Propagation News – 23 November 2025

After the solar mayhem we reported in last week’s GB2RS News, the Sun has been relatively quiet over the past week.

The maximum Kp index we saw was 4, on Monday, 17 November, but otherwise it was often below 1 or 2. The result is that the ionosphere has been more stable and DX has been more forthcoming.

Unfortunately, this coincided with a drop in sunspot numbers and the solar flux index fell from 163 on 12 November to 123 on Thursday, 20 November.

However, 123 is still enough to get things moving and we have seen some good DX being worked. CDXC’s Slack chat group has reported several impressive contacts.

VK9DX on Norfolk Island was worked on the 15m band using CW; ZL7/LZ1GC on the Chatham Islands, was logged on the 40m band using CW; and S79/OK6RA in the Seychelles appeared on the 10m band using CW.

Another interesting spot was JA7BXS on the 80m band using CW on the morning of Thursday, 20 November, showing that the low bands are becoming more interesting as we head into winter.

DX on the 80m band has little to do with the solar flux index but can be influenced by geomagnetic disturbances, hence these quieter periods have allowed the 40 and 80m bands to shine.

For the coming week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index may decline even more, perhaps down to 105 or 110. However, it does look like our run of quiet geomagnetic indices may come to an end, with a Kp index of 5 predicted for 24-27 November. In fact, we could have unsettled geomagnetic conditions until the end of the month.

So, this may be a good time to start concentrating on the lower bands, such as 40 and 80m. You never know, they might surprise you! And don’t forget, the CQ World Wide CW Contest is taking place during the weekend of 29-30 November – always a good opportunity for DX.

VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO

The current spell of unsettled weather is very much in a cold phase but, although it continues to be unsettled, it will be milder and wetter in the coming week. Perhaps more important is that at times it will be very windy with gales in some areas.

For propagation, this means that the one feature absent from the present charts is any high pressure to bring tropo conditions.

This means that other modes take on more importance. Auroras have provided some recent interest and, although there’s nothing dramatic in the immediate future, keep a watching brief for a rising Kp index.

A good guide for impending activity is if the Kp index increases above 5.

The rain scatter prospects are likely to be good during the coming week as several active frontal systems cross the country. Notably, the evening of Wednesday, 19 November, saw trans-North sea propagation visible on the Margate 24GHz WebSDR.

This extended into the morning of Thursday but unfortunately no coastal stations were around to make QSOs.

While rainscatter is a GHz band activity, on the lower bands you may find some increase in static levels due to lightning activity or even snow static before the weather turns milder.

There is not expected to be a strong showing of Sporadic-E in the coming week since we are well out of season. Southern UK stations should continue to watch out for fleeting F-layer DX openings on 50MHz, especially to Africa and Asia.

For EME operators, the Moon’s declination is at its lowest and negative all week, so Moon window lengths are short and peak elevation is low.

We passed apogee on 20 November, so path losses are decreasing again. 144MHz sky noise is high today, 23 November, but will become lower as the week progresses.

Category: GB2RS Propagation News