so ive been trying to work some DX on 17 and 20 meters for the past couple weeks and honestly its been pretty discouraging. like i can hear the odd european station early morning but by the time i get my antenna tuned up and actually call they're gone or buried in noise. checked the solar flux index this morning and it was sitting around 118 which i thought was decent enough but still nothing really opening up for me toward EU from the midwest.

my buddy down in texas was telling me he had a great run into japan last weekend on 15 meters but when i tried the same time window i got basically nothing. is this just a geographic thing or am i missing something about how to read the conditions better. i use the DXmaps site sometimes but im not always sure how to interpret what im seeing there. any advice from people who actually chase DX regularly would be great

yeah 15 and 17 have been kinda hit or miss lately even with flux in the decent range. the thing people dont always realize is that solar flux index gives you a general picture but its not the whole story -- you really gotta watch the K index and the A index too. when the K index spikes above 4 or so the higher bands can just fall apart even if the SFI looks fine. there was a minor geomagnetic disturbance maybe 10 days ago that messed things up for a few days and honestly some of that unsettled ionosphere stuff lingers.

as for your texas buddy working JA on 15 -- path geometry is a real thing. from the south central US the long path or even short path into japan can be pretty favorable depending on the season and time of day. from the midwest the geometry is a bit different and the greyline timing wont be the same. try watching the DX cluster for JA spots and note exactly what times they show up, then work backwards to figure out when your window might be. also 17m toward EU from the midwest usually wants you up around sunrise or just before -- like 10-11z in my experience. dont give up, the bands have been doing this frustrating thing where they tease you for a few days then suddenly open wide

honestly same experience here, im pretty new to HF and been on about 8 months and the last few weeks felt like i was doing something wrong with my setup. good to know its not just me. i didnt even know about the K index thing so thats really useful. where do you guys check that -- is it on the NOAA space weather site or somewhere else thats easier to read