Good morning everyone! I noticed the solar flux has dropped from the mid-150s down to 111 over the past couple weeks. The sunspot number is sitting at 72. Is it still worth firing up the rig on 15m and 10m during the day, or should I focus my time on 20m for now?

I'm running 100W into a simple dipole at 30 feet, so I don't have a lot of power to punch through marginal conditions. Any insights from those who've been working the higher bands lately?

With SFI at 111, you might still catch some surprises on 15m around midday, especially if you're patient with digital modes like FT8. 10m will be pretty quiet except for possible sporadic-E patches. I'd stick to 20m as your main band but keep an ear on the others during peak solar hours.

I worked a few Europeans on 15m yesterday afternoon around 1800Z with similar conditions! Don't give up on the high bands completely. The K-index has been nice and low (around 1-2) which helps a lot with stability.

As a fellow QRP operator, I've found that FT8 on 15m can still produce contacts even when the band sounds dead on SSB. Try 21.074 MHz around local noon - you might be surprised what comes back!