Two Websites That Help Show Band Conditions
9:30am Sunday
WB9LYH referenced a large red area over Texas in his net report from 4/18/18. He must have been looking at the real-time APRS band conditions map.
I haven’t posted this info in a while so with spring here, it’s time.
Here are two websites that can help you stay on top of potential band enhancement:
1) http://aprs.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ It’s not a perfect indicator. It sometimes has false openings, and it’s even more important to remember that 2m SSB/CW has a standard range of 200-400+ miles under flat band conditions. So even if you’re seeing little or no color in your area, you can still make good contacts. The point is to not fall into the habit of only trying when that map looks good. You will miss little mini-openings that pop up under the radar, so to speak. But when there is a major band opening, it will be reflected by brighter colors, usually over a wider area.
2) http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html This site attempts to predict band openings for days in advance. Like weather forecasters, the forecasts here are not always accurate. But I still feel the Hepburn site has value. It’s very seldom that a major, widespread tropo event doesn’t show up here, a few days in advance. Plus, I’m a lifelong weather geek, so I like “keeping up with the forecasts”. This site updates in the early afternoon.
I should note that I haven’t been on the air since 2014. I still update kc9bqa.com but I may have fallen behind on the latest and greatest resources. I did check to make sure that both of these websites are still alive and well.