What grid square is the DC38 operating area?

DC38 is the live DXRadar reference square for the DC38 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of DC38 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 DC38 right now?

DC38 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 DC38 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator DC38. Coordinating at -61.50°, -113.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

DC38 conditions are FAIR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 118.

Regional Radar

SFI

118

K-Index

1 Kp

Center Coords

-61.5, -113.0

Local Phase

Night

Grayline window

Sunrise 13:17 UTC

Sunset 01:33 UTC from DC38

From the DC38 operating area, work the 13:17 UTC and 01:33 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses DC38.

Best band now

10m

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

Closest operating hub

the DC38 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: 13:17 UTC / 01:33 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the DC38 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for DC38, 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 DC38 — the DC38 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from DC38 to each DX region at SFI 118 / Kp 1, 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
South America	4,183 mi	65°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Oceania	4,637 mi	249°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Southern Africa	5,975 mi	144°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
North America	6,995 mi	12°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	8,979 mi	274°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South Asia	9,658 mi	196°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Europe	10,168 mi	84°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for DC38

A planning heuristic for the local day at DC38, built from sunrise 13:17 UTC, sunset 01:33 UTC, SFI 118, and Kp 1. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 13:17 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 13:17 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 01:33 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 01:33 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching DC38 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in DC38, DC39, DC37, DC48, DC28. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate DC38 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

No contest event is currently loaded. For planning from DC38, start with 10m POOR, 15m POOR, 20m FAIR and keep 20m available as the safest all-around fallback.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids