RSGB - New propagation prediction tool released

The RSGB’s Propagation Studies Committee (PSC) has released a new propagation tool for amateurs, based on the ITU’s ITURHFPROP program. The tool is the work of programmer and PSC member James Watson, HZ1JW.

The new tool gives you hour-by-hour monthly median propagation predictions from a location you specify to one of 28 locations around the world. Predictions are performed between the user’s position, expressed as a Maidenhead Locator (or the default value of IO92 if not specified). In some cases, performance for both long and short paths is evaluated.

The results are presented in tables, with colours used to represent the Basic Circuit Reliability (BCR), and numeric values to indicate the predicted median receive power (expressed in S Levels). As well as specifying your mode (SSB, CW, FT8 and others), you can also choose from a wide range of antenna types at both ends of the path. A tool to select your noise level is also included.

The tool also loads the results two at a time so that you don’t get an awkward 20+ second delay while the computations are completed. The details you input are cached, so that you should not need to change them the next time you use the program. Users also have the ability to print out the month’s predictions as a PDF file.

The tool can be found here.