No sunspots were visible on January 1-2 and none on January 4-11, although a spot is just rotating into view today. Our reporting week is January 5-11, so the average daily sunspot number for that period was zero. For a look at recent sunspot numbers, check ftp://ftp.swpc.noaa.gov/pub/indices/DSD.txt and note the many zeroes.

Average daily solar flux this week was 72.5, down from 73.1 the week before. Average planetary A index rose 5 points to 14.3, while average mid-latitude A index increased from 6.3 to 10.6.

Predicted solar flux is 80 and 82 on January 13-14, 85 on January 15-19, 76 on January 20-25, 74 on January 26-28, 73 on January 29 through February 1, 72 on February 2-7, 74 on February 8, and 76 on February 9-21.

Predicted planetary A index is 8 on January 13-14, 5 on January 15, 10 on January 16, 20 on January 17-19, 18 on January 20, 20 on January 21-22, 10 on January 23, 5 on January 24-26, then 12, 15, 7, 10 and 12 on January 27-31, then 16, 18, 20, 16, 12 and 5 on February 1-6, then 12, 15, 10 and 8 on February 7-10, 5 on February 11-12, then 25, 20, 25 and 18 on February 13-16, and 20 on February 17-18.

This from Sky & Telescope regarding our spotless sun: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/the-spotless-sun/

And, another: https://www.sott.net/article/339435-Sunspots-vanish-space-weather-continues

From Jon Jones, N0JK: “Good sporadic E on 6 meters January 8, 9 and 10th, 2017.

“Best probably day so far January 9, 6 meters was open from coast to coast with some double hop Es worked from the west coast to 8 land confirmed by this spot:

“W6XK       17/01/09 1958Z  50276.0 EN81LI CM97 Copied in OH      N8EHW

“K7JA DM03 notes 10 hours of Sporadic-E on 6 meters on January 9. December 2016 was quite poor, so I’m not sure yet why January, 2017 is so much better, but will roll with it.

“I worked AI1K in DM34 and KA7JOI in DM54 with just a 10 W SSB with an MFJ-9406 and a mag mount whip antenna on the car from the Kansas City VA Hospital parking lot during a short break from work at 1850 UTC on January 9. Both stations were very strong via Sporadic-E on 6 meters. KA7JOI was so loud he sounded like was just a few cars away! K5SW observed that January 9 was ‘like summer E-skip on 6.’"

NASA released an update on the current solar cycle: https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml

From OK1HH, F.K. Janda on Thursday, January 12:

"Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period January 13 to February 8, 2017:

"Geomagnetic field will be:

"Quiet on January 16, 26

"Mostly quiet on January 13, 24-25

"Quiet to unsettled on January 14-15, 23, 29, 31, February 5

"Quiet to active on January 17, 20, 22, 27, 30, February 3-4, 6, 8

"Active to disturbed on January 18-19, 21, 28, February 1-2, 7

"Amplifications of the solar wind from coronal holes are expected on January 18-20, (21-24,) 26, (31,) February (1-5,) 6-7

"Remark:

"- Parenthesis means lower probability of activity enhancement.

"- Observed indicia of upcoming MAJOR CHANGES in solar activity!

"... Therefore, the current forecast is less reliable ...

"Beware of paraskavedekatriaphobia tomorrow!"

I am particularly pleased to see the OK1HH warning about paraskavedekatriaphobia, something we don’t hear much about anymore. In case you are wondering that paraskavedekatriaphobia might be, it is fear of Friday the 13th!

For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals. For an explanation of numbers used in this bulletin, see http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere.

In archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation. More good information and tutorials on propagation are at http://k9la.us/.

Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at http://arrl.org/propagation.

Instructions for starting or ending email distribution of ARRL bulletins are at http://arrl.org/bulletins.

Sunspot numbers for January 5 through 11, 2017 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, and 0, with a mean of 0. 10.7 cm flux was 73.3, 72, 72, 71.5, 71.2, 72.7, and 74.5, with a mean of 72.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 18, 16, 20, 16, 12, 10, and 8, with a mean of 14.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 15, 14, 14, 11, 8, 5, and 7, with a mean of 10.6.