What grid square is the NQ21 operating area?

NQ21 is the live DXRadar reference square for the NQ21 operating area. The exact portable or home QTH may vary within the square, but this page tracks the center of NQ21 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 NQ21 right now?

NQ21 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 NQ21 Band Conditions

Localized HF conditions for Maidenhead locator NQ21. Coordinating at 71.50°, 85.00°. Updated with real-time telemetry from NOAA and DX cluster reports.

NQ21 conditions are FAIR. Best bands: 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m. SFI: 118.

Regional Radar

SFI

118

K-Index

0.67 Kp

Center Coords

71.5, 85.0

Local Phase

Night

Grayline window

Sunrise 00:02 UTC

Sunset 12:25 UTC from NQ21

From the NQ21 operating area, work the 00:02 UTC and 12:25 UTC grayline windows: probe 20m, 30m, and 40m in the 15 minutes either side while the terminator crosses NQ21.

Best band now

10m

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

Closest operating hub

the NQ21 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: 00:02 UTC / 12:25 UTC
Best high band: 10m
Nearest city: the NQ21 operating area

● Local Band Quality Scorings

Use this local score for NQ21, 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 NQ21 — the NQ21 operating area

Great-circle distance, short-path beam heading, the bands most likely open right now from NQ21 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	2,681 mi	278°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
East Asia / Japan	3,082 mi	113°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South Asia	3,432 mi	189°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
North America	4,801 mi	2°	10m, 15m, 20m	Open now
Southern Africa	7,296 mi	233°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
Oceania	7,668 mi	123°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now
South America	8,247 mi	318°	40m, 20m, 80m	Open now

● Band-by-Time Plan for NQ21

A planning heuristic for the local day at NQ21, built from sunrise 00:02 UTC, sunset 12:25 UTC, SFI 118, and Kp 0.67. Not a measurement — a starting point for where to listen as the day turns.

Dawn grayline

around 00:02 UTC

40m · 30m · 20m

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

Morning

after 00:02 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 12:25 UTC

20m · 40m

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

Night

after 12:25 UTC

40m · 80m

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

Recent local activity

Spots touching NQ21 and the adjacent squares

These are the newest 10m, 15m, and 20m reports where one side of the path sits in NQ21, NQ22, NQ20, NQ31, NQ11. This gives the page unique, local context instead of a generic solar snapshot.

No fresh PSKReporter paths are cached for the immediate NQ21 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 NQ21: 10m POOR, 15m POOR, 20m FAIR. Current solar conditions (SFI 118, K 0.67) favor 10m, 15m, 20m for this contest weekend.

Open contest calendar

Nearby grids