Propagation News – 28 December 2025

We have had some solar ups and downs over the past week. A high-speed stream from a large coronal hole has kept the Kp index high at times, plus the solar flux index has been relatively low due to a lack of sunspots.

The coronal hole has been massive, covering from the Sun’s south pole right up to and past the solar equator.

Nevertheless, there has been DX about, including PZ3OZ in Surinam on 80m FT8 and 40m CW, ZS7ANF in Antarctica on 30m CW, and TG9ADM in Guatemala on 10m CW.

Also spotted have been some of the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ stations in the US, including W2R/5 in Arizona on 15m CW.

Let’s take a look at HF propagation over the next two weeks.

According to NOAA, we may be in for a bumpy ride. The Kp index is predicted to rise to six on 30 December and stay high until early January. Meanwhile, at the same time, the SFI is predicted to rise to 170.

The best time for HF may be after 3 January, when the Kp index is predicted to fall to a more reasonable two to three, while the SFI remains in the 150-160 range.

There should be plenty of activity on HF, with the G-QRP club’s Winter Sports running up until 1 January, and a whole range of contests, from the RSGB’s AFS CW Contest from 1300UTC to 1700UTC on 3 January, to the Marconi Club ARI Loano QSO Party from 0700UTC until 2100UTC, also on 3 January.

Keep an eye on www.contestcalendar.com for updates.

We hope you have a happy New Year and look forward to bringing you more HF propagation news in 2026.

VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO.

The Christmas week saw a brief cold easterly around Christmas Day, then milder air returned around the top of the large area of high pressure.

We go through the next week with the high pressure just to the north or west of Britain and this will bring a more northerly flow across the country and, although initially milder, will become much colder again for the second half of next week.

Since it is primarily a high-pressure week, there’s always a chance of Tropo, but not everywhere. It’s suggested you look for regions of cloud and fog for the best paths since it shows there is moisture under the inversion … a good thing for Tropo.

The solar conditions are likely to offer prospects for aurora and since this period is between two meteor showers with the second one, the Quadrantids, peaking on 4 January at the end of the week.

Finally, a note to follow up on last week’s heads-up for mid-winter Sporadic-E. It’s certainly worth checking for digital modes and quite possibly for SSB/CW on 10m and 6m if there are signs of activity.

For EME operators, Moon declination is rising again and path losses are decreasing as we head towards perigee on 2 January, the point where the Moon is closest to Earth. 144 MHz sky noise remains low until 14-18 January.

And that’s all from the propagation team this week.

Category: GB2RS Propagation News