The map of FT8 signals heard on the 28 MHz band on Wednesday the 8th of September 2021 bears this out. There were relatively few Sporadic-E signals from around Europe but there were some nice DX signals coming through.
While normally DX signals on 28 MHz are often buried in the noise, I could actually hear the signal from 5B4AMX in Cyprus by ear. I had no doubt that this was via F2 propagation and not some sort of double hop Sporadic-E. Interesting to see that FR4NT on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean also made it through.
In the evening, FT8 signals from South America and the Caribbean were decoded. J69DS on St Lucia was there until 22:05 UTC which is about 3 hours after my sunset.
Rising Solar Flux... On the 8th of September, the Solar Flux was at 100 which was well above the 73 of a month ago. The chart below shows how the Solar Flux is increasing while we are coming out of the low point of the sunspot cycle.
Back in Sept of 2019, we were in the high 60's. By Sept 2020, it was in the low 70's. We'll have to wait and see what the average is for Sept 2021 but the fact it is up around 100 now is a sure sign of more activity on the sun.
It's very likely that the last few months of 2021 will be pretty good on 28 MHz for those using FT8 and chasing DX. And if 28 MHz is open, the lower HF bands will be open as well.
The main thing to remember is that it's only September and it's only starting. Expect to see a lot of activity on the band between now and the end of the year.
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