Speaker

October 22, 2019: Jim Lux W6RMK: Ionospehric models and HF propagation

This talk describes how HF propagation models work, including climatological models (VOACAP) and ray tracing (PHaRLAP). It examines predictions for the most recent Field Day and how those compared to what happened on the day. It also looks at what we can expect when we have sunspots again. Cycle 25 is expected to be much like Cycle 24, peaking in 2023 or 2024, so you have plenty of time to plan and build that HF antenna system.

Jim Lux W6RMK was the NASA Task Manager for FINDER, which was his topic at our Juliy program, and is now the Project Manager for SunRISE - six smallsats forming a radio interferometer that will image the sun at frequencies below 20 MHz. He managed the development and operations of DHFR, which measured HF signals from 5-30 MHz in a 500km orbit, above the ionosphere. He was the JPL Principal Investigator for NASA’s SCaN Testbed, which was installed on the International Space Station from 2012 to 2019, for which he received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal. A licensed professional engineer in California, Mr. Lux has been at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 20 years, following award winning work in physical special effects for film and TV, design and development of electronic warfare and signals identification systems, and large distributed software systems for database and dispatch applications.