‰  NOW 13 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM DECEMBER 2017 QST PAGE 34  ‰

THAT GENERATE INTENSE DISRUPTIONS, INCLUDING LIGHTNING AND SPRITES, COULD
HAVE EXTRA POTENTIAL TO ENHANCE THE MID LATITUDE SPORADIC E FIELD UP TO 6
METER FREQUENCIES.  BASED ON DX MAPS, NORTH AMERICA IS PERHAPS NOT THE BEST
SPORADIC E HOTSPOT IN THE WORLD ON AVERAGE.  HOWEVER, IN EUROPE, THE
MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH IS THE SAME AS IN SOUTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA, AND
THUS THERE SEEM TO BE MORE SPORADIC E OPENINGS IN THAT REGION, LIKE THE
APPEARANCE OF MORE SPORADIC E IN EUROPE.  THIS MAY POINT TO A MAGNETIC
ƒ  QST DE W1AW  ‰
GOLDILOCKS EFFECT IN SOME YET UNDETERMINED WAY, IN THAT THINGS MUST BE NOT
TOO STRONG NOR TOO WEAK, BUT MUST BE JUST RIGHT.  A WORKING HYPOTHESIS,
REQUIRING MORE RESEARCH, IS THAT SPORADIC E MAY BE MOSTLY DRIVEN BY SOLAR
TIDAL WIND SHEAR IN THE E LAYER IONIZATION FIELD, ALONG WITH SOME FORM OF
HORIZONTAL LORENTZ FORCING FROM EARTHS MAGNETIC FIELD COMPONENT.  MORE
STUDY IS NEEDED ON ALL OF THESE ITEMS, AND HAM RADIO CAN HELP.  A BRIGHT
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