You should notice the solar propagation information circled in the image
above. This data is retrieved from the NOAA website and is periodically
updated in your browser as you surf the web. (assuming you are using Firefox).
Note: If you are using Firefox v2.X
then you should use Propfire
0.73.12
If you are using Firefox v3.X then
you should use Propfire
0.73.18
Additionally, by right-clicking on the Propfire values, a menu will appear.
This menu includes a chart of the current k-index:
From the menu, you can also display the latest full WWV
propagation report.
Why use Propfire? Know when
the ham radio bands are active.
Ham radio operators monitor
radio propagation conditions in order to determine possible openings to work
DX (long distance radio contacts). To HF operators, this means world-wide
QSOs (contacts) with very little power and with minimal antennas/equipment
under the best conditions. When the solar flux numbers are high (many
sunspots), and the A-index and K-index numbers are low (or zero), HF
conditions are great for ham radio. VHF ham radio operators monitor these
numbers (and others) to determine possible openings for other radio
propagation modes such as aurora-skip.
Both Ham Radio
operators and SWL (short wave listeners) should appreciate this
Firefox extension. By keeping an eye on
propagation conditions, I hope that you'll be able to know when it might be
a good time to go to the ham shack, turn on the radio, tune the antennas and
work some good DX!
Getting Propfire
The latest version of Propfire is version 0.73.18. It
is available here:
Propfire
Propfire has been tested on Firefox v1.0.6
and later versions, but may
run on other Mozilla products. Just like other Firefox extensions, it will NOT
operate with Internet Explorer.
A good resource for learning more about propagation and using
these values can be found on the
ARRL website.
An
introduction to HF radio propagation
is a good place to start if you would like more information on hf
propagation forecasts. If you would like to
display HF propagation on
your website,
check out
Propstats - a flash utility to display propagation on
your site.
Propfire Versions
0.73.0 |
27 Sep 2005 |
Initial version |
0.73.3 |
14 Jul 2006 |
Updated to support
future versions of Firefox (2.0) |
0.73.4 |
18 Jul 2006 |
Initialization improved.
Automatically loads current HF radio propagation index information
on browser startup. |
0.73.5 |
26 Jul 2006 |
Automatic installation
script added. Should reduce questions about installing Propfire. |
0.73.6 |
31 Jul 2006 |
K-Index Graph added to
popup menu. |
0.73.7 |
15 Jan 2007 |
Cache issue
resolved. |
0.73.8 |
22 Jan 2007 |
If the link
is down, will no longer display long garbage message. Clicking the
small image displays the large image from NOAA/GOV.
|
0.73.9 |
23 Feb 2007 |
Updated to
include sunspot number (SSN) |
0.73.10 |
24 Feb 2007 |
Bug fixes
for sunspot number SSN |
0.73.11 |
25 Feb 2007 |
Added:
polling interval option, minimode |
0.73.12 |
01 Mar 2007 |
Changing
options now refreshes. New menu. |
0.73.15 |
18 Jul 2008 |
Major source code rewrite
(thanks to help from Trevor Hobson!) - Propfire should now support
FF3.0. |
0.73.17 |
30 Jun 2009 |
Update for Firefox 3.5
|
0.73.18 |
23 Jan 2010 |
Update for Firefox 3.6
|
Installing Propfire
-
Download Propfire
- Choose to allow software installations from
n0hr.com.
- Foxfire opens a Software Installation
window to install propfire.xpi. Click the Install Now button.
- Quit Firefox and restart it to
complete the installation.
Alternatively, Propfire may be downloaded
from the
Mozilla Addons site.
Note: It's called Firefox - not foxfire.
30-Jul-2008