We had a huge X class flare (largest) hit the earth causing a radio blackout. First time since 2017 a flare that large. Unlike some eruptions that take a few days to reach earth, the huge flare was spotted by satellites immediately and took only 8 minutes to reach earth. The blackout took out most of North America all the Atlantic and Western Europe and Africa.
“In the past strong flares and CMEs have produced widespread power outages and communications blackouts. There is some concern that we are overdue for a catastrophic solar storm which could do unprecedented damage to power grids on the ground and the record number of satellites now in orbit, potentially crippling systems on the ground that rely on satellite communications.” Forbes 7/3/2021
Hams are talking about how they thought radios went dead or antennas fell down since all of a sudden strong signals and entire bands disappeared. GPS was probably interrupted but was mostly on HF so probably did not wipe out police/fire radios on higher UHF frequencies less affected by Solar activities.
I was talking to lots of strong stations in Europe until about 4 AM MST before the flare. Worldwide propagation has been good with rising solar cycle 25 and flux index getting into the 90s making the ionosphere more electron-dense so easier to bounce signals off it often going 3000 km or more.
The flare only lasted 30-60 min and now mostly back to normal
Forbes just reported it as potentially causing power grid interruptions etc
“All this means it’s worth heeding Phillips’ warning that stronger flares are likely on the way in the coming months.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericma...lare-just-slammed-into-earth/?sh=69e9ef1a483c
Dave WØJKT
“In the past strong flares and CMEs have produced widespread power outages and communications blackouts. There is some concern that we are overdue for a catastrophic solar storm which could do unprecedented damage to power grids on the ground and the record number of satellites now in orbit, potentially crippling systems on the ground that rely on satellite communications.” Forbes 7/3/2021
Hams are talking about how they thought radios went dead or antennas fell down since all of a sudden strong signals and entire bands disappeared. GPS was probably interrupted but was mostly on HF so probably did not wipe out police/fire radios on higher UHF frequencies less affected by Solar activities.
I was talking to lots of strong stations in Europe until about 4 AM MST before the flare. Worldwide propagation has been good with rising solar cycle 25 and flux index getting into the 90s making the ionosphere more electron-dense so easier to bounce signals off it often going 3000 km or more.
The flare only lasted 30-60 min and now mostly back to normal
Forbes just reported it as potentially causing power grid interruptions etc
“All this means it’s worth heeding Phillips’ warning that stronger flares are likely on the way in the coming months.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericma...lare-just-slammed-into-earth/?sh=69e9ef1a483c
Dave WØJKT
