The average daily sunspot numbers this week were about the same as last week, while the average daily solar flux declined a little more than eight points to 128.9. Geomagnetic indicators were quiet. The average daily sunspot numbers of 95.3 for the week is considerably below the average for the previous 90 days, which was 120.8. Sunspot numbers for December 15-21 were 44, 60, 95, 103, 133, 139 and 93, with a mean of 95.3. The 10.7 cm flux was 124.2, 121, 119.6, 127.4, 128.2, 137.4 and 144.5, with a mean of 128.9. The estimated planetary A indices were 0, 0, 0, 1, 4, 3 and 3, with a mean of 1.6. The estimated mid-latitude A indices were 2, 2, 2, 3, 6, 5 and 5, with a mean of 3.6.
The solar flux has been climbing over the past week, after a low of 119.6 on December 17. The predicted flux values for the near term are 145 on December 23, 140 on December 24-27, 145 on December 28-30, then dropping suddenly to 120 on December 31-January 2, 125 on January 3-4, 128 on January 5-8, and then peaking at 130 on January 9-17. The predicted planetary A index is 5 on December 23 through January 4, 8 on January 5-6, and 5 on January 7-21. This is from NOAA and the U.S. Air Force Space Weather Operations. There is another opinion, of course: Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet conditions December 23, quiet to unsettled December 24, active conditions December 25, unsettled to active December 26, quiet to unsettled December 27 and quiet again on December 28-29.
Active conditions are quite different from an A index of 5, although the NOAA/USAF outlook is at least eight hours newer than the Prague prediction. But looking back 24 hours earlier to the December 21 prediction, USAF/NOAA has nothing different on December 25, although they do show an A index of 8 on December 29. You can check here for the latest prediction, which is updated daily after 2100.
Amateur Radio ARRL ARRL Amends Petition to Deny to Include 16 Additional Recon Scout Applications
Loyd C. Headrick Published Date Hits: 197
Category: ARRL
On August 16, ReconRobotics -- in response to the ARRL’s Petition to Deny Applications, filed with the FCC on August 4 -- filed an Opposition to Petition to Deny with the FCC, arguing that the ARRL’s Petition is “frivolous.” The ARRL’s Petition asked the FCC to deny 68 pending Public Safety Pool license applications associated with the ReconRobotics Video and Audio Surveillance System, specifically the Recon Scout device.
Calling the “frivolous” contention “somewhat amusing, given what the FCC had done three days earlier,” ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, pointed out that on August 13, the FCC returned the first application -- submitted by the City of Salina, Kansas. The Salina Police Department had asked the FCC for a waiver to operate the Recon Scout in the band 433-445 MHz. The FCC returned the waiver request to Salina, noting that the frequency band requested was not consistent with the waiver Order (Docket 08-63/DA-291) which requires that the first unit licensed to an eligible entity operate in the band 436-442 MHz. “We expect that the application will be corrected and resubmitted,” Sumner said, “but it is encouraging to see that the FCC agrees with us that the applications -- this and all of the subsequent ones filed -- are defective in this respect.”
The ARRL’s Petition noted these and other incorrect technical parameters in each filed application, stemming from errors in the grant of equipment authorization for the ReconRobotics device, as well as inconsistencies between the applications and the FCC waiver grant for the device in Docket 08-63. Since the August 4 filing, the ARRL has noted another 16 applications have been filed with the FCC, requesting a waiver to be able to use the Recon Scout in the incorrect frequency band. On August 17 the ARRL amended its original Petition to Deny Applications to include these 16 additional applications.