What grid square is the BB42 operating area?

BB42 is the live DXRadar reference square for the BB42 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of BB42 for planning propagation.

How do I find my grid square?

Use a Maidenhead grid lookup from your GPS coordinates or street address, then compare that grid with the nearby squares linked on this page. A 4-character grid is enough for most HF planning.

What bands are open in BB42 right now?

BB42 is currently rated FAIR. The best bands right now are 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m, with 10m as the main band to watch first.

Grid BB42 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator BB42. Coordinating at -77.50°, -151.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

BB42 conditions are FAIR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 118.

Regional Radar

SFI

118

K-Index

0.33 Kp

Center Coords

-77.5, -151.0

Local Phase

Night

Grayline window

Sunrise 15:39 UTC

Sunset 04:16 UTC from BB42

From the BB42 operating area, work the 15:39 UTC and 04:16 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses BB42.

Best band now

10m

Night operation should keep 20m on watch and move to 40m as the path darkens.

Closest operating hub

the BB42 operating area

This square sits in a mixed-region footprint and is best used as a planning center for portable, field-day, and home-station band decisions.

Latitude zone: high-latitude
Local phase: Darkness
Aurora exposure: watch during geomagnetic storms
Grayline: 15:39 UTC / 04:16 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the BB42 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for BB42, then compare the global live ranking oncurrent ham band conditionsbefore changing bands.

10m

POOR

15m

POOR

20m

FAIR

40m

EXCELLENT

80m

EXCELLENT

● Best DX Windows from BB42 — the BB42 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from BB42 to each DX region at SFI 118 / Kp 0.33, and a current verdict. "Open now" means a suitable band is scoring well on that path; "Try ~HH:MM" points at the next far-end grayline. Band picks and status are a planning heuristic, not a measurement.

Target	Distance	Beam	Bands to try	Status
Oceania	3,746 mi	294°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South America	5,252 mi	96°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Southern Africa	5,285 mi	177°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South Asia	8,279 mi	234°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
North America	8,352 mi	46°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	8,369 mi	297°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Europe	10,473 mi	154°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for BB42

A planning heuristic for the local day at BB42, built from sunrise 15:39 UTC, sunset 04:16 UTC, SFI 118, and Kp 0.33. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 15:39 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

Grayline enhancement — low bands reach long distances as the terminator passes.

Morning

after 15:39 UTC

20m · 15m · 10m

High bands rising with the sun; check 10m for DX.

Midday

local noon

10m · 15m · 20m

Peak high-band window — 10m and 15m open widest.

Dusk grayline

around 04:16 UTC

20m · 40m

Second grayline peak — 20m holds, then hands off to 40m.

Night

after 04:16 UTC

40m · 80m

Low bands own the darkness — 40m for DX, 80m regional.

Recent local activity

Spots touching BB42 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in BB42, BB43, BB41, BB52, BB32. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate BB42 footprint right now. That usually means you should widen the search to the nearest regional hubs below or fall back to 20m/40m for the next operating window.

Top DX targets

Where this grid is reaching right now

No outbound targets were strong enough to rank from the current cache. Check back after the next PSKReporter refresh or switch to the regional grids below.

Contest preview

Next major contest outlook

CQ World Wide DX Contest - SSB starts Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT. Current forecast from BB42: 10m POOR, 15m POOR, 20m FAIR. Current solar conditions (SFI 118, K 0.33) favor 10m, 15m, 20m for this contest weekend.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids