Solar Flare Headed Our Way

[Pexster]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/1...are/index.html

This could have a huge impact on us. As a ham radio operator, I'm excited to see what happens.

[John Prophet]

better call Bruce Willis!

[Creatures]

haha sounds cool! i always love things that cant be stopped by anyone

Creatures

[sao95]

aurora lights would be extra bright then wouldn't they? as there would be more of the charged ions than normal from the blast that would make their way into the belts.... sounds reasonable anyways

[Sweeper]

looks freaky enough... just love there description:

"The eruption was positioned perfectly. It's headed straight for us like a freight train," said John Kohl, a Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics scientist, in a statement. "A major geomagnetic storm is bound to happen."

Cool, time to break out the old shortwave.

[Pexster]

Keep in mind that these things have a double edge. Solar activity is good as it activates different layers of the ionosphere, but can also mess up geomagnetic conditions and ruin everything.

As an example, last Friday's flair enabled me to work Africa from San Diego on 10 meters (28 MHz), but on Sunday I couldn't hear anything at all!

So if you have the ol' short wave out, keep checking over the next several days.

[Knothead]

What effects can we expect from this storm? I mean, apart from radio interference, do you guys think this'll have any effect on the average Joe and Jane? Just curious.

So if you have the ol' short wave out, keep checking over the next several days.

Yeap, I know about solar activity. I have been listening to shortwave for several years. I get to dig out the dipole in the morning, as I have no room for my multi-band long-wire here in FL.

I actually have various 10-meter HF equipment collecting dust in storage, but I can't ever seem to find the free time to take the test. Could be I have a seething hatred for CW (morse code) as well.

What effects can we expect from this storm?

Probably nothing overly major, as most equipment is well shielded these days. Satellite TV and telecommunications grids may be interrupted. Some experts are warning about electrical grid failures, but I would be surprised if this class of plasma emission could lead to such a problem.

Robert Richmond

[Knothead]

Darn. I was hoping somebody would say something like, "You can expect really wild lightshows, huge waves (whoo-hoo! ) and all shadows will be orange instead of gray!"

Anybody?