What grid square is the DQ18 operating area?

DQ18 is the live DXRadar reference square for the DQ18 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of DQ18 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 DQ18 right now?

DQ18 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 DQ18 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator DQ18. Coordinating at 78.50°, -117.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

DQ18 conditions are FAIR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 118.

Regional Radar

SFI

118

K-Index

0.67 Kp

Center Coords

78.5, -117.0

Local Phase

Daylight

Grayline window

Sunrise 13:20 UTC

Sunset 02:03 UTC from DQ18

From the DQ18 operating area, work the 13:20 UTC and 02:03 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses DQ18.

Best band now

10m

10m is the headline band right now, with 20m as the dependable fallback if conditions soften.

Closest operating hub

the DQ18 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: Daylight
Aurora exposure: watch during geomagnetic storms
Grayline: 13:20 UTC / 02:03 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the DQ18 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for DQ18, then compare the global live ranking oncurrent ham band conditionsbefore changing bands.

10m

EXCELLENT

15m

EXCELLENT

20m

GOOD

40m

POOR

80m

POOR

● Best DX Windows from DQ18 — the DQ18 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from DQ18 to each DX region at SFI 118 / Kp 0.67, 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
North America	2,781 mi	157°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Europe	3,293 mi	44°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	3,987 mi	292°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South Asia	5,468 mi	346°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South America	6,832 mi	123°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Oceania	8,287 mi	266°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Southern Africa	8,632 mi	41°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for DQ18

A planning heuristic for the local day at DQ18, built from sunrise 13:20 UTC, sunset 02:03 UTC, SFI 118, and Kp 0.67. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 13:20 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 13:20 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 02:03 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 02:03 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching DQ18 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in DQ18, DQ19, DQ17, DQ28, DQ08. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate DQ18 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 DQ18, start with 10m EXCELLENT, 15m EXCELLENT, 20m GOOD and keep 20m available as the safest all-around fallback.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids