Solar Data
Solar Data
Live numbers for the two big HF drivers: how much the sun is fueling the ionosphere (SFI / SSN), and how much Earth’s magnetic field is stirring it up (A / K, plus solar wind + IMF Bz / Bt on the storm side). Small arrows next to each value are 24h trend (up / down / flat), not absolute quality.
10.7 cm solar radio flux — a stand-in for the UV that ionizes the F layer (the layer that bends most HF DX). Higher SFI usually means a higher MUF and better chances on 15 / 12 / 10 m. Rough guide: ~70 solar-min / weak, ~100 usable, 150+ excellent for the high bands.
Count of sunspots. Tracks with SFI across the solar cycle: more spots → richer ionosphere → stronger high-band openings. Changes slowly day to day; use it for “where are we in the cycle?” more than hour-to-hour decisions.
How disturbed Earth’s magnetic field is right now (0–9, updates every
few hours). Quiet K leaves paths alone. Rising K stirs the F layer: polar and high-latitude
paths die first, signals flutter (auroral sound), MUF can drop or go unreliable, and lower
bands (160 / 80 / 40) absorb more on high-lat paths. Mid-latitude short skip often holds up
longer.
0–2 quiet · 3–4 unsettled · 5+ storm
Same idea as K, averaged over the whole day on a linear scale. Best for
“was today stormy?” and recovery: A can stay elevated for hours after K falls
while the ionosphere settles.
<10 quiet · 10–30 unsettled · >30 active / stormy
Interplanetary magnetic field component in nT (GSM). This is the coupling switch between solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere: south (negative) couples well and, with elevated wind, is the classic geomagnetic-storm recipe; north (positive) couples poorly so fast wind often stays quiet. Arrow is the 24h change (more south = worse). When Bz has been south for a while and solar wind is elevated, the map may show an amber IMF SOUTH · STORM RISK banner as a heads-up before K / G rise.
Total interplanetary magnetic field strength in nT — how strong the field is, regardless of direction. Higher Bt means more magnetic energy available; pair it with Bz: high Bt + south Bz is a stronger storm setup than high Bt + north Bz. Arrow is the 24h change (rising = more field energy). Rough guide: <5 quiet, 5–15 elevated, >15 strong.
High SFI + low K → good high-band day. High SFI + high K → lots of ionization but flaky paths (especially polar DX). Low SFI + low K → stable but limited openings. High wind + south Bz (especially with high Bt) → watch for a geomagnetic hit even if K is still quiet. Pair this with Space Wx for flares / blackouts (R scale) and the Conditions widget for per-band Good / Fair / Poor.
Solar Wind Speed
24h timeline of solar-wind plasma speed from NOAA DSCOVR / ACE (far upstream of Earth). Fast streams compress the magnetosphere and are a common reason K and A climb — and why aurora lights up. Watch the shape: a sharp jump often precedes a geomagnetic hit by hours.
Background colors on the chart:
Slow < 400 |
Nom 400–500 |
Elev 500–700 |
High > 700 km/s
Sustained speeds above ~500 km/s often feed G-scale geomagnetic storms (see Space Wx) when Bz is south. Expect degraded reliability on high-latitude and polar paths first; mid-latitude paths can still work. Wind alone is incomplete — confirm with Bz / Bt, rising K, and the G scale before writing the bands off.
Space Wx
Space Wx
NOAA storm scales and live X-ray flux — the event side of space weather. Where Solar Data is the background (fuel vs quiet magnetic field), this widget flags flares, radiation storms, and geomagnetic storms that can kill a band in minutes or wreck polar paths for hours.
Three storm types, four time columns: −24h (what already hit), NOW (current observed level), +24h and +48h (forecast). Numbers are NOAA severity 0–5 (blank / 0 = quiet). Watch both “is it happening now?” and “is something forecast?” — a rising +24h G is your heads-up before K climbs.
Driven by solar X-ray flares. Hard X-rays jack up the D layer on the sunlit side of Earth within minutes — HF signals get absorbed (lower bands first: 160 / 80 / 40 hard hit; higher bands less so). Night-side paths often keep working. Tied to the GOES X-ray chart on the right (M1 ≈ R1, X1 ≈ R3, etc.). Blackouts usually last minutes to an hour after the flare peaks.
Driven by energetic protons from big flares / CMEs. They dump into the polar caps and cause polar-cap absorption (PCA): HF over the poles can go dead for hours to days even when mid-latitude paths look fine. Less common than R or G; when S is up, avoid polar routes and high-latitude DX.
Driven by CMEs and fast solar wind slamming the magnetosphere. Same physical storm family as high K / A in Solar Data and a lit-up aurora oval: F-layer chaos, flutter, depressed or unreliable MUF, worst on polar and high-latitude paths. Unlike R (minutes, sunlit only), G can last many hours and hit day and night.
0 none · 1 minor · 2 moderate · 3 strong · 4 severe · 5 extreme. For operators: 1 is “noticeable,” 3+ is “plan around it,” 5 is rare and nasty. Color intensity in the cells tracks severity.
Spike on X-ray / R rising → expect sunlit HF fade (check the DRAP map). G climbing or forecast → watch K and aurora; polar DX first to go. S up → polar paths toast. All quiet → trust Solar Data (SFI / K) and Conditions for the normal picture. Storm banners on the map jump you here when something is active.
GOES X-Ray Flux
24h timeline of solar X-ray flux from GOES (0.1–0.8 nm long channel). A rapid rise is a flare in progress — that is the live feed behind the R scale. Flux falls after the peak; D-layer absorption eases as it does.
Background bands on the chart (each letter is 10× the previous):
B < 10⁻⁶ |
C 10⁻⁶–10⁻⁵ |
M 10⁻⁵–10⁻⁴ |
X > 10⁻⁴ W/m²
Current class and sub-level (C3.2 = C-class, 3.2× the C threshold). B/C are common background. M and especially X can cause R-scale HF blackouts within minutes on the day side — watch for a steep climb, not just a high plateau. Pair with the DRAP overlay to see where absorption is worst right now.
Map Control
Map Overlay Guide
Real-time calculation of the highest frequency for a 3000km hop. Essential for identifying DX openings on 10m-20m bands.
The highest frequency at which a signal is reflected vertically. Key for NVIS and local regional communication on 40m-160m.
The real VOACAP (ITS HF) engine, run live for your location with your Power, Mode, and DE/DX antennas, with live sporadic-E, then overlaid with live storm/flare effects when those feeds are available. Shows the most reliable band at your chosen reliability threshold; pick a single band to see its 0–100% reliability. Configure antennas, noise, reliability, antenna aim, and sporadic-E in Settings → VOACAP.
When DE Antenna is a Wire or Beam type, a labeled aim graphic appears at your DE pin. BEAM (cyan) is the main-lobe direction VOACAP uses. For wire antennas, WIRE (amber) shows the physical wire run — broadside to the beam, not the same heading. Drag either tip to rotate; right-click the map for Aim antenna here / Aim antenna at DX pin. Isotropic and verticals are omnidirectional — no aim control.
The band pills (160 / 80 / 60 / 40 / 30 / 20 / 17 / 15 / 12 / 10) each render VOACAP coverage for that one band — every point colored 0–100% by how reliably you can work it, on the same scale as the legend. Same engine and settings as VCAP-BEST, just a single band instead of the best one, so you can see exactly where, say, 20 m or 40 m is open right now.
D-Region Absorption Map. Visualizes HF signal attenuation caused by solar X-ray flares and proton events.
Real-time visualization of the Auroral Oval. Indicates where trans-polar paths may be blocked or enhanced by scatter. The Aurora pill shows the global peak probability; a trailing ↑ (amber G1–G2 / red G3+) warns a geomagnetic storm is forecast within 24h.
Magenta heat of where signals are actually being heard right now, from the live PSK Reporter firehose — brighter means busier. Real observed activity, separate from the predicted coverage maps. Use the globe / pin scope toggle in the widget header (left of the collapse arrow) for worldwide vs your local footprint — the same pair the Conditions widget uses.
Live strikes from Blitzortung.org (CC BY–SA 4.0), fetched by the PropDeck server and polled by your browser — clients never open Blitzortung directly. Bolts flash in, age yellow to red, and fade over about two minutes (newest 200 on screen). The bolt icon left of Sats shows/hides the worldwide layer. Nearby activity toasts (within 100 km of DE) are under Settings → Map & Overlays → Alerts & Warnings; with those on, local bolts still draw in that bubble even if the worldwide layer is off.
Draws one world grid on the map: Lat/Lon graticule (15°, refining to 5°/1° with edge degree labels as you zoom), Maidenhead locators (fields, then 2°×1° squares as you zoom in), CQ zones, ITU zones, or the three ITU Regions. Off by default; works in every projection.
These three dropdowns feed the live VOACAP engine used by VCAP-BEST and the per-band reliability pills. Changing any of them re-runs the overlay for your DE. Antennas, aim (main beam / wire run), noise, reliability threshold, and sporadic-E live under Settings → VOACAP.
Your transmit power in watts. Higher power raises predicted SNR and expands the reliable coverage footprint on the map.
Operating mode sets the required SNR for a path to count as reliable (e.g. WSPR and FT8 need less signal than SSB or AM). Pick the mode you actually run so the colors match what you can work.
Minimum takeoff angle VOACAP will consider. Lower values (e.g. >1°) include grazing low-angle DX paths; higher (e.g. >9°) favor shorter / higher-angle hops and match antennas that don't launch low. Default >3° is a solid all-round choice.
Help comes in two places. This panel covers the app itself — your station, the map, layout, and settings. Each widget explains itself: tap the ? in any widget's header for a guide to the numbers it shows.
Tap a heading below to expand it. Everything is tweakable in Settings (the ⚙️ icon top-right of the DE widget).
Welcome — what this is
A real-time HF propagation dashboard. The map shows where the bands are open right now — colored overlays for MUF, foF2, aurora and absorption, plus live dots for stations being heard worldwide. Each widget below the map is one data domain.
Nothing needs setting up to start: put your callsign and grid in Settings → Station and everything else follows from that.
Widget help — the ? icons on each widget
Every widget carries its own ? in the top-left of its header. That's where the detail lives — what each number means, how to read the colors, and how to configure it. Rather than repeat all of it here, this panel stays on the app itself.
- Map Control — what every overlay shows: MUF, foF2, VOACAP reliability, DRAP absorption, aurora, PSK Heat, lightning; plus the Pwr / Mode / Toa inputs that drive VCAP.
- Conditions — Good / Fair / Poor, the Local vs Global scopes, and the Sporadic-E tag.
- VOACAP — reading the band × hour reliability grid, and the three ways to set a DX.
- Solar Data · Space Wx — what SFI, A, K and SSN mean, and the NOAA R / S / G storm scales.
- PSK · WSJT-X — spot filtering and the 5-slot system (Local + 4 watch). Custom slots can watch a call (orange pin) or grid (orange box on the map). WSJT-X also covers connecting your rig's decodes.
- DXpeditions · On The Air · Contests · QSO Log — what each feed is and where it comes from.
Your station — the DE widget
Top widget. Set your callsign and grid square in Settings → Station.
- Callsign + grid — identity. Used for distance/bearing math when you drop a DX pin.
- UTC + local time — synced to the server clock.
- Weather — current conditions at your grid.
- Icons: ⚙️ Settings · ℹ️ About · ❓ Help (this) · ☕ Support hosting · ⏰ Net Watch arm/disarm.
Net Watch — net alarms
An alarm clock for your regular nets. Add each net in Settings → Net Watch — name, frequency, mode, days of the week, and start time (UTC). When one comes due, a full-screen popup shows the net and where to tune, with an optional chime that keeps ringing until the popup closes. Click to dismiss, or it clears itself (and goes quiet) after 2 minutes on wall-mounted displays.
- ⏰ icon (DE widget) — the master switch: click to arm/disarm, double-click to open Settings → Net Watch. A red ✕ means all alarms are off; your net list is kept. Hover it to see which net is up next.
- Early warning — fire the alarm up to 30 minutes before the net starts, so there's time to tune up and get settled.
- UTC and daylight saving — nets announced in local time drift an hour in UTC when DST flips; re-check entries each spring and fall.
- Finding nets — the settings tab links to worldwide and regional directories (NetFinder, ARRL, RAC, QSO One and more); for local FM nets, check your radio club's website.
The map
- Projection — the button top-right of the map cycles 3D globe → flat map → Mollweide. Globe view rotates and supports a "follow the Sun" auto-spin. Mollweide is a fixed whole-world view: drag to rotate the central meridian; zoom stays with the globe/flat modes.
- Globe rotation — play/pause with ▶/⏸. Speed slider in Settings → Map & Overlays.
- Overlays — stack and toggle them from the Map Control widget; its ? explains what each one shows.
- Lightning — the Map Control bolt shows the worldwide layer (off by default). Nearby QRN toasts (100 km of DE) are under Settings → Map & Overlays → Alerts & Warnings; local bolts still appear in that bubble when alerts are on. Strike data is served by PropDeck from Blitzortung.org (not direct from your browser).
- DX Pin — right-click (desktop) or long-press (mobile) anywhere to drop a pin. The pin's grid, distance, and bearing show in the chrome bar, and a hot-pink great-circle line is drawn from your DE to the pin. Right-click the pin to clear.
- Set DE Pin — right-click and choose "Set DE Pin" to move your station's grid to that location. Also editable in Settings → Station.
- DE Antenna Aim — with a Wire or Beam antenna selected (Settings → VOACAP), labeled tips appear at your DE pin. BEAM (cyan) = main lobe VOACAP aims. For wires, WIRE (amber) = physical wire run (broadside to the beam — 90° off). Drag a tip to rotate; right-click → Aim antenna here or Aim antenna at DX pin. Isotropic / verticals have no aim control.
- Fullscreen — the ⤢ button bottom-corner of the map hides everything but the map. Tap again to restore.
Navigation:
- Drag — pan
- Scroll / pinch — zoom
- Dbl-click — zoom in · Shift+Dbl-click — zoom out
- ←↑↓→ — pan · +/− — zoom
- Globe only: Right-drag or Ctrl+drag — rotate & tilt · Shift+←↑↓→ — rotate / pitch
- Mercator only: Shift+Drag — box zoom to area
VOACAP antenna aim — beam vs wire (don’t mix them up)
Wire and beam antennas are not omnidirectional. PropDeck passes a main-beam azimuth into VOACAP so the reliability map matches how your antenna actually radiates.
- MAIN BEAM (cyan on the map) — direction the lobes point. This is the number VOACAP uses. 0° = true North, 90° = East.
- WIRE (amber, wire antennas only) — the physical wire. Not the beam. Dipoles / inv‑V show both ends of the wire; inverted‑L and end‑fed / long wire show a single run. Radiation for dipoles is broadside to the wire, so the wire heading is beam + 90° (beam = wire − 90°).
Example: your 20 m dipole wire runs east–west (90°/270°). Set WIRE runs to 90° (or drag the amber tips). Main beam becomes 0°/180° (north–south) automatically — the figure-8 opens toward the poles of the wire.
Typical Inverted-L (~+3 dBi) — backyard L; one amber WIRE leg + cyan MAIN BEAM in both directions. Menu dBi values are typical useful gains over average ground (not best-case NEC). More omni on the low bands, more lobed higher up. Do not use Large inverted-L array under Big Wire for a normal ham L. Aim handles only show while a VOACAP reliability overlay is on.
End-Fed Random / Long Wire (~+2 dBi) — modest end-fed wire (not an inverted-L); one WIRE run + bidirectional BEAM.
Dipole / inv‑V / EFHW: WIRE both ways + BEAM both ways (figure‑8). Low inverted‑V is weaker for low-angle DX (~+2 dBi, high-angle) than a flat dipole (~+5 dBi).
Beams / yagis / hex / rhombic: single cyan BEAM arrow (unidirectional main lobe). Point it where the boom faces.
How to set it:
- Drag the labeled tips at your DE pin (smooth while dragging; light snap on release).
- Right-click / long-press the map → Aim antenna here or Aim antenna at DX pin.
- Type degrees under Settings → VOACAP → DE Antenna Aim.
Isotropic and most verticals are omnidirectional in azimuth — the aim handle stays hidden.
AI propagation summary
The ✨ button (in the Conditions widget header) opens a plain-language global overview — the current solar/geomagnetic picture and which bands are working — written by Claude from the live data.
It's generated for you automatically and refreshes on a timer — nothing to configure.
This uses your own Anthropic API key, billed to your Anthropic account (a summary is only a few hundred tokens, so it's cents):
- Get a key at console.anthropic.com (Settings → API Keys), then paste it under Settings → Conditions → AI Propagation Summary and click Save. It's stored only on this machine.
- Pick a model there too — Haiku is the cheapest and plenty for a summary (the default); Sonnet is higher quality at ~3× the cost.
- To save credits, the summary is generated only when you open it and cached for an hour — reopening within the hour is free.
- If the key is missing or wrong, opening the summary tells you so and points you back here — nothing is charged.
Customizing your layout
The widget order is yours.
- Long-press (500ms) any widget below the map → jiggle mode activates.
- Drag widgets to reorder. The Done pill exits jiggle mode — also Esc, also tapping outside any widget.
- DE widget, chrome bar, map, and legend are pinned — not draggable.
- Vertical (portrait) and horizontal (landscape) save independent orders.
- In horizontal mode the column divider is also draggable — pull left/right to balance the widget column vs the map.
Settings & backup
Open with the ⚙️ icon top-right of the DE widget.
- All preferences live in browser localStorage.
- Settings → Import / Export writes a JSON backup — layouts, layer visibility, filters, column split, widget order. (QRZ password is excluded from exports.)
- Reset Everything to Defaults wipes all settings, the loaded QSO log, and saved QRZ credentials, then reloads with factory defaults.
