths. That information was buried in a larger document discussing several other items an was not that easy to find, so... […]

I recently sent the attached letter to the editor of QEX. It may answer some questions and correct some incorrect figure captions: Download QEX letter to the editor 1 […]

Last year I posted results from a series of experiments on ground systems for vertical antennas. That series of reports was converted, with some modifications, into a series fo seven articles in QEX magazine. As of the Jan/Feb 2010 issue... […]

Last August the FCC renewed and expanded the license for the 600m experimental group so for this new season I have rebuilt my antenna and completely redone the station. The following is a description of the current antenna and station... […]

Earlier this year I posted a description of a simple clamp-on RF current transformer. Since that time I have updated the design with a much larger ID and the core held in a spring-clamp that allows easy on/off in the... […]

Earlier I posted a report on the work done last October on the 80m 4-square at NK7U. After that work there were still many unanswered questions so I and W2VJN went back to NK7U at the end of May to... […]

It's well known that a nearby tower can affect the performance of a vertical array but I haven't seen any articles which give an actual example. Last fall I made such measurements on an 80m 4-square which clearly show just... […]

Interaction between a vertical and a nearby tower can be a very real concern. I have done a short NEC modeling study on the subject which sheds some light on the subject. It's far from complete and I will no... […]

I mentioned on the towertalk reflector that I had been trying to make accurate measurements of resonance in grounded towers with large antennas systems on them. A number of people asked for the details. So here they are: Download Some... […]

I just realized that my weblog was open for comments. I thought I had it closed so I have not been reading any of your comments. Please send comments to n6lf@arrl.net […]