RSGB
RadCom Assistant Editor | November 6, 2026 Compiled by G0KYA, G4BAO and G3YLA on Thursday, 5 November 2026
As we settle into autumn, the HF bands are really coming alive.
Ten metres has proved to be full of surprises, especially with FT8.
Although we are not getting the high solar flux indices of previous years, that hasn’t stopped 28MHz from opening up to DX from around the world.
Late afternoon has brought in plenty of FT8 signals from the Southern Hemisphere on 28.074MHz, including from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador.
Look around sunset or just before and see what you can work.
A solar flux of around 110, helped by good, quiet geomagnetic conditions, has been enough to open up the 10m band, although weak signal modes seem to be favourite.
There were other surprises to be had lower down in frequency, including Franco, 3A2MW in Monaco, on 30m FT8. That’s not a million miles away but still rare DX from this tiny principality, which occupies only one square mile.
Franco uses 100W maximum, stealth antennas and has poor HF take-off due to the terrain.
NOAA forecasts that the Solar Flux Index may climb to 120 before backing off to 105 as the week progresses.
A very large coronal hole on the solar equator threatens to push the Kp index up to four this weekend. In fact, poor geomagnetic conditions are predicted for the first half of next week overall.
North-south paths will probably be less affected than polar ones so don’t let the higher Kp index put you off trying.
VHF and up propagation news:
Compiled by G3YLA and G4BAO
The recent period of Tropo has gone through its decaying phase as of last Thursday, 5 November and the pressure was falling slowly as the week closed.
Perhaps the high may linger a while over northern UK as we start the new week but eventually low pressure will take back control over the whole country.
The unsettled theme brings a chance of rain scatter on the GHz bands.
On that note, there are hints of a cold northerly at the end of next week, which could see wintry weather in the north, but also large cumulonimbus shower clouds rolling down the North Sea.
Meteor scatter is still in the frame from last week’s Taurids meteor shower and by the end of next week, we will be close to the Orionids peak.
The Kp index has been fairly restrained recently but a coronal hole may increase the chances of aurora over this weekend.
Look for the Kp index going above five and listen for flutter on the HF bands.
EME now, and the Moon’s declination is negative again and path losses are rising. The Moon will be visible for a shorter time, and its peak elevation falls as we approach minimum declination on Thursday, 12 November and apogee on Friday, 13 November.
144MHz sky noise is low to moderate, but Monday sees the Sun and Moon close in the sky for the whole Moon pass, followed by high noise for the rest of the week.
https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/propagation-news/2026/11/06/propagation-news-08-november-2026/
(Mike Terry, UK/BDXC)
