NASA: Expect a Weak Cycle 25

NASA's Solar Weather Prediction Center is forecasting that
Cycle 25 will be another weak cycle, similar to the now-
ending Cycle 24. (Image from SWPC website)

Good news, bad news, on the sunspot front. Spaceweather.com reported that a small group of sunspots associated with forthcoming Cycle 25 appeared July 1 in the Sun's southern hemisphere, only to disappear again a few hours later. This is the fifth observation of sunspots bearing the magnetic signature of the new cycle.

Meanwhile, the South African Radio League reports that NASA researchers are predicting that Cycle 25 will be the weakest cycle in the past 200 years, with only 30-50% of the number of sunspots recorded in Cycle 24. This prediction is consistent with a paper recently published by nature.com, predicting that the Sun is about to enter a "grand minimum" lasting until 2055 (see more about this paper in the August issue of CQ).

IARU Counsels Restraint on French Threat to 2-Meter Band

The 2019 World Radicommunication Conference's preparatory group, meeting this month in Turkey, will consider for inclusion on the WRC-2023 agenda a proposal from France to give the Aeronautical Mobile Service secondary access to a wide variety of frequencies, including the 2-meter amateur band.

But the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is urging amateurs to allow their national associations and the IARU itself work to educate various telecommunication agencies about why the proposed sharing is inappropriate on the 2-meter band. It also points out that there is a lot of misinformation on social media and that the proposal would not reallocate the 144-MHz band, but allow for sharing "while ensuring the protection of existing services…"

The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) that even though the French proposal "is not an eviction or reallocation" of amateurs, it is still "unwelcome and presents significant challenges," particularly because sharing with airborne station is difficult "due to the altitudes and long free-space distances involved."

QRZ.com Beefs Up Security

The QRZ.com website is offering users enhanced security options as it tries to fight an increasing number of fraudulent posts and password "phishers."

The ARRL Letter reports that the site is now offering registered users the option of establishing 2FA, or two-factor authentication, to better secure passwords. This particular 2FA system, according to the report, involves downloading a cookie onto the user's device which will generate a code that will be valid for access for 30 days at a time. A video demonstrating how to do this is online at <https://tinyurl.com/y6zpu3gn>.

QRZ.com is also strengthening security for equipment sales on the site, requiring anyone marketing gear through the Swapmeet forum to enroll in its Verified User program.