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A New Tool for Seeing HF Conditions in Real Time

ak6fp

New Member
Jun 4, 2025
6
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I’ve been experimenting with a new tool that visualizes HF propagation in real time using live data from multiple networks — WSPRnet, Reverse Beacon Network, PSK Reporter, and various DX Clusters.

The result is https://dxlook.com, a site designed to give amateur radio operators a visual feel for current band conditions. You can filter by band (10m–160m), mode (Digital, CW, SSB), and perspective grid (your QTH), and it builds a live propagation heatmap around that location.

The site offers a few different ways to look at things:

• Summary View shows signal activity aggregated by grid square — a quick glance at where things are happening.
• Cluster View centers everything around your location (or any 4-character grid you choose) so you can see where signals are going to and from in your area.
• MUF View (still in beta) estimates maximum usable frequency zones based on actual reported paths — a dynamic take on real-time band openings.

There’s also a compact Band Conditions widget that pulls in solar data (SFI, A/K, SN) and gives a per-band outlook (Good/Fair/Poor) based on time of day. Plus, a handy “Find My Grid” button makes it easy to auto-locate your current grid square without needing to look it up.

It’s built by a ham (me — AK6FP) and is completely free to use — no accounts, no distractions. Just open it and explore. I’m actively improving the site based on community feedback, so if you have ideas, I’d love to hear them.

Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think: https://dxlook.com
post_band_conditions_w.png
 

Nice setup and design. However, the the A index shows different at 5 whereas the HAMQSL that's widely used still shows a very high number of 58. I also see way more activity on PSK reporter.
 
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Nice setup and design. However, the the A index shows different at 5 whereas the HAMQSL that's widely used still shows a very high number of 58. I also see way more activity on PSK reporter.
Hi! One of the main reasons I started this project was the lack of clear and centralized information on other platforms, especially regarding propagation data.

For example, in the case of the K and A indices, I use NOAA’s planetary K-index JSON feed as the data source. The cache is refreshed every 10 minutes, while NOAA typically updates the data every three hours.

As for PSK Reporter activity — it’s one of several data sources I rely on, as mentioned in the post. That said, there are some limitations in terms of collection. In my implementation, I fetch their data every 20 minutes.

Thanks again for the comment!
 
Checked it out and like it! Bookmarked.

Thanks and 7 3
 
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Adding 6m would make it even better!

7 3

Hi! There is 6m data available in both the Summary view and, more importantly, in the Cluster view.

For some reason (which I’m still troubleshooting), 6m is proving tricky to display correctly in the MUF view. I suspect there’s a bug that’s unintentionally filtering out that band in that specific view — I’ll keep digging into it.

Thank you very much for the feedback — it’s always appreciated!
 
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Hi! There is 6m data available in both the Summary view and, more importantly, in the Cluster view.

For some reason (which I’m still troubleshooting), 6m is proving tricky to display correctly in the MUF view. I suspect there’s a bug that’s unintentionally filtering out that band in that specific view — I’ll keep digging into it.

Thank you very much for the feedback — it’s always appreciated!
I should have looked a bit closer. The MUF would be great but not mandatory. Nice site.

7 3
 
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I should have looked a bit closer. The MUF would be great but not mandatory. Nice site.

7 3
I’ve tweaked the MUF modeling a bit to give more weight to 6m in the MUF view — and it looks like it’s working now. So far, the MUF view has definitely been the most complex part of the entire site to get right.
Screenshot 2025-06-04 at 8.39.23 AM.png
 
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