Medium Wave Conditions - Still VERY Poor

A quick update on medium waves DX conditions.

I am still debating whether to take down my medium wave flag as this year's medium wave DX season is one of the worst I have known. I had decided to 'pull the plug' early as it is now a struggle to hear even the easiest of transatlantic signals. Urumqi on 1521 is hardly there at all and I hear Saudi Arabia or Spain dominating the frequency. Having said that I managed to hear the South Korean time signal on 972 now Hamburg has left the frequency, but it was virtually 'carrier level'.

I caught the Yankee Doodle theme on 1575 a couple of afternoons ago at 1500 but that too was 'back of the box' quality. So something is still getting through, but only just. Stations like VOA Thailand 1575 are actually fairly easy on the east coast at this time of year, just like Urumqi 1521, but nothing else is getting through now. This is a shame as the season appeared to get off to a good start.

We now have so much solar related geomagnetic activity that it's killed off the lower HF frequencies. Hopefully the next winter season sees an improvement.

Good DX!

John