What grid square is the FQ04 operating area?

FQ04 is the live DXRadar reference square for the FQ04 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of FQ04 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 FQ04 right now?

FQ04 is currently rated FAIR. The best bands right now are 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m, with 10m as the main band to watch first.

HomeSFI --K ---:-- UTC

Grid FQ04 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator FQ04. Coordinating at 74.50°, -79.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

FQ04 conditions are FAIR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 137.

Regional Radar

SFI

137

K-Index

3 Kp

Center Coords

74.5, -79.0

Local Phase

Daylight

Grayline window

Sunrise no sunrise — polar day

Sunset no sunset — polar day from FQ04

From the FQ04 operating area, work the no sunrise — polar day and no sunset — polar day grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses FQ04.

Best band now

10m

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

Closest operating hub

the FQ04 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: no sunrise — polar day / no sunset — polar day
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the FQ04 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for FQ04, 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 FQ04 — the FQ04 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from FQ04 to each DX region at SFI 137 / Kp 3, 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	2,529 mi	205°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Europe	2,914 mi	73°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	4,616 mi	328°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South Asia	5,691 mi	21°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South America	6,252 mi	160°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Southern Africa	8,221 mi	83°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Oceania	8,935 mi	302°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for FQ04

A planning heuristic for the local day at FQ04, built from sunrise no sunrise — polar day, sunset no sunset — polar day, SFI 137, and Kp 3. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around no sunrise — polar day

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after no sunrise — polar day

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 no sunset — polar day

20m · 40m

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

Night

after no sunset — polar day

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching FQ04 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in FQ04, FQ05, FQ03, FQ14, EQ94. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate FQ04 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

Worked All Europe - SSB starts Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT. Current forecast from FQ04: 10m EXCELLENT, 15m EXCELLENT, 20m GOOD. Current solar conditions (SFI 137, K 3) favor 10m, 15m, 20m for this contest weekend.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids