There are many wild variations in solar activity over the course of the average 11 year cycle, and the only real way to determine the peak or the minimum is to look back at a moving average many months later. The quieter sun did present some advantages for HF operators, because while the activity was lower, the earth's geomagnetic conditions were quieter as well. The College A index, from Fairbanks, Alaska, was mostly in the single digits, and there were 19 three-hour periods over the week when the College K index was actually 0, lower than the planetary K index at any time. This is significant because the higher latitudes have greater geomagnetic instability at times of heightened solar activity. During this week the area near the Arctic Circle, at least in Alaska, was quieter than the average for the entire planet.
Conditions look quieter for the near term as well.
A index looks quiet as well, with unsettled conditions possible for August 30 through September 3. Solar flux for the next few weeks is expected to peak at only 175 near September 7-9. This is based only on what is known about activity during the previous rotation, and any new activity could change this. Daytime absorption on the upper bands and atmospheric noise on lower frequencies should be lessened, and stronger signals should be the rule for this equinox at the peak of solar cycle 23. AE4TM sent along a web link for his experiments using Pactor with ionospheric observations.