  The Waldmeier Effect is the observation that the rise time of a sunspot cycle
varies inversely with the cycle amplitude: strong cycles rise to their maximum
faster than weak cycles. The shape of the cycle and thus the rise time does not
depend on the scale factor of the sunspot number and can thus be used to verify
the constancy of the scale factor with time as already noted by Wolfer (1902)
and Waldmeier (1978). We extend their analysis until the present using the new
SILSO sunspot number (version 2) and group number and confirm that the scale
factors have not varied significantly the past 250 years. The effect is also
found in sunspot areas, in an EUV (and F10.7) proxy (the daily range of a
geomagnetic variation), and in Cosmic Ray Modulation. The result is that solar
activity reached similar high values in every one of the (17th?) 18th, 19th,
and 20th centuries, supporting the finding that there has been no modern Grand
Maximum.
