27 December 2025 A.R.I. DX Bulletin No 1808 =========================== *** 4 2 5 D X N E W S *** **** DX INFORMATION **** =========================== Edited by I1JQJ & IK1ADH Direttore Responsabile I2VGW >>> KP5/NP3VI: DESECHEO 2026 <<< In collaboration with the Vieques Island Amateur Radio Club (NP3VI) and the Manyana DX Foundation, KP5/NP3VI is expected to be "a landmark DXpedi- tion" to Desecheo Island, currently ranked as the 14th most wanted DXCC En- tity worldwide. Located approximately 13 miles off the west coast of Puerto Rico, Desecheo Island has not been activated since 2009. This operation represents the first Puerto Rican-led DXpedition to KP5 in 48 years, following the historic KP4AM/D activation in 1978. Plans are to deploy two self-sustained RDUs (Remote Deployable Units) pro- vided by the Manyana DX Foundation. The deployment window is 12-14 January, weather permitting. Once deployed, the DXpedition is expected to operate 24 hours a day for approximately 30 consecutive days, until the scheduled re- covery date. The stations will utilize state-of-the-art remote operating in- frastructure from Remote Ham Radio (RHR). KP5/NP3VI will be QRV on 160-6 metres CW, SSB, and FT8 (always MSHV, never F/H). Club Log's Live Stream feature will be enabled. QSL via M0OXO. The equipment is currently undergoing extensive stress-testing at the KP4AA contest station in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. This QTH is located on a hill overlooking the Caribbean Sea and sits just under 30 miles from Desecheo. Signal characteristics should closely resemble what the DX commu- nity can expect from KP5. The station is operating using the KP4ES callsign, and DXers worldwide are encouraged to look for KP4ES on the bands and help the remote operators gain experience managing large pileups and long operat- ing schedules. The station will remain on the air until 29 December, at which time the team will disassemble the equipment, perform a thorough cleaning and prepare it to comply with the strict biosecurity protocols required prior to trans- portation to Desecheo Island. Remote operator training will continue using KP4ES from the Palmas RHR station in Puerto Rico. More information and updates can be found on https://desecheo2026.com/kp5/ and https://www.facebook.com/people/Desecheo-2026-Dxpedition/61585525894897/ 9A - To celebrate their 15th anniversary, members of the Croatian Flora Fauna ARC (9A1WFF) will be active as 9A44FF and 9A44FF/p between 1 January and 31 December. See https://www.qrz.com/db/9A44FF for in- formation about the Anniversary Award. DL - To commemorate the centenary of the first Kurzwellentagung - the landmark convention for German shortwave enthusiasts held in Jena on 16-17 January 1926 - the special callsign DF100KWTJ will be active between 1 January and 31 March. QSL via the bureau. DL - The DARC Team SES will operate five special callsigns at various times throughout 2026: DA100LH, DL100LH and DK100LH for the 100th anniversary of Lufthansa Airlines; DA100TV and DL100TV to cele- brate 100 years of television in Germany. G - Using vintage equipment manufactured by KW Electronics Ltd from the mid-1950s to the 1970s, the GB8KW multi-operator station will be active again over the "KW Weekend" (3-4 January) from the Cray Valley radio club's HQ in Eltham, England. Other special callsigns are expected to be activated by collectors and restorers across the UK during the month, notably GB2KW from Scotland. HH - Members of the Radio Club d'Haiti will be active as 4V1L on 1-31 January. The special callsign memorializes Marie-Jeanne Lamarti- niere, who fought alongside her husband during the Haitian Revolu- tion. QSL via N2OO; QSOs will be uploaded to Club Log. HK - Christoph, DF3TJ is active from Colombia as HK4/DF3TJ until some- time in January. "There will also be activations of HK0/DF3TJ from San Andres (NA-033) and Providencia (NA-049) on short term notice", he says. All QSLs via ON5JC. J3 - Rikk, WE9G will be active as J38WG from Grenada (NA-024) on 1-16 January. This will be a SO2R (Single Operator 2 Radios) activity on 160-6 metres, mostly FT8 with some CW and SSB. "I might also do some POTA", he says. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, LoTW, or via WE9G. PJ7 - Giovanni IZ2DPX as PJ7/IZ2DPX, and Flavio IW2NEF as PJ7/IW2NEF will be active from Sint Maarten (NA-105) on 13-21 January. They will operate SSB and FT8/FT4 on various bands. Additionally, side trips to St. Martin are also being planned, with limited operations as FS/IZ2DPX and FS/IW2NEF from a mobile setup. QSL PJ7/IZ2DPX and FS/IZ2DPX via Club Log's OQRS, LoTW, or via home call. QSL PJ7/ IW2NEF and FS/IW2NEF via Club Log's OQRS, LoTW, IK2DUW (direct, or via bureau to HE9ERA). [TNX IZ2DPX] W - The Straight Key Century Club's annual on-air event, commemorating the club's founding in 2006 and celebrating the original instru- ments of early radiotelegraphy (straight key, bug and cootie keys), will run on 2-31 January. Look for K3Y to be aired from the ten US call areas (K3Y/0 through K3Y/9), plus /KH6, /KL7 and /KP4. Infor- mation on the event and QSLing instructions can be found on https://skccgroup.com/k3y/k3y.php. XF4 - Following his brief October visit to Socorro Island, Revillagigedo, Mark (XE1B) returns to activate XF4B for a Christmas holiday opera- tion. Accompanied by Guillermo (XE1IMO), he was scheduled to arrive on 23 December, with the activation running through the end of the year. The team is deploying two radios, one linear amplifier, and four antennas, allowing for simultaneous SSB and FT8 operations on 80-6 metres. All FT8 contacts (excluding 60m) will use Superfox mode with call validation to prevent pirate stations. QSL via Club Log's OQRS only; QSOs will be uploaded to LoTW as OQRS requests are processed. Efforts are ongoing to prepare for a more extensive activation planned for 2026. ZL - The New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) was founded in Auckland in 1926. To celebrate their centenary, NZART members are encouraged to use the ZM prefix during the 2026 year; in addition, individual operators and NZART branches can apply to use special ZL100 callsigns for a period of 1 to 3 months - e.g. Ian ZL1MVL and the Whangarei Amateur Radio Club (ZL1AM) will be using ZL100MVL and ZL100AM, respectively, until 31 March. =========================== *** 4 2 5 D X N E W S *** **** GOOD TO KNOW ... **** =========================== Edited by I1JQJ & IK1ADH Direttore Responsabile I2VGW Access to the main functions of www.425dxn.org is provided by the 425DXN App for Android. It is available on Google Play - free of charge, no ads. Enjoy! AMERICA250 WAS AWARD ---> Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the ARRL is launching the America250 WAS Award, a year-long WAS (Worked All States) operating event. To earn this award, participants must confirm two-way contacts with all 50 US states via LoTW between 1 January and 31 December 2026. There will be three specialty endorsements: * Earn WAS by contacting W1AW/portable stations in all 50 states. Activations of W1AW/# stations will take place from all 50 states. Each W1AW/# station will operate for seven days for two separate weeks in the Year. The schedule for January is as follows: 7-13 January W1AW/0 Nebraska 7-13 January W1AW/2 New York 14-20 January W1AW/5 Louisiana 14-20 January W1AW/4 South Carolina 14-20 January W1AW/8 West Virginia 21-27 January W1AW/9 Illinois 28 January-3 February W1AW/1 Maine * Earn WAS by contacting ARRL Affiliated Club stations in all 50 states * Earn WAS Triple Play by contacting all 50 states on all three modes (CW, Phone & Digital). Only QSOs uploaded to LoTW will be considered valid for the event and relat- ed awards. There are no planned physical QSL cards for any of the W1AW/# America250 WAS stations. Applications for the America250 WAS Award must be submitted via LoTW after achieving a minimum of 50 state QSO confirmations for contacts made during 2026. See https://www.arrl.org/america250-was for more information, including the State Activations Schedule for W1AW/# stations. CQ DX MARATHON ---> The CQ DX Marathon is a year-long DX hunt, with participants competing to see who can work the greatest number of countries ("entities") and CQ zones during the calendar year. The 2026 edition will start at 00.00 UTC on 1 January and will end at 23.59 UTC on 31 December. See https://dxmarathon.com/ for complete details. INDEXA NEWSLETTER ---> The Winter 2025 issue (#147) of the International DX Association's Newsletter is now available for download on the INDEXA website (https://indexa.org/newsletters.html). Highlights include "Message from the President" by Otis Vicens (NP4G), "E44OM DXpedition Trip Report" by Michal Horecky (OM2DX), "An Impromptu Humanitarian Aid Project at the 9U1RU Burundi DXpedition" by Hal Turley (W8HC), "PJ2 Youth Expedition 2025" by Max Freedman (N4ML). MARCONI CLUB'S QSO PARTY DAY ---> The 8th edition will be held on 3 January from 7 to 21 UTC, on 80, 40 and 20 metres CW. Complete rules can be found on https://www.marconiclub.it/. ARI Loano Marconi Club gathers around 1000 en- thusiasts from all over the world, and is a member of the International CW Council (https://internationalcwcouncil.org/), which "promotes and aids in the retention and growth of International Morse Code as a mode of communi- cation between amateur radio operators". [TNX IK1QBT] VP0SG: SOUTH GEORGIA 2027 ---> The current operating team for the DXpedition to South Georgia includes Rune LA7THA (Team Leader), Erwann LB1QI (Co- Leader), Gjermund LB5GI (Co-Leader), Steve W0ZB (Co-Leader and Team Doctor), Fred F4HEC, Nobby G0VJG, Paul G4PUM, Giampaolo IU2EFB, Svein LA3BO, Philipp OE7PGI, Vlad OK2WX, Alex UR8UQ and Alex UR5UY. The expedition plans to operate from South Georgia in March 2027, subject to obtaining the necessary landing permits. The formal permit process will open in 2026. While logistics support has been secured, collaboration with the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands continues and is progressing well. Bookmark https://www.ardxpeditions.com/dxpeditions/vp0sg for updates. WORLD WIDE AWARD 2026 ---> The 3rd World Wide Award chase will take place on 1-31 January. The WWA combines CW, SSB and digital modes activity from stations around the world with real-time award tracking for the chasers. The 2025 event involved some 150,000 chasers who made 3.7 million QSOs. See See https://hamaward.cloud/wwa for complete information. Announced partici- pants include stations from Argentina LR1WWA Austria 4U1A Azores CR2WWA Balearic Islands EG6WWA Belgium OP0WWA Bosnia-Herzegovina E7W Canada VB2WWA, VC1WWA, VE9WWA Cape Verde D4W Ceuta & Melilla EG9WWA China BA3RA, BA7CK, BG0DXC, BH9CA, BI4SSB, BY1RX, BY2WL, BY5HB, BY6SX, BY8MA Corsica TK4TH Czech Republic OL6WWA East Malaysia 9M8WWA England GB2WWA, GB5WWA European Russia RW1F France TM1WWA, TM18WWA, TM29WWA, TM7WWA, TM9WWA Germany DA0WWA, DL0WWA Greece SX0W Guernsey GB1WWA India AT2WWA, AT3WWA, AT4WWA, AT5WWA, AT6WWA, AT7WWA Indonesia 8A1A Iraq YI1RN Isle of Man GB0WWA Italy II0WWA, II1WWA, II2WWA, II3WWA, II4WWA, II5WWA, II6WWA, II7WWA, II8WWA, II9WWA, IR1WWA Jersey GB9WWA Kazakhstan UP7WWA Mauritius 3B8WWA Netherlands PA26WWA, PC26WWA, PD26WWA, PE26WWA, PF26WWA North Macedonia Z30WWA Northern Ireland GB8WWA Oman A43WWA Philippines DU0WWA Poland 3Z6I, SN0WWA, SN1WWA, SN2WWA, SN3WWA, SN4WWA, SN6WWA, SO3WWA Portugal CQ7WWA, CR5WWA, CR6WWA Puerto Rico W4I Romania YO0WWA Sardinia IR0WWA Scotland GB4WWA Slovenia S53WWA Spain EG1WWA, EG2WWA, EG3WWA, EG4WWA, EG5WWA, EG7WWA Sweden SB9WWA, SC9WWA, SD9WWA Switzerland HB9WWA Thailand E2WWA Ukraine EM0WWA USA N0W, N1W, N4W, N5W, N6W, N8W, N9W Venezuela 4M5A, 4M5DX Wales GB6WWA West Malaysia 9M2WWA + SILENT KEY + Bert Van Den Berg, PA3GIO suddenly passed away on December 5. From 1993 to 2007, he was a familiar presence on the DX scene, having oper- ated from a large number of countries and IOTA groups. He was the recipient of the IOTA Merit Award (2002) for outstanding service to the IOTA Communi- ty, as well as of the SouthWest Ohio DX Association's DXpeditioner of the Year Award (2005). His family will keep his website alive as a record of his time on the air, ensuring that his memory lives on: https://www.pa3gio.nl. =========================== *** 4 2 5 D X N E W S *** ******* QSL ROUTES ******* =========================== Edited by I1JQJ & IK1ADH Direttore Responsabile I2VGW =================================================================== CALL MANAGER CALL MANAGER CALL MANAGER =================================================================== 3V8LL IT9TQH ED7PT EA7TB ON4USA ON4GDV 4U1UN HB9BOU EG130LUM EA1RCI OR81NUTS ON5UB 4X25A 4X6ZM EG6CSS EA6ZX PD2026HNY PD5S 4X25M 4X6ZM FM4TI EA5GL PZ5OZ OZ0J 4X25S 4X6ZM HB525SH HB9FU TJ1GD SP3EOL 4X25X 4X6ZM HI6M EB7DX TM4DEE F4GBW 4X8NER 4Z5MU HK4/DF3TJ ON5JC TR8CR F6AJA 4Z8NER 4Z5MU HS0ZET DF6RK UN/OH7O M0OXO 5Q4XT DL4XT HS0ZJF ON4AFU UN8PT EA7FTR 5R8IC F6ICX HS0ZME SM6NT VC9A VE9CF 5Z4VJ M0URX HS0ZMY EA5GL VP2MAA IK2DUW 9A68AA 9A2AA LZ2025ZONE LZ2VP Z81D OM3JW 9J2BO EA5GL LZ306WW LZ1KCP ZS4JAN EA5GL ED26HNY EA5URV NP3A EB7DX ZS6CCY K3IRV 4L4DX Alexander Nersesian, 1790 E Indigo Dr, Chandler AZ 85286, USA 9Y9DX Earl J. Markey, 26 W College Ave, Yardley PA 19067, USA OH9SCL Anssi Puuronen, Kemijoen Itapuolentie 1577, 97110 Rautiosaari, Finland PJ2ND Jeffrey A. Maass, 9256 Concord Rd, Powell OH 43065-9625, USA XW4KV Vincent Colombo, 32 rue de Gibrand, 17350 Port d'Envaux, France **************************************************************************** 425 DX NEWS HOME PAGE: https://www.425dxn.org/ **************************************************************************** 425 DX News is a free of charge weekly bulletin edited by Mauro Pregliasco, I1JQJ and Valeria Pregliasco, IK1ADH Its contents may be used, reproduced and distributed in part or full provided that "425 DX News" or "425DXN" receive proper credit Contributors are invited to send their DX information to Mauro Pregliasco, I1JQJ (i1jqj...@gmail.com) The deadline is 12 UTC on Fridays **************************************************************************** Direttore Responsabile Gabriele Villa, I2VGW Giornalista Professionista - Tessera n. 071675 Ordine Nazionale dei Giornalisti Roma, Italia **************************************************************************** 27 December 2025 A.R.I. DX Bulletin No 1808 =========================== *** 4 2 5 D X N E W S *** ******* CALENDAR ******* =========================== Edited by I1JQJ & IK1ADH Direttore Responsabile I2VGW PERIOD CALL REF till 28/12 PH25XMAS: special callsign 1804 till 29/12 9Y9DX: Trinidad (SA-011) 1807 till 29/12 II3GONG: special callsign 1795 till 30/12 A9100IARU: special callsign 1761 till 30/12 HS25SG: special callsign 1804 till 31/12 4T95O: special callsign 1803 till 31/12 4U0ITU: ITU HQ 1775 till 31/12 4X25X, 4X25M, 4X25A, 4X25S: special callsigns 1807 till 31/12 9A169TESLA: special callsign 1786 till 31/12 9A68AA: special callsign 1759 till 31/12 AT44I: Bharati Research Station, Antarctica 1759 till 31/12 D450ICV: special callsign (Cabo Verde) 1762 till 31/12 December YOTA Month (DYM) 1804 till 31/12 DL100DM: special callsign 1756 till 31/12 GB70RS: special callsign 1758 till 31/12 H82AT: special callsign (Panama) 1775 till 31/12 HB20SOTA: special callsign 1758 till 31/12 HB70IPA: special callsign 1797 till 31/12 HF4SES: special callsign 1801 till 31/12 HG100AN, HG100EG, HG100FO: special callsigns 1802 till 31/12 HG100IT, HG100RC, HG100SD, HG100UD: special callsigns 1802 till 31/12 HG100RADIO and HG100YHRB: special callsigns 1802 till 31/12 II4TJTB: special callsign 1757 till 31/12 LA100A: special callsign 1756 till 31/12 LZ306WW: special callsign 1758 till 31/12 LZ75IPA: special callsign 1761 till 31/12 OF60AP: special callsign 1758 till 31/12 OL100I, OL100A, OL100R, OL100U: special callsigns 1772 till 31/12 OL100IARU: special callsign 1772 till 31/12 OL26WRTC: special callsign 1781 till 31/12 OR81NUTS: special callsign 1805 till 31/12 PA25XMAS: special callsign 1804 till 31/12 PA40MARAC: special callsign 1765 till 31/12 PD25STAR: special callsign 1804 till 31/12 PF25XMAS: special callsign 1804 till 31/12 PI25XMAS: special callsign 1804 till 31/12 S5100IARU: special callsign 1762 till 31/12 SN0TPAX: special callsign 1804 till 31/12 VR100IARU: special callsign 1773 till 31/12 XF4B: Socorro Island (NA-030), Revillagigedo 1808 till 31/12 YO0HOHO, YO0XMAS, YR0UDOLPH: special callsigns 1804 till 31/12 ZS100SARL: special callsign 1756 till 01/01 2026 PA25SANTA: special callsign 1804 till 02/01 2026 PD25HOLLY, PD25REDNOSE, PD25SANTA: special callsigns 1805 till 02/01 2026 PD25XMAS, PD25HOHOHO, PD26HNWY: special callsigns 1805 till 02/01 2026 PZ5OZ: Suriname 1805 till 03/01 2026 4K/DL4XT: Azerbaijan 1806 till 05/01 2026 TG9/AF4CZ: Guatemala 1804 till 12/01 2026 EG1NV: special callsign 1804 till 15/01 2026 TO2FY: French Guiana 1806 till 15/01 2026 V73JW: Kwajalein (OC-028), Marshall Islands 1792 till 18/01 2026 CN35CAN: special callsign 1806 till 18/01 2026 XU7GNY: Cambodia 1807 till 25/01 2016 C5YK: The Gambia 1805 till 31/01 2026 PD26HNY: special callsign 1804 till 22/02 2026 ZL60PAH: special callsign 1802 till 12/03 2026 HR5/F2JD: Honduras 1799 till 24/03 2026 V51WH and V55Y: Namibia 1802 till 30/03 2026 Z81D: South Sudan 1806 till 31/03 2026 CN2YD: Morocco 1803 till 31/03 2026 YR1600VT: special callsign 1788 till 17/04 2026 JI3DST/p and JJ5RBH/p: Miyako Island (AS-079) 1805 till 17/04 2026 JS6RRR, JI3DST/6, JJ5RBH/6: Miyako Island (AS-079) 1805 till June 2026 TL8BNW: Central African Republic 1807 till 06/08 2026 ZL100C: special callsign 1789 till 30/09 2026 9A10SOTA: special callsign 1795 till 10/11 2026 PA50JT: special callsign 1803 27/12-16/02 2026 LZ0A: South Shetland Islands (AN-010) 1807 28/12-05/01 2026 PH26HNY: special callsign 1804 29/12-03/01 2026 KH0/AJ6VJ: Saipan (OC-086) 1807 29/12-11/01 2026 R2026A, R2026C, R2026L: special callsigns 1806 29/12-11/01 2026 R2026N, R2026NY, R2026S: special callsigns 1806 29/12-11/01 2026 R2026X, UE26HNY, UE26NY: special callsigns 1806 30/12-03/01 2026 3A/MM0NDX and 3A/MM0SAJ: Monaco 1807 December 5R8IC: Sainte-Marie Island (AF-090) 1795 December HK4/DF3TJ; HK0/DF3TJ (NA-033 and NA-049) 1808 December LZ2025ZONE: special callsign 1807 December RI1ANI: Antarctica 1805 December TZ4AM: Mali 1807 01/01-06/01 2026 LZ1EURO: special callsign 1807 01/01-07/01 2026 CS26REP, CR26REP, CR3REP: special callsigns 1807 01/01-16/01 2026 J38WG: Grenada (NA-024) 1808 01/01-28/01 2026 GB2KW: special callsign (Scotland) 1808 01/01-31/01 2026 4V1L: special callsign 1808 01/01-31/01 2026 SP1894MMK: special callsign 1807 01/01-31/01 2026 World Wide Award (WWA) 1808 01/01-31/03 2026 DF100KWTJ: special callsign 1808 01/01-31/12 2026 9A44FF: special callsign 1808 01/01-31/12 2026 DA100LH, DL100LH, DK100LH: special callsigns 1808 01/01-31/12 2026 DA100TV and DL100TV: special callsigns 1808 01/01-31/12 2026 DB100FT: special callsign 1807 01/01-31/12 2026 DL25WIKI: special callsign 1807 02/01-31/01 2026 K3Y/#: Straight Key Century Club's event 1808 03/01-04/01 2026 GB8KW: special callsign (England) 1808 06/01-14/02 2026 DP1POL: Neumayer III Station (Antarctica) 1803 10/01-17/01 2026 3G9S and CB9N: Isla Navarino (SA-050) 1800 10/01-22/01 2026 AU7RS: Agatti (AS-011), Lakshadweep Islands 1806 12/01-15/02 2026 CE0X: San Ambrosio Island (SA-013) * by XQ7IR 1795 13/01-21/01 2026 PJ7/IW2NEF and FS/IW2NEF: NA-105 1808 13/01-21/01 2026 PJ7/IZ2DPX and FS/IZ2DPX: NA-105 1808 25/01-10/04 2026 H44MS: Malaita (OC-047), Solomon Islands 1793 January 2026 HK4/DF3TJ; HK0/DF3TJ (NA-033 and NA-049) 1808 January 2026 KP5/NP3VI: Desecheo Island 1808 January 2026 LZ2026EURO: special callsign 1807 January 2026 RI1ANI: Antarctica 1805 January 2026 TZ4AM: Mali 1807 01/02-28/02 2026 SP1440SL: special callsign 1807 February 2026 3Y0K: Bouvet Island (AN-002) 1803 February 2026 KP5/NP3VI: Desecheo Island 1808 01/03-31/03 2026 SP1040SSZ: special callsign 1807 19/03-30/03 2026 CY0S: Sable Island (NA-063) 1794 01/04-30/04 2026 SP1865JML: special callsign 1807 01/05-31/05 2026 SP1920KW: special callsign 1807 01/06-30/06 2026 SP1373JA: special callsign 1807 01/07-31/07 2026 SP1183JO: special callsign 1807 01/08-31/08 2026 SP1905MFK: special callsign 1807 01/09-30/09 2026 SP1373AB: special callsign 1807 Sep-Oct 2026 C8K: Mozambique 1806 01/10-31/10 2026 SP1550SK: special callsign 1807 01/11-30/11 2026 SP1234KK: special callsign 1807 01/12-31/12 2026 SP1835JK: special callsign 1807 February 2027 3Y0L: Peter I Island (AN-004) 1748 March 2027 VP0SG: South Georgia Island (AN-007) 1808 ***************************************************************************