Back in February (2026), I published a blog on the differences between reporting by popular websites and apps on band conditions (for #amateurradio / #hamradio). I found some apps published different data conditions at the same time (that is, one app might say “poor” conditions while another says “fair”). One service, DX Look, published local conditions (a feature I find awesome). DXLook is my first stop on fr checking band conditions locally and I use ig to determine if I spend time in the shack or go out for POTA. It’s that good.
- How can the difference between DXLook and the others be explained?
- If they are using NOAA information and categorising by day and night, is this US day and night or day or night at my location (Australian east coast). Do I have to make any adjustments.
The owner and publisher of DXLook, Rodrigo Vazquez (AK6FP), replied on his Facebook page.
He also took the time to reply in detail by email and I found it very thoughtful and educational. He gave me permission to publish his email in full.
DXLook, Rodrigo Vazquez (AK6FP), By email, 6 February 2026
Hi Andrew, I saw your post about DXLook and the differences in band conditions across various sources. Here’s the explanation:
Why W5MMW, HamQSL, and Ham-Toolbox always agree with each other:
Those three services all display the exact same data: the N0NBH solar banner, created by Paul Herrman, N0NBH. They’re three different skins on one data feed. It’s not three independent opinions — it’s one assessment displayed three ways. That’s why they always match.
Why DXLook was showing different global conditions (and what I fixed):
Your screenshots actually helped me find a real issue. DXLook was rating 80m-40m daytime as “Fair” when N0NBH correctly showed “Poor.” Here’s the radio physics behind it:
During the day, the Sun’s UV and X-ray energy creates the D-layer in the lower ionosphere (about 60-90 km altitude). This layer acts like a sponge for HF signals — it absorbs radio energy rather than reflecting it. The effect is strongest on lower frequencies (80m and 40m get hit hardest) and gets worse when solar flux is high. Right now, with SFI around 167, the D-layer is very dense during daylight hours, so 80m and 40m are essentially useless during the day. That’s basic ionospheric physics, and N0NBH had it right.
My algorithm was incorrectly ignoring solar flux when rating 80m-40m daytime — it was always saying “Fair” regardless of how strong the sun was cooking the D-layer. I’ve fixed this: now when SFI is 120 or above (which it is during most of this solar maximum), 80m-40m daytime correctly shows “Poor.” DXLook’s global conditions should now align much more closely with what you see on N0NBH/HamQSL.
DXLook’s Personalized mode — the intentional difference:
Beyond the bug above, DXLook has a feature that N0NBH-based tools don’t offer: personalized conditions (the toggle switch on the band conditions widget). This is meant to show different results, because it accounts for your actual location. Here’s what it does:
Your geomagnetic latitude: The Earth’s magnetic poles don’t line up with the geographic poles. Your QTH on the Australian east coast sits at roughly -42° to -45° geomagnetic latitude. During geomagnetic storms, stations at higher geomagnetic latitudes get hit harder. A station in Tasmania might see worse storm effects than one in North Queensland, even though the N0NBH banner shows the same conditions for both.
Your actual sunrise/sunset: N0NBH shows “Day” and “Night” columns, but these aren’t adjusted for your location — they’re a single global assessment. You’re expected to mentally pick the right column. DXLook’s personalized mode calculates the actual solar position over your station right now and applies the appropriate physics automatically.
D-layer absorption at your location: Rather than a generic rating, DXLook calculates how much the D-layer is absorbing at your specific coordinates, using NOAA’s D-RAP (D-Region Absorption Prediction) data when available.
Aurora impact: For stations at higher geomagnetic latitudes (VK7, ZL, and further south), DXLook checks NOAA’s aurora predictions and warns you if aurora is degrading your HF paths.
The day/night question you asked:
For N0NBH/HamQSL/W5MMW: The “Day” and “Night” columns are not specific to any location. An operator in VK sees the same values as someone in the US. You pick whichever column matches whether the sun is up at your QTH. It’s a manual mental step.
For DXLook personalized: Day/night is calculated automatically for your grid square. No mental adjustment needed.
Your practical question — “Should I bother turning on the radio?”
My honest advice:
Look at the raw numbers first: SFI, K, and A are identical across all services (they all come from NOAA). High SFI (>100) + low K (3 or less) = generally good HF. K of 5 or above = storm, expect problems. These numbers tell the real story.
Use DXLook’s personalized mode with your grid entered — it gives you a location-aware take.
Best of all: look at the live map. Real spots being decoded right now beat any prediction model. If you see activity on 20m across the Pacific on DXLook’s map, that’s not a prediction — that’s someone’s radio actually receiving signals on that path right now.
The Australian Space Weather Service (SWS, Bureau of Meteorology) at sws.bom.gov.au has data specifically tailored for the southern hemisphere, including their T-index which was designed specifically for Australian HF conditions.
Thanks again for the detailed comparison — it genuinely helped improve DXLook.
73 de Rodrigo, AK6FP