2011AJ....141..121H

V446 Her is the best example of an old nova which has developed dwarf nova (DN) eruptions in the post-nova state. We report on observed properties of the long-term light curve of V446 Her, using photometry over 19 years. Yearly averages of the outburst (OB) magnitudes show a decline of ∼0.013 mag/yr, consistent with the decline of other post-novae that do not have DN OBs. Previous suggestions of bimodal distributions of the amplitudes and widths of the OBs are confirmed. The OBs occur at a mean spacing of 18 days but the range of spacings is large (13-30 days). From simulations of DN OBs, it has been predicted that the OB spacing in V446 Her will increase as from the red dwarf companion slowly falls following the nova; however, the large intrinsic scatter in the spacings serves to hide any evidence of this effect. We do find a systematic change in the OB pattern in which the brighter, wider type of OBs disappeared after late 2003, and this phenomenon is suggested to be due to falling following the nova.