Where's Spot?
When you are out in the field this weekend trying to work stations without the cooperation of Mister Sun, you may reflect on this article that Rich Zwirko, K1HTV, cited to me: "Mystery of the Missing Sunspots, Solved?"

The article appeared on the NASA Web site last week and revealed that "At an American Astronomical Society press conference today in Boulder, Colorado, researchers announced that a jet stream deep inside the sun is migrating slower than usual through the star's interior, giving rise to the current lack of sunspots."

Radio Lover
Last week, Surfin' examined the origin of the word "amateur" and discovered that it means "lover." In response, Tom commented on my blog, saying, ""It is very much the same in Russian -- a 'radio amateur' is called radiolubitel, where lubit means 'to love.'"

K1HTV
When I wrote the first paragraph above, I wanted to double-check the spelling of K1HTV's surname. I've known K1HTV for about as long as I have been licensed and I was sure I knew how to spell his surname. But when you have a surname like mine and know how easily folks can mangle it, I always play it safe and double-check the spelling of other surnames. My spell-check found me on Google, which got me to K1HTV's ham radio bio. It was impressive. If anyone qualifies as a "radio lover," K1HTV certainly does.

Until next time, keep on surfin'!

Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, is an unabashed radio lover and misses sunspots. To contact Stan, send him e-mail or add comments to his blog. By the way, every installment of Surfin' is indexed here, so go look it up.

Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor