What grid square is the HG53 operating area?

HG53 is the live DXRadar reference square for the HG53 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of HG53 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 HG53 right now?

HG53 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 HG53 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator HG53. Coordinating at -26.50°, -29.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

HG53 conditions are POOR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 105.

Regional Radar

SFI

105

K-Index

0.67 Kp

Center Coords

-26.5, -29.0

Local Phase

Daylight

Grayline window

Sunrise 07:47 UTC

Sunset 19:53 UTC from HG53

From the HG53 operating area, work the 07:47 UTC and 19:53 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses HG53.

Best band now

10m

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

Closest operating hub

the HG53 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: mid-latitude
Local phase: Daylight
Aurora exposure: low at this latitude
Grayline: 07:47 UTC / 19:53 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the HG53 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for HG53, 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 HG53 — the HG53 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from HG53 to each DX region at SFI 105 / 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
South America	2,029 mi	287°	40m, 80m, 20m	Open now
Southern Africa	3,381 mi	102°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Europe	5,801 mi	24°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
North America	6,343 mi	313°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South Asia	7,890 mi	76°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Oceania	8,533 mi	179°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	11,428 mi	46°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for HG53

A planning heuristic for the local day at HG53, built from sunrise 07:47 UTC, sunset 19:53 UTC, SFI 105, and Kp 0.67. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 07:47 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 07:47 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 19:53 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 19:53 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching HG53 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in HG53, HG54, HG52, HG63, HG43. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate HG53 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 HG53: 10m EXCELLENT, 15m EXCELLENT, 20m GOOD. Current solar conditions (SFI 105, K 0.67) favor 10m, 15m, 20m for this contest weekend.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids