Space Storm Headed to Earth (tomorrow)

[Toedancer]

The storm is expected to generate aurora or Northern Lights, as far south as the northern United States Thursday night. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are not expected to be put at additional risk, Kunches said.

Radio communications, satellites and power grids could face potential interruptions or damage, however.

Solar flares send radiation to Earth within minutes. Some are also accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CME), clouds of charged particles that arrive in a day or two. This flare unleashed a strong CME that's aimed squarely at Earth.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 ... storm.html

I'm gonna wear sunblock.

[Holly Stick]

For the long term, scientists don't agree on predictions about the next sunspot cycle.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/12/13/tech-sunspot.html

I remember a Ray Bradbury story where sunspots stopped all TV from working; so everybody started fixing up their houses, visiting with their neighbours and generally making life better.

[radiorahim]

I remember a Ray Bradbury story where sunspots stopped all TV from working; so everybody started fixing up their houses, visiting with their neighbours and generally making life better.

As a ham radio operator the sunspot cycle and space weather in general is something that I pay attention to much more than the average person.

The topic came up on another board...and I've posted over there (just so that I don't repeat  myself here)

http://www.enmasse.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6227

Anyway as the solar storm "hit" I heard many of my fellow ham radio operators bouncing signals off the auroral "curtain" using "low VHF" band radio.   Even jumped in myself and said a quick "hello" to someone in eastern Ontario bouncing a signal off the aurora.

The next night ... tuning in to good old-fashioned AM radio, I tuned to 890 KHz. and sure enough heard "Radio Progreso" from Cuba with a very loud signal...wiping out the signal from WLS Chicago, which I normally hear on that channel at night here in Toronto.

Anyway, although I haven't read the story you speak of, if that was what Ray Bradbury wrote he'd be quite wrong scientifically.  The changes in solar weather will degrade some types of radio signals (television is just another form of radio signal by the way) but will actually enhance some other types of radio signals.

I suppose that "normal" types of radio communications are disrupted by solar storms but for a ham radio operator, all the weird and wacky effects are things to "play with"...and yes it is alot of fun!

We're at the bottom of the 11 year solar cycle right now more or less with the sun being generally "quiet"...which makes this kind of solar storm a bit unusual...although not unheard of.

Solar storms of this magnitude are much more common towards the "top" of the sunspot cycle.

But, even though there is an eleven year cycle, there are changes in solar activity from day to day.

Also, since the sun is on a 28 day rotation, we may see a slight "echo" of this storm four weeks after December 14th.

[fern hill]

While you're here, radiorahim, I have a question. I don't have cable or satellite, just rabbit-ears on my telly. I also have a couple of radios. It seems to me that in the last few months, reception has been getting markedly worse. I'm no science type, but everybody and her canary has a cell-phone. Are the airwaves just jammed up?

[radiorahim]

While you're here, radiorahim, I have a question. I don't have cable or satellite, just rabbit-ears on my telly. I also have a couple of radios. It seems to me that in the last few months, reception has been getting markedly worse. I'm no science type, but everybody and her canary has a cell-phone. Are the airwaves just jammed up?

I guess to be able to answer your question I'd have to know what you mean by "worse" i.e. what specifically was happening before that isn't happening now?   Or the other way around...what's happening now that wasn't happening before?

Cellphones really don't have much to do with AM/FM or TV broadcast reception because they operate on entirely different radio frequencies.

[fern hill]

Ah. Seems there's way more static. What sorts of things do interfere with reception?

[radiorahim]

What sorts of things do interfere with reception?

All kinds of things...everything from blow dryers, to electric blankets, to dirty powerlines, computers and related equipment, fluorescent (and energy-saving compact fluorescent) bulbs,  thunderstorms etc.

What would help would be if I knew where you were having the problem.   Is it on TV?, FM radio? AM radio?

Are you hearing "buzz saw" type noises?    Are you see horizontal lines across your TV screen and buzzy noises?   Is it on every channel?   What channel(s) is it on?  (If it's a TV problem?).

Are you in a house?   Highrise apartment building?   Low rise apartment building?

[Boom Boom]

Last night and tonight one of our satellite channels from Detroit started to act up a bit, and the closed captioning was faulty. All the other channels were fine. I occasionally see hilarious bloopers in the closed captioning, on every channel.

[radiorahim]

That's probably a problem with the uplink to the satellite in Detroit.

If it's satellite damage...say from solar damage you'll usually have "groups" of channels that are all on the same satellite go out.

I recall a problem like this some years ago when there was a problem with one of the Canadian satellites...most of the Canadian TV services were out of commission.

[Toedancer]

Forecasters keep eye on looming 'Solar Max'

An early warning of the risk came in 1859, when the biggest CME ever   observed unleashed red, purple and green auroras even in tropical   latitudes.      The new-fangled technology of the telegraph went crazy.   Geomagnetically-induced currents in the wires shocked telegraph   operators and even set the telegraph paper on fire.

  But according to wikipedia Some telegraph systems appeared to continue to send and receive   messages despite having been disconnected from their power supplies. Wow, 1859, that must of confounded! That was in year 4 of the Solar Cycle 10. So according to the article we're entering year 4 of this current roundabout 11 year cycle or Solar Cycle 24.  Solar Cycles
The Sun's Great Conveyor Belt

[Boom Boom]

Forecasters keep eye on looming 'Solar Max'

This got my attention:
 
"...In 1989, a far smaller flare knocked out power from Canada's Hydro Quebec generator, inflicting a nine-hour blackout for six million people."