What grid square is the NM86 operating area?

NM86 is the live DXRadar reference square for the NM86 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of NM86 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 NM86 right now?

NM86 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 NM86 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator NM86. Coordinating at 36.50°, 97.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

NM86 conditions are POOR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 105.

Regional Radar

SFI

105

K-Index

1.33 Kp

Center Coords

36.5, 97.0

Local Phase

Daylight

Grayline window

Sunrise 23:20 UTC

Sunset 11:31 UTC from NM86

From the NM86 operating area, work the 23:20 UTC and 11:31 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses NM86.

Best band now

10m

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

Closest operating hub

the NM86 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: 23:20 UTC / 11:31 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the NM86 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for NM86, 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 NM86 — the NM86 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from NM86 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	1,516 mi	234°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	2,267 mi	78°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Europe	4,224 mi	313°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Oceania	5,736 mi	136°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Southern Africa	6,320 mi	238°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
North America	7,134 mi	12°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
South America	10,299 mi	307°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for NM86

A planning heuristic for the local day at NM86, built from sunrise 23:20 UTC, sunset 11:31 UTC, SFI 105, and Kp 1.33. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 23:20 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 23:20 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 11:31 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 11:31 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching NM86 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in NM86, NM87, NM85, NM96, NM76. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate NM86 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 NM86: 10m EXCELLENT, 15m EXCELLENT, 20m GOOD. Current solar conditions (SFI 105, K 1.33) favor 10m, 15m, 20m for this contest weekend.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids