"D. Travis" wrote in message
...

Around the low bands so 80 and 40 it seems barely to plough through..
No sunspots or what ?
What prediction sites is relighable ?
Have you heard the event on the magnethosphere ? I have.

Few sunspots this year. http://www.hamradioresources.com/hamradio is one
possibility for a prediction site. The "Space Weather" link, second box
from the left, is relevant. See the tutorial, too.

Also, the following is quoted from "The ARRL Letter":

quote
For more information concerning radio propagation,
visit the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. To read this week's
Solar Report in its entirety, check out the W1AW Propagation Bulletin
page http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/.
end quote

Don't know what "event" you heard. Details? Web link?

I don't do much 160 except for local chitchat. (I'm in SoCal.)
80 has been hopping. Quite a bit of long skip, including coast-to-coast
action and Europe from the East Coast, I hear. Running power is a big help,
more so than the higher bands, I think.
40 seems to be in the doldrums.
20 has occasional good days. I heard Alaska working Alabama today. During
most days, 800 - 1200 mile paths are common for me. Lately around sunset 20
has been going off like it's being switched off, quite different from last
summer.
I don't have a decent antenna for 15.
10 might as well be on Mars lately, although some folks claim to have
enjoyed openings. Not me, not lately.

I hope this helps.