What grid square is the MQ87 operating area?

MQ87 is the live DXRadar reference square for the MQ87 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of MQ87 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 MQ87 right now?

MQ87 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 MQ87 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator MQ87. Coordinating at 77.50°, 77.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

MQ87 conditions are FAIR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 118.

Regional Radar

SFI

118

K-Index

0.67 Kp

Center Coords

77.5, 77.0

Local Phase

Night

Grayline window

Sunrise 00:29 UTC

Sunset 13:02 UTC from MQ87

From the MQ87 operating area, work the 00:29 UTC and 13:02 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses MQ87.

Best band now

10m

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

Closest operating hub

the MQ87 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: 00:29 UTC / 13:02 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the MQ87 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for MQ87, then compare the global live ranking oncurrent ham band conditionsbefore changing bands.

10m

POOR

15m

POOR

20m

FAIR

40m

EXCELLENT

80m

EXCELLENT

● Best DX Windows from MQ87 — the MQ87 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from MQ87 to each DX region at SFI 118 / 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
Europe	2,533 mi	262°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	3,372 mi	110°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South Asia	3,835 mi	179°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
North America	4,385 mi	356°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Southern Africa	7,448 mi	227°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South America	7,850 mi	312°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Oceania	7,993 mi	113°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for MQ87

A planning heuristic for the local day at MQ87, built from sunrise 00:29 UTC, sunset 13:02 UTC, SFI 118, and Kp 0.67. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 00:29 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 00:29 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 13:02 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 13:02 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching MQ87 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in MQ87, MQ88, MQ86, MQ97, MQ77. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate MQ87 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 MQ87, start with 10m POOR, 15m POOR, 20m FAIR and keep 20m available as the safest all-around fallback.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids