ACURA Live DX Map

See what is happening on the ham bands right now. This live map shows stations on the air as monitoring stations hear them, which bands are open, where your own signal is landing, and who is activating parks and summits. Every ham is on the map, and ACURA members are highlighted in amber.

How to use the live DX map

Pick a view from the Maps panel on the left. The band buttons along the bottom of the map show one band at a time, and All brings every band back. The panels on the right show the solar numbers, a day and night estimate for each group of bands, and a live grid of which bands are busy toward each continent.

Summary groups the stations on the air into bubbles by grid square. A bigger bubble means more stations, and the color shows the busiest band there. Reports draws every path heard in the last 5 minutes between our part of the East Coast and the rest of the world, with a callsign label at the far end. Realtime shows the newest signals anywhere on the feed as bright lines that clear after about 15 seconds.

My Signals shows where one callsign is being heard. Type any callsign, press Go, and the map draws a line to every monitoring station that picked it up in the last 24 hours. It is a quick way to check your antenna after a change, or to see how far a few watts of FT8 really went.

Antenna compares two callsigns side by side. It shows which stations heard each one and, where the same station heard both, which signal was stronger and by how many dB. To test two antennas at your own station, transmit on each with a different callsign, such as your callsign and your callsign with /P, at the same power and at the same time.

DXpedition lists the DXpeditions that are active now or coming up, with their dates and QSL details, and marks each one on the map. When a monitoring station hears one, its marker turns green and lines show who is hearing it, so you can tell when a rare one is workable from North America.

MUF shows the maximum usable frequency. Circles are ionosondes, which measure the ionosphere directly, and colored squares show the highest band actually heard in each area. Forecast estimates where a band is likely open from your grid at any hour of the day. It is a simple estimate, not a VOACAP run, so treat it as a guide. Replay plays back the last 24 hours in half-hour steps, so you can see when each band opened and closed.

The buttons across the top of the map filter the live views by mode: FT8, FT4, CW or WSPR. Click any station to see the beam heading and distance from your grid, with the long path as well. Under Map configuration you can turn on the gray line, the aurora oval and a light map, start Kiosk Mode for a meeting screen, or save the map as a picture to share.

Band alerts play a sound and flash a notice when a band opens from your area. Pick a band and a region, press Add alert, and keep the page open. Needed countries marks in pink the countries you have not worked yet, using your log in the Club Logbook. A storm notice appears on the map when solar activity is high enough to disturb HF, and on net nights a panel counts down to the ACURA net and shows who has checked in.

DX Cluster shows stations that other hams have spotted, including voice and CW, with buttons to see only voice, CW or digital. In Forecast, click anywhere on the map for a 24-hour chart of the best time and band to reach that spot. Find a station jumps to a callsign that is on the air now. The Needed list can also show US grid squares you have not worked, and in the POTA view it marks parks in states you still need.

More switches under Map configuration add distance rings with a compass, the NCDXF beacons, a flare absorption overlay and a Worldwide feed for one band at a time. Copy Link to This View makes a link you can share, and Take the Tour gives a short walk-through. Click any panel title to fold it away. Contests this week lists upcoming contests.

POTA and SOTA put Parks on the Air and Summits on the Air activators on the map, and APRS shows ACURA members who are sending positions. Click any marker for the frequency and mode.

Turn on Show ACURA Members Only to hide everyone except ACURA members, and use Full Screen to fill your display. The reports come from digital modes such as FT8, FT4, WSPR and CW, so voice contacts do not appear. The live views cover paths that begin or end in the United States.

Dig deeper

Each view has a full page of its own with more detail: Best Band Right Now, Who’s Hearing Us?, DX Propagation, the 3D Propagation Globe, POTA & SOTA Live Spots, the APRS Map and the Gray Line Map.