Poor conditions on 28 MHz... Thurs 1st Nov 2018

Over the last week to 10 days, there has been a dramatic drop in the conditions on 28 MHz. The FT8 signals that I heard on Thurs 1st Nov 2018 are shown in the map. Most of the European signals are probably weak Sporadic-E.

And today wasn't exceptional, it's been very poor every day for the last week. I thought it might have been due to the CQWW contest last weekend but no, conditions are awful.

Contrast that to say the 15th of October 2018 when South America, Africa and the Indian Ocean was heard.

On more than one occasion, I checked my antenna to make sure it was working ok and it was.

It's almost as if it has gone from Is this really the sunspot minimum? to This really is the sunspot minimum!

The solar flux is currently at 68 which is more or less rock bottom.

Will it pick up again or will it stay flat as we move away from the equinox?