10 Meters: It is now April, and 10 Meters is deteriorating rapidly. It will be back in the fall, at least this year. If you like 10 Meters and have been watching the solar flux numbers, you have reason to worry. The sunspot cycle may have peaked, and the next few months will tell us if the trend is really down. If so, then next fall will be our last chance to take advantage of the world wide 10 meter propagation that we now take for granted. The recent moderation of solar activity will improve some bands - 20 for example. Seasonally, activity will be moving down from 10 Meters and up from 40, so for the next several months our best propagation will be on 15 & 20.
15 Meters: Late spring is by far the best time to operate 15, which will improve dramatically over the coming weeks. Propagation is over both day and nighttime paths, with openings over the pole for much of the day and night. In the evening, you can follow sunrise peaks across Russia and Europe as with any nighttime band. Exploit long path opportunities to the Indian Ocean and Africa in the morning before short path opens. In late morning, look for pipeline conditions to the Far East and Indonesia. All this will be at its best during May and June.
20 Meters: This band will be good across nighttime paths with excellent grey line propagation, especially in the morning. For the next several months we will have an early morning pipeline to remote points in S.E. Asia and beyond. Long path to the South Indian Ocean (via N.W.) is in season, so look for those rare ZS8 and FT islands. There are many countries in the Indian Ocean, and activity from that area will be good through the summer. Long path to the southern part of Africa is also in season. LP to India, Europe, the Middle East, N.E. Africa and Russia peaks in the winter, but is still good. All this is workable daily for about 3 hours after our sunrise. Short path Russians, of course, will dominate the band in the evening. Tune carefully through the Russians and you will also find 20 open to the Middle East.