Spokane DX Association

1. Where is the Spokane Valley in relation to Spokane?

Several years ago, they carved a new city called the “City of Spokane Valley” –LINK out of Spokane County adjoining East of Spokane. The convention is in the City of Spokane Valley. To long time residents, the separation is indistingable when driving around.

2. Is there any stores close to the convention hotel?

You bet! The biggest mall in the area in just down the street – the Spokane Valley Mall – see LINK. There are fast food places up and down Sullivan Road including Wendy’s, McDonalds, Starbucks, etc. South, at the intersection of Sullivan Road and Sprague Avenue, there is an Ace Hardware, Harbor Freight, and Hastings bookstore.

3. How are the roads near the convention site numbered? The zero basis for road numbering is the intersection downtown in Spokane at Division Street and Sprague Avenue. North of Sprague number increases upward and South of Sprague numbering increases. East on Division the numbering increases and West on Division the numbering increases.

The convention will be at the Mirabeau Park Hotel in the city of Spokane Valley, East of Spokane on Sullivan Road. It is close to the I-90 freeway exit #291B. In the past, it was known as the Red Lion Hotel. It is just across the freeway from the big Spokane Valley mall which includes the only Krispy Kreme shop in the county.

Ask for the Special PNWDX Convention Rate of $99 per room. There are two types of rooms: Deluxe and Premium and they both are the same price. There is a limited number of rooms available at this price.

Mirabeau Park Hotel
1100 North Sullivan Road
Spokane Valley, WA 99037-9570

phone 866-584-4674

http://www.mirabeauparkhotel.com

MAP LINK TO HOTEL

dec 2108 reg form

The 2009 officers:

Vice-President Randy K7TQ
President Gary K7OX
Treasurer Kirk K7EKM
Secretary Jay WA0WWW

The colored insert can give you good information on how the bands are in real time. It is updated every three hours. Here are some definitions.

Solar Flux – The 10.7 cm (2800 MHz) radio flux is the amount of solar noise (light) that is emitted by the sun at 10.7 cm wavelengths. The solar flux is measured and reported at approximately 1700 UT daily by the Penticton Radio Observatory in British Columbia, Canada. Values are not corrected for variations resulting from the eccentric orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The solar flux is used as a basic indicator of solar activity. It can vary from values below 50 to values in excess of 300 (representing very low solar activity and high to very high solar activity respectively). Values in excess of 200 occur typical during the peak of the solar cycles.

The solar flux is closely related to the amount of ionization taking place at F2 layer heights (heights sensitive to long-distance radio communication). High solar flux values generally provide good ionization for long-distance communications at higher than normal frequencies. Low solar flux values can restrict the band of frequencies which are usable for long distance communications. The solar flux is measured in “solar flux units” (s.f.u.). One s.f.u. is equivalent to a unit of solar radio emission per unit frequency interval, equal to 10 to the -22 power watt per square meter per hertz at the earth.

K is an index number 0-9 that is related to the maximum fluctuations of the magnetic field observed on a magnetometer relative to a quiet day, during a three-hour interval. For more information on the relationship between the K and the A, go to:

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/info/Kindex.html

nT is nano-tesla, where tesla (symbol T) is actual unit of measure for the magnetic field or magnetic flux density.

The background X-Ray is in levels, with a letter and number. LT A 1.0 is the absolute lowest. LT = light, A1.0 is lowest, A5.0 would be higher in the lowest catagory, then it goes to C X.XX and M X.XX . Current x-ray flux readings are from the GOES-10 and GOES-12 satellites. The lower the readings, the better HF / shortwave propagation conditions are. Ranges are A1-A9,B1-B9,C1-C9,M1-M9,X1 and up. Low readings, especially in the A range, generally indicate good conditions. Higher readings can indicate poor conditions. Solar flares can cause readings to jump into the M and X range, which can cause radio blackouts for paths in the sunlit area.