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Best HF conditions in 20 years, Give the gift of ham radio this holiday season!
The Best HF Conditions in 20 Years
This opportunity may not come again for decades!
 Maybe you already have the General or Extra license, but have not yet made the leap to HF? There hasn't been a better moment to get active on HF in two decades!
Solar Cycle 25 Is Peaking—and It’s Opening the Bands Like Magic
We're at the high point of Solar Cycle 25, and the ionosphere is doing things many newer hams have never experienced. (By comparison, the 2014 solar peak was the weakest in 100 years.) Right now, high solar flux and frequent (but not too severe) geomagnetic enhancements are producing:
- Long-haul DX on 10, 12, and 15 meters—bands that were nearly dead for years.
- Reliable daylight propagation on 17, 20, and even 30 meters.
- Nighttime surprises on 40 and 80 meters, with paths opening that used to be rare.
- QRP-friendly conditions where 5 watts can sound like a kilowatt.
- Better DX in a single afternoon than some hams have heard in 20 years.
The bands that are so open, active, and forgiving that the learning curve is gentler than it’s been in a generation. You get more reward for every minute spent experimenting.
These conditions will not last. Solar cycles peak for a brief window—think in terms of months, not years—and then slowly fade for the next 6-7 years.
If you wait until 2026 or 2027, you’ll still enjoy HF, but you’ll be looking back and wishing you’d been on the air now.
HF Radio Is Less Noisy Than It Used to Be
For years, many hams felt HF was getting noisier—not because of propagation, but because of RFI from cheap switching supplies, solar inverters, LED lighting, and poorly shielded electronics.
But something unexpected has happened:
- FCC and industry standards have tightened in the past few years.
- Many solar inverters now ship with improved EMI filtering.
- Consumer LED lighting has become dramatically quieter.
- Cheap imports are increasingly required to meet compatibility standards.
The result? More hams are reporting lower noise floors than they’ve had in years. Combined with strong propagation, HF is once again a place where everyday operators with modest antennas can work DX.
Radios and Antennas Have Never Been More Affordable
If you’ve been holding off because of the cost of HF gear, the landscape has changed:
- New-generation software-defined radios (SDRs) are delivering performance close to that of high-end rigs at midrange prices.
- Used HF rigs from a few years ago are selling for a song.
- Resonant wire antennas are inexpensive and work phenomenally well in this solar cycle.
- Compact verticals and end-fed half-wave (EFHW) antennas are making HF realistic even for HOA-restricted hams.
The cost-to-performance curve on HF has never been better.
The HF Community Is Larger, Friendlier, and Easier to Engage With
HF used to feel intimidating to new operators—but today:
- Large, active online HF communities help newcomers learn the ropes.
- Digital modes like FT8, JS8Call, and FT4 give even shy operators a low-pressure way to get on the air.
You’re stepping into the most active and accessible ham community HF has ever seen.
Getting to General is Quick and Easy
If you don't have the General class license yet, it doesn't take much time. Most students are ready to pass the General exam after just 20 hours of study. Study for 3 hours per day, and you can be ready in a week.
See how Brandon went from Technician to Extra in 22 days.
See how Dustin went from General to Extra in 11 days (once he got serious about it).
See how Greg went from Zero to Extra in 15 days.
Give the Gift of Ham Radio this Holiday Season!
Share ham radio with your friends and family
Looking for a unique gift that inspires, educates, and lasts a lifetime? A HamTestOnline™ gift subscription is the perfect way to help friends or family get their ham radio license or upgrade their privileges. Our holiday sale is live now, so it’s the best time to save while sharing the joy of amateur radio. Whether they’re brand new to the hobby or ready to move up to General or Extra, our online courses make learning quick and easy.
For this holiday season, we've brought back some retro sale prices not seen in years:
- Technician — $19.95 (43% off the list price).
- General — $24.95 (41% off the list price).
- Extra — $29.95 (38% off the list price).
Whether you’re giving the gift of ham radio to someone special, or taking advantage of the savings for yourself, our online courses make it easy to succeed.
To order gift subscriptions, reply to this email with the details of the subscriptions you’d like — which course(s) you want, how many of each, and whether you’d like subscription codes by email or gift certificates by postal mail (great for the Christmas tree). (We charge a small shipping fee on mailed gift certificates to cover printing and postage.) Click here for details.
Feel free to respond to this email with comments for the HamTestOnline™ team. We love feedback!
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