Short answer: December is usually a busy month for HF contesters, with events that suit the long winter nights on the low bands and a few that use the higher bands. This article is a general guide to planning the month and does not list exact dates, because dates, rules and exchanges change from year to year. Always check the organisers’ sites for the current calendar, choose a few events that fit your station and your free time, and note the log deadline of each.
What December usually brings
In the northern hemisphere, December has long nights, and this favours the low bands. Contests that use 160 metres and 80 metres are popular, and so are events that reward good listening on the bands where signals are weak. Alongside these, there are usually contests on the higher bands, and several events in digital and CW modes. The mix changes slightly from year to year, and some organisers move the dates, so the calendar of last year is a rough guide only.
Among the events often held at this time of year are a 160-metre contest, a 10-metre contest and a topband challenge. The details of each, including the dates, the exchange and the categories, are published by the organisers. For one example of a December event, see the Stew Perry Topband Challenge. Check the current rules and calendar for every event before you plan, since this article cannot replace them.
Where to find reliable dates
The only reliable source for a date is the organiser’s own page, and the next best are the large contest calendars that are run by volunteers and are updated often. Use at least two sources when you plan, and check again a few weeks before the event, since changes are possible. Note the start and end time in UTC, and convert them to your local time with care, particularly if your country changes between summer and winter time.
The article on contest schedule and UTC planning explains how to avoid mistakes in time conversion, and the one on the November contest calendar shows the same approach for the previous month. If you take part in contests in several time zones, keep a calendar with UTC times and add reminders for the start of each event.
Choosing which events to enter
You cannot do everything, and trying to do so leads to tired operators and poor results. Choose two or three events that suit your station and your interests. If you have a good low-band antenna, a topband event is a natural choice. If your station is better on the higher bands, look for those. If you want to practise a mode, choose an event in that mode. And if you have only a weekend or two free, choose one main event and treat the others as short, relaxed sessions.
Look at your past results. The article on choosing your contest category from your own statistics and the one on setting realistic goals from last year’s statistics help to decide which events and categories bring the best return. A short look at last year’s log, in the same contest, shows what you can expect and what you can improve.
Planning your time
For each event, decide how many hours you can operate and when. A single-operator entry in a long contest needs rest, and the rules may limit the operating time in some categories. Check the rules about breaks and operating periods, as described in off-time rules for single operators. For an event that you treat lightly, a few hours at the best times may be enough, and a clean log is more useful than a long one with errors.
Also plan the other parts of life. The month has holidays and family time, and a contest in the middle of a busy week is a different thing from one in a quiet weekend. Tell the people around you in advance, and plan the preparation of the station and the notes so that the contest does not take over the whole month.
Preparing the station for the cold season
Winter brings its own problems for the station. Antennas can ice up, feed lines can be damaged by frost and the outdoor work is more difficult. Check the antennas and the cables before the first event, and keep a note of any change in the station notebook. The article on the station change notebook describes the habit. Test the low-band receiving setup in particular, since noise levels and local interference can change, and a quiet receiving antenna is the best help on the low bands.
Also check the computer, the logger and the radio connection. Update the country file well before the contest, as described in why you update the country file before a big contest, and test the exchange of each contest in your logger. A new version of the logger or a new contest module may behave differently from last year.
Logs and deadlines
Each contest has its own deadline for the log, and the deadlines are different. Some are a few days after the contest, and some are weeks. Write each deadline in your calendar as soon as you know it, and add a reminder a few days earlier. The article on contest log deadlines explains why they differ, and the one on submitting a Cabrillo log describes the upload. Do not leave all the logs of the month to the end: check and send each log soon after its contest.
Contest Analyzer helps with the check for the 22 contests it supports, listed on the contests page. It checks every callsign and every zone against official license databases and several independent reference sources and shows only the few QSOs worth a second look. It marks QSOs outside the contest period and outside the band limits for your ITU region, with split QSOs shown as a note, and you can edit calls, zones, time and frequency in the report, mark QSOs checked in your own audio recording and download a corrected Cabrillo. It gives full statistics and year-on-year comparison with your own logs, so you can see how each December event went compared with the last. It works with Cabrillo from N1MM Logger+, DXLog and Win-Test.
Keeping a record of the month
After each event, write a short note: the date, the category, the hours, the bands and one or two lessons. At the end of the month, you will have a small record that helps you plan the next year. It is also a good moment to compare the events: which one gave the best result for the time, which was the most fun, and which one you would skip next time. The article on your post-contest review routine describes a quick way to do this.
The calendar of the next year starts in the same way. Keep a list of the events that you enjoyed and put them in your calendar when the organisers publish the new dates. A calendar built from your own experience is more useful than any list that others publish.
Keeping the month in balance
It is easy to plan too much in a month with several attractive events. A useful rule is to decide in advance what the main event is and to plan everything else around it. Rest well before the main event, and take the lighter ones as relaxed practice. If you find that the first event of the month has used all your energy, it is better to skip the next one than to operate tired and make errors that cost you more than the points you gain.
Think also about the weather and the season in your location. In some countries December brings snow and ice, in others storms or heat. Prepare the station for what your climate may bring, and have a simple plan if the antenna or the power fails: a spare antenna, a battery for the radio, a second computer with the logger installed. A short test of the plan in November is much better than a surprise in the middle of a contest.
Finally, enjoy the month. The calendar is a tool, and not a duty. If one event does not fit your life this year, leave it, and come back next year. Contesting is a long hobby, and the best results come to those who stay in it for many years.
A last practical point concerns the exchanges. Each event has its own, and in a busy month it is easy to carry the habits of one contest into the next. Before each event, read the exchange in the current rules again, set the logger for it and send a test with your macros. A station that sends a serial number where a zone is expected, or the reverse, will lose QSOs in the first minutes and may not notice until the log check. A calm ten minutes before the start prevents it.
It also pays to review the rules for changes. Organisers sometimes adjust categories, bands or log submission methods from one year to the next, and the summary that you remember from last year may be out of date. Read the rules page again each time, even for a contest that you know well.
Related reading
The bottom line
Pick a few December events, confirm every date on the organisers’ pages, prepare the station for winter and note each log deadline in your calendar.
FAQ
Are the dates the same every year?
No. Dates and rules change, so always check the current information from the organisers.
How many contests should I enter?
Two or three that fit your station and free time are enough.
Which times should I use for planning?
Use UTC and convert carefully to your local time.
When should I send the logs?
Soon after each contest, and well before the deadline in the current rules.
Where can I find the official calendar?
On the organisers’ sites, supported by the large volunteer contest calendars.
