What grid square is the JA20 operating area?

JA20 is the live DXRadar reference square for the JA20 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of JA20 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 JA20 right now?

JA20 is currently rated POOR. The best bands right now are 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m, 10m, with 20m as the main band to watch first.

Grid JA20 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator JA20. Coordinating at -89.50°, 5.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

JA20 conditions are POOR. Best bands: 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m, 10m. SFI: 121.

Regional Radar

SFI

121

K-Index

3 Kp

Center Coords

-89.5, 5.0

Local Phase

Night

Grayline window

Sunrise no sunrise — polar day

Sunset no sunset — polar day from JA20

From the JA20 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 JA20.

Best band now

20m

Night operation should keep 20m on watch and move to 40m as the path darkens.

Closest operating hub

the JA20 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: Darkness
Aurora exposure: watch during geomagnetic storms
Grayline: no sunrise — polar day / no sunset — polar day
Best high band: 20m
Nearest city: the JA20 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for JA20, then compare the global live ranking oncurrent ham band conditionsbefore changing bands.

10m

POOR

15m

POOR

20m

FAIR

40m

GOOD

80m

GOOD

● Best DX Windows from JA20 — the JA20 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from JA20 to each DX region at SFI 121 / 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
Oceania	4,174 mi	145°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Southern Africa	4,390 mi	21°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South America	5,166 mi	297°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South Asia	7,728 mi	73°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	8,729 mi	133°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
North America	8,921 mi	257°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Europe	9,639 mi	5°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for JA20

A planning heuristic for the local day at JA20, built from sunrise no sunrise — polar day, sunset no sunset — polar day, SFI 121, 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 JA20 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in JA20, JA21, JA20, JA30, JA10. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate JA20 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 JA20: 10m POOR, 15m POOR, 20m FAIR. Current solar conditions (SFI 121, K 3) favor 10m, 15m, 20m for this contest weekend.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids