What grid square is the FA81 operating area?

FA81 is the live DXRadar reference square for the FA81 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of FA81 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 FA81 right now?

FA81 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 FA81 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator FA81. Coordinating at -88.50°, -63.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

FA81 conditions are FAIR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 121.

Regional Radar

SFI

121

K-Index

1.67 Kp

Center Coords

-88.5, -63.0

Local Phase

Daylight

Grayline window

Sunrise 07:36 UTC

Sunset 00:35 UTC from FA81

From the FA81 operating area, work the 07:36 UTC and 00:35 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses FA81.

Best band now

10m

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

Closest operating hub

the FA81 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: 07:36 UTC / 00:35 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the FA81 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for FA81, 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 FA81 — the FA81 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from FA81 to each DX region at SFI 121 / Kp 1.67, 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
Oceania	4,233 mi	213°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Southern Africa	4,421 mi	90°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South America	5,079 mi	5°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South Asia	7,819 mi	141°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	8,802 mi	201°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
North America	8,828 mi	326°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Europe	9,641 mi	71°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for FA81

A planning heuristic for the local day at FA81, built from sunrise 07:36 UTC, sunset 00:35 UTC, SFI 121, and Kp 1.67. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 07:36 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 07:36 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 00:35 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 00:35 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching FA81 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in FA81, FA82, FA80, FA91, FA71. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate FA81 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 FA81: 10m EXCELLENT, 15m EXCELLENT, 20m GOOD. Current solar conditions (SFI 121, K 1.67) favor 10m, 15m, 20m for this contest weekend.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids