I have not been reporting much as not much has been happening.
This photo of me and Paddy below is not very complimentary. We were of course deep in conversation, my eyes closed in serious concentration. I admit that I was breathing slowly and very deeply, but this is just to help consideration of weighty technical matters. It was definitely not the case that radio conditions had driven me to sleep.
 |
| GM4FVM and Paddy concentrating on the DX (Photo Mrs FVM) |
This has certainly been Sporadic.
Take for example 19 December 2025. Prior to this there had been very little on 6m for over a week. Then this:-
 |
| 50MHz contacts at GM4FVM on 19 December 2025 |
Previous week - zero.
Next day, 73 contacts into 17 DXCC, 39 squares, best DX to YT3N at 2044km.
Following day - zero.
Such is the way things are at this time of year.
Sometimes, like on 10 December, it also bursts forth, and other times it doesn't.
 |
| 50MHz contacts at GM4FVM on 10 December 2025 |
That time it was 23 QSOs in 9 DXCC and 17 squares, with the best DX being UT7WZA at 1944km.
Once again, previous week - zero, and this time no more Es until 19 December.
Weeks on end with no 6m contacts at all. I will not show a graph with no contacts on it.
It would be easy to fall asleep with a cat on your lap and miss all this type of thing. Not me of course. I keep my guard up because you just never know. It could easily link into some real DX (but it didn't).
Meteor Scatter
I am not sure that I have the patience for much meteor scatter these days. Sometimes I would rather sit down and take a nap.
However, I was active using MSK144 on 14 and 15 December. There seems to be a lot less activity in Europe on meteor scatter these days than there used to be, especially on 6m which is now often missing any meteor scatter reports even during major showers. North America seems to have a lot more business. Anyway,it is still a good way to fill in some gaps in the square total.
 |
| Meteor scatter contacts at GM4FVM on 14 and 15 December 2025 |
On this diagram, 144MHz contacts are in green, 70MHz in red and 50MHz in blue. As they once said on the television snooker commentary, "for those watching in black and white the green ball is the one beside the blue" (that only makes sense if you know about snooker and are a bit colour blind, as I am).
Eight contacts in five DXCC, eight squares and best DX was OH8HTG on 2m at 1851km, OH7RJ on 6m at 1837km plus a very nice one to EA2LU at 1450km also on 2m. I also made my 126th meteor scatter QSO on 4m with Henning OZ1JXY. All very agreeable.
Auroral propagation
There have been predictions for several large auroras, but here the radio effects have been very meagre. I worked GM7PKT and M0XVF on Q65 on 50MHz on 12 December. Nice, but not great DX. Maybe we are due a major aurora event but if this is the down slope of the solar maximum I would have expected more. Or maybe the down slope of the solar maximum has not arrived yet ... ???
Tropo
There has not been a major tropo event here since 10 to 15 October. Perhaps I should write that one up. Still, I have been trying. I was taking part in part of the RSGB 432MHz UKAC FT8 contest on 10 December but conditions did not seem to be very good. Quite different was the 1296MHz version on 16 December.
 |
| 1296MHz contacts at GM4FVMon 16 December 2025 |
Using SSB I worked six stations in three DXCC and six squares. I was only on for 45 minutes. Best DX was to MW0LKX/P at 380km. It is worth bearing in mind that this is only the second GW sations that I have ever worked on 23cm. I also worked G4CLA who is just 1km nearer but that QSO needed some aircraft scatter assistance.
A nice contact on 2m was with UT1FG/MM in JO25 square in the North Sea between me and Denmark. I have picked up a few watery squares over the years thanks to Yuri - long may he continue to brighten up otherwise dull silent days.
In Summary
Sudden bursts of activity with long gaps in between can be very frustrating. However, this shows my chosen mode of operation which is to spread out across the modes and bands.
Is working 73 contacts in a day on 6m "better" than six in 45 minutes on 23cm? Not in my book, as in total it all adds up to me keeping on learning about radio. I especially enjoyed working some friends on SSB on 23cm, but I also really enjoyed the DX on meteor scatter.
In some strange way I enjoyed the many periods of complete silence too. If it was always busy it would be no fun, or not for me anyway. That gives me time to send QSL cards and fix various bits of electronic equipment brought round for repair by others in the village.
Perhaps we are about to get big openings on all bands and modes. I doubt if that would be better, but it would be a change.
Now, I must get some sleep.
73 Jim
GM4FVM
