maybe its just me but ive been getting on 40 most evenings this past couple weeks and its just dead. like i remember a few years back youd tune around and find half a dozen ragchews going on no problem, now i spin the dial for 20 minutes and find maybe one guy calling CQ and nobody answering him. not sure if its the time of year or solar conditions or what but something feels off. been a ham since 98 and i dont remember it being this quiet in the fall usually

yeah 40 has been weird for me too, though honestly i wonder if a lot of guys just moved to FT8 and we dont notice them anymore because they're not doing phone. i still catch some good pileups late at night around 7.2 or so but you gotta be patient. try around 9 or 10pm local, seems better then at least here in the midwest

im still pretty new to HF but my elmer told me 40 opens up better after dark? i havent had much luck either but im also running like 50 watts into a dipole thats probably not ideal so maybe thats my problem lol