What grid square is Chicago?

EN61 is the live DXRadar reference square for Chicago. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of EN61 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 EN61 right now?

EN61 is currently rated POOR. The best bands right now are 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m, with 10m as the main band to watch first.

Grid EN61 Band Conditions — Chicago

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator EN61. Coordinating at 41.50°, -87.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

EN61 conditions are POOR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 104.

Regional Radar

SFI

104

K-Index

0 Kp

Center Coords

41.5, -87.0

Local Phase

Daylight

Grayline window

Sunrise 11:35 UTC

Sunset 23:49 UTC from EN61

From Chicago, work the 11:35 UTC and 23:49 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses EN61.

Best band now

10m

10m and 20m are the main daytime rate bands from this part of North America. Watch 10m first if SFI stays elevated.

Closest operating hub

Chicago

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

Latitude zone: mid-latitude
Local phase: Daylight
Aurora exposure: low at this latitude
Grayline: 11:35 UTC / 23:49 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: Chicago

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for EN61, 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 EN61 — Chicago

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from EN61 to each DX region at SFI 104 / Kp 0, 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	4,321 mi	148°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Europe	4,375 mi	46°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	6,373 mi	325°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South Asia	7,945 mi	15°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Southern Africa	8,541 mi	97°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Oceania	9,203 mi	265°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for EN61

A planning heuristic for the local day at EN61, built from sunrise 11:35 UTC, sunset 23:49 UTC, SFI 104, and Kp 0. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 11:35 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 11:35 UTC

20m · 15m

Modest SFI — 20m is the daytime workhorse here.

Midday

local noon

15m · 20m

20m and 15m carry the daytime load at this SFI.

Dusk grayline

around 23:49 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 23:49 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching EN61 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in EN61, EN62, EN60, EN71, EN51. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate EN61 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 EN61, start with 10m EXCELLENT, 15m EXCELLENT, 20m GOOD and keep 20m available as the safest all-around fallback.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids