What grid square is the NM18 operating area?

NM18 is the live DXRadar reference square for the NM18 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of NM18 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 NM18 right now?

NM18 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 NM18 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator NM18. Coordinating at 38.50°, 83.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

NM18 conditions are POOR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 105.

Regional Radar

SFI

105

K-Index

1.33 Kp

Center Coords

38.5, 83.0

Local Phase

Night

Grayline window

Sunrise 00:16 UTC

Sunset 12:27 UTC from NM18

From the NM18 operating area, work the 00:16 UTC and 12:27 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses NM18.

Best band now

10m

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

Closest operating hub

the NM18 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: Darkness
Aurora exposure: low at this latitude
Grayline: 00:16 UTC / 12:27 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the NM18 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for NM18, 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 NM18 — the NM18 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from NM18 to each DX region at SFI 105 / Kp 1.33, 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 Asia	1,178 mi	196°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	2,984 mi	76°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Europe	3,551 mi	308°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Southern Africa	5,781 mi	229°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Oceania	6,402 mi	127°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
North America	7,082 mi	1°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South America	9,567 mi	294°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for NM18

A planning heuristic for the local day at NM18, built from sunrise 00:16 UTC, sunset 12:27 UTC, SFI 105, and Kp 1.33. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 00:16 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 00:16 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 12:27 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 12:27 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching NM18 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in NM18, NM19, NM17, NM28, NM08. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate NM18 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 NM18: 10m POOR, 15m POOR, 20m FAIR. Current solar conditions (SFI 105, K 1.33) favor 10m, 15m, 20m for this contest weekend.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids