Solar Cycle 24 has arrived but the benefits to amateur radio operators have not been so great. This is my first solar cycle and I have made some very nice contacts, so I’m not totally upset by the lack of conditions but I must admit, I am a bit disappointed.

Where are the conditions that the old timers have bragged about? You know, where the bands stay open for hours and hours upon a time. Just tune in on the 10 meter band and talk the world. I haven’t seen that yet.

I am left to wonder if we mortals fully understand how the solar cycle works. Just where are we in the Solar Cycle 24? Half way? Has it paused? Has it peaked? Or another very weak cycle?

Some questions remain unanswered, but in the meantime band conditions will improve when we least expect it, or at least we hope so. This is just the way nature works. So, instead of frowning, I guess this is a good time to get creative and build a better antenna. It looks as if the low bands are going to be the most popular place for HF action. The lower bands seem to be the most consistent during minimal propagation.

Some analysts have predicted that Solar Cycle 24 would be a very weak one. It is believed that the cycle began in 2008 and peaked in the spring of 2013. If this proves to be correct, this will have been the weakest cycle in 200 years.

And on the bright side of things, at least that Mayan prophecy thing didn’t happen! Cataclysmic events did not occur on December 21, 2012. We can at least be thankful for this. It wasn’t the end of the world.

Only a very disappointing year for ham radio operators. Life goes on. 73