Guide to December 2025 Ham Radio Contests—Year-End Wrap-Up Edition

OnAllBands is putting a bow on the ham radio year with our final contesting guide of 2025. It has been another banner trip around the sun (courtesy of Solar Cycle 25) for experienced enthusiasts who filled the airwaves with rapid-fire QSOs and beginners who discovered the adrenaline rush of making their first tentative contesting contacts via CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8, and lesser-used modes.

To all those who continue to make the amateur frequencies a vibrant place that encourages new hams and promotes the very best of operating practices, we salute you. We’d also like to give a shout out to the DXpeditioners who made ATNOs possible for operators around the globe:

Hal, W8HC, fourth from left, sent us this photo from the November 2025 Burundi 9U1RU DXpedition. DX Engineering provided the team with an Icom IC-7610 transceiver, which “performed flawlessly,” he reported. The team logged upwards of 180,000 QSOs during their three-week stay.

So, what can you anticipate contesting-wise for 2026?

Here are a few things you can count on:

• The DX Engineering team, boasting active operators with more than 1,000 years of combined experience and members of the CQ Contesting Hall of Fame, will continue to provide knowledgeable assistance to help you reach your goals, whether that means ranking at the top or just getting your feet wet in the world of contesting.

• As always, finding the right gear to improve your station will be fast and simple at DXEngineering.com. Choose from transceivers, antennas, power supplies, CW instruments, amplifiers, antenna analyzers, premium coaxial cable, logging software, digital interfaces, and absolutely everything you could need to heighten your contesting capabilities, including devices like the 403A Power Genius XL HF/6M SO2R Amplifier:

• Customers will continue to earn points on their purchases and convert them into DX Bucks™ good toward more gear from DX Engineering. Click for all the details about the DX Engineering Rewards Program. Also, take advantage of DX Engineering’s Protection Plan, which provides coverage beyond the manufacturer’s warranty on many products.

• OnAllBands will continue to let you know about upcoming contests and special events, contest-friendly gear available at DX Engineering, and advice you can use to maximize your scores and have the most fun possible in the heat of competition. Here are a few of our favorite recent contesting articles:
  • “The Importance of Calling CQ”
  • “Winning, Losing, and Playing the Game”
  • “Ham Radio Contesting for Techs? Yes, You Can!”
  • “How Young Operators Can Get Involved in Contesting Season”
• DX Engineering multimedia partner Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio will continue to provide exceptional long-form video content about the contesting and DXing communities. Here’s a recent sample from their YouTube channel about the apex of Radiosport challenges—the 2026 World Radiosport Team Championships from the United Kingdom. DX Engineering is a Gold Sponsor of this quadrennial event scheduled for July 2026.

Here’s wishing you enjoyable contesting in December, the happiest of holiday seasons, and a prosperous New Year from OnAllBands and DX Engineering!

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• QRP ARCI Top Band Sprint: Dec. 4, 0000Z to 0300Z. Ready for a true challenge? Try making QSOs on the “Gentleman’s Band” using low power! Here’s what the QRP Amateur Radio Club International says about this annual event: “A very rewarding multi-mode (CW, SSB, Mixed Mode) contest on 160M. Put up a vertical or operate with a wire in the park. With a little bit of planning, YOU can work a 160M contest with QRP!” As always, the lower the power you use, the more significant the multipliers.
• NRAU (Nordic Radio Amateur Union) 10M Activity Contest: Dec. 4, 1800Z to 1900Z (CW); 1900Z to 2000Z (SSB); 2000Z to 2100Z (FM); and 2100Z to 2200Z (Digital). Here’s a great chance to take advantage of 10M openings compliments of Solar Cycle 25. Looking for gear to maximize your 10M capabilities? Click to read about some antenna upgrades. 
• ARRL 160 Meter Contest: Dec. 5, 2200Z to Dec. 7, 1600Z.  For amateurs worldwide to exchange information with W/VE amateurs on 160M CW.

Looking to upgrade your 160M acumen in the coming year? Find vertical, dipole, trap dipole, and whip 160M antennas like the Moonraker 160M Mobile Whip and DX Engineering THUNDERBOLT® Vertical, bandpass filters, phased array quarter wave tuned cables, add-on kits (including the 160M add-on kit for Butternut HF9V, HF6V, and HF2V antennas), tuners, ferrite bead kits, dual vertical array systems, reference books, and more at DXEngineering.com.

• K1USN Slow Speed Test: Dec. 5, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, and 29, 0000Z to 0100Z. Held every Friday and Monday, this CW contest is “for those who prefer a more leisurely CW pace or are new CW operators or contesters,” according to the K1USN SST website. If you copy under 25 words per minute and are looking for a welcoming place on the air to improve your CW speed, this might be just the ticket. The contest is the brainchild of members of the K1USN Radio Club, who are also members of the CW Operators Club.
• ARRL 10 Meter Contest, CW, SSB: Dec. 13, 0000Z to Dec. 14, 2359Z. For amateurs worldwide to exchange QSO information with as many stations as possible on 10 meters. You’ll find plenty of ways to boost your 10M performance at DX Engineering, including this COMTEK 20VA 20-10M Antenna.
• International Naval Contest: Dec. 13, 1600Z to Dec. 14, 1559Z. This annual CW/SSB event takes place the second weekend of December and involves naval clubs from Romania, Finland, Portugal, Austria, and other countries.
• QRP ARCI Holiday Spirits Sprint: Dec. 14, 2000Z to 2300Z. This CW-only contest encourages hams to put their handcrafted equipment to the test, with bonus points awarded for use of homebrewed transmitters and receivers, as well as operations from a portable location.
  

Need keys, paddles, bugs, electronic keyers, code practice oscillator kits, pocket-size Morse code tutors, and absolutely everything CW? You’ll find it at DXEngineering.com, including legendary Italian-made keys and paddles from Begali.

• RAC Winter Contest: Dec. 20, 0000Z to 2359Z. Amateurs all over the world are invited to participate in the SSB/CW Radio Amateurs of Canada Winter Contest. Find complete rules here. Headquartered in Ottawa, the RAC is a not-for-profit national association that represents the interests of amateur radio enthusiasts across Canada. Read much more about the work of the RAC on its website. And in this article on Amateur Radio and Morse Code in Popular Culture, read about some CW action from icons of the Great White North who know a thing or two about the Spirit of Radio—Rush.
• ARRL Rookie Roundup, CW: Dec. 21, 1800Z to 2359Z. Rookies exchange information with as many other stations as possible on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands. Interested in the Rookie Roundup or other contests for newbies? Read this OnAllBands article from blogger Sean Kutzko, KX9X, on contesting tips for Technicians.
• DARC X-Mas Contest: Dec. 26, 0830Z to 1059Z. This popular two-and-a-half hour SSB/CW sprint sponsored by DARC (Deutscher Amateur Radio Club) is the final competition which counts toward the German annual club championship. DARC invites all amateurs to join in the fun, noting that you’ll likely hear “Frohes Fest” (Merry Christmas) or “FF” in CW tacked onto more than a few QSOs.
• YOTA Contest: Dec. 29, 1000Z to 2159Z. This is the third round of the 2025 Youngsters on the Air Contest. Organized by the IARU R1 Youth Working Group in association with MRASZ (Hungarian Amateur Radio Society), the event is designed to increase youth activity on the air, strengthen the reputation of the YOTA program, and demonstrate support for young hams around the world.
• Bogor Old and New Contest: Dec. 31, 0900Z to 2359Z. Spend New Year’s Eve making QSOs on 80, 40, and 10 meters. The event is hosted by the ORARI Kota Bogor of Indonesia.