What is the BloomWX Ham Shack Dashboard?

The Ham Shack Dashboard is a full-screen, always-on situational-awareness display for amateur radio operators. It aggregates live solar flux, geomagnetic indices, X-ray flux, solar wind, HF band conditions, a global MUF heatmap, POTA spots, DXpedition alerts, contest schedules, and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center alerts into a single zero-scroll page.

Is it really free? Do I need to sign up?

Yes — completely free, no signup, no login, no ads. Open the URL at bloomwx.com/ham and the dashboard runs. The only optional inputs are your callsign and your Maidenhead grid (QTH), both stored locally in your browser.

How accurate is the MUF map?

The MUF heatmap interpolates live foF2 readings from the Lowell GIRO (Global Ionospheric Radio Observatory) network — about 38 ionosondes worldwide that fire a vertical radar pulse every 5–15 minutes. We multiply foF2 by an empirical M-factor (~3.3) to get the MUF for a typical 3,000 km path, then IDW-interpolate between stations.

How does the DX target work?

Click "Pick target on map" or click a DXpedition row to set a target. The dashboard then computes great-circle short-path and long-path bearings, distance in miles and kilometers, predicted path MUF sampled from the ionosonde grid, recommended band, local time at the target, and current weather at the target.

How often does data refresh?

Solar/geomag/X-ray data refreshes from NOAA SWPC every 5 minutes. MUF readings from GIRO ionosondes cache for 15 minutes. POTA spots, DXpedition lists, contests, and DX cluster activity refresh every 1–3 minutes.

Can I run it on a Raspberry Pi or as a wall kiosk?

Yes. The page is sized for 1920x1080 landscape displays and runs comfortably on a Raspberry Pi 4 (2GB+) with Chromium in kiosk mode. Same setup pattern as the BloomWX LiveDash weather kiosk.

Does it replace HamClock?

No — complementary. HamClock is a great Linux desktop app focused on cluster spots, gray-line, and propagation predictions. The BloomWX Ham Shack Dashboard runs in any browser, includes a custom live MUF heatmap from GIRO, integrates POTA/DXpedition/contest panels, surfaces SWPC alerts as a ticker, and links to the BloomWX weather side.

Does it work outside the United States?

Yes. Propagation data is global (GIRO ionosondes are on every continent), and the solar/geomag/X-ray feeds from NOAA SWPC are global. Most operators outside the US use the Ham Shack page exactly as-is.

BloomWX Ham Shack Dashboard — Free Live Solar, Geomag, MUF, HF Band Conditions

BloomWX Ham Shack Dashboard — Free Ham Radio Propagation DisplayBloomWX Ham Shack Dashboard is a full-screen, always-on situational-awareness display for amateur radio operators. Live solar flux, K-index, X-ray flux, solar wind, a global MUF heatmap from GIRO ionosondes, HF band conditions, a click-anywhere DX target with great-circle bearings, POTA + DXpedition + contest activity, and a NOAA SWPC alert ticker — all on one zero-scroll page, no login, no ads, free forever.What's on the dashboard

Solar & geomag stats — SFI, sunspot number, K-index, X-ray flux, solar wind, Bz/Bt, M-flare 24h probability, aurora visibility. From NOAA SWPC.

HF band conditions — Poor / Fair / Good / Excellent / Closed for each band (160m through 6m), day vs night.

3-day Kp forecast chart — NOAA SWPC geomagnetic outlook with peak Kp highlighted.

Global MUF heatmap — live foF2 readings from Lowell GIRO ionosondes IDW-interpolated into a continuous color field.

DX target strip — bearing (short + long path), distance, predicted path MUF, recommended band, local time and weather at the target.

POTA spots — recent activator spots from pota.app.

Band activity heatmap — DX cluster spots from DX Lite (G7VJR) classified by band x continent.

DXpedition list — current and upcoming DXpeditions from NG3K's ADXO list, color-coded by predicted propagation.

Contest schedule — currently active and upcoming contests from WA7BNM Contest Calendar.

SWPC alert ticker — scrolling marquee of recent geomagnetic storms, X-class flares, CME warnings, radiation events.

NOAA SWPC map panels — D-Region Absorption, 30-min Aurora Forecast (OVATION), live solar disk (SUVI 195A), LASCO C3 coronagraph, Space Weather Overview.

Who uses it

DXers chasing rare entities for DXCC.

Contesters pre-positioning band strategy by the hour.

POTA and SOTA activators and chasers.

SKYWARN and ARES net controllers.

EmComm operators tracking propagation for HF traffic.

Casual operators wanting "what's open right now?" at a glance.

Club shacks and EOCs with always-on wall displays.

How to use itOpen bloomwx.com/ham, click the "Set callsign" text to enter your callsign, click the QTH badge to enter your Maidenhead grid (e.g. EN52ua), then pick a DX target either by clicking on the map, clicking a DXpedition row, or typing a Maidenhead grid. The dashboard then shows short-path and long-path bearings, distance, predicted path MUF, recommended band, and local time + weather at the target.Data sourcesSolar/geomag/X-ray/alerts/aurora/LASCO/SUVI from NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (swpc.noaa.gov). Live MUF foF2 readings from Lowell GIRO Data Center (Global Ionospheric Radio Observatory). POTA spots from pota.app. DX cluster band activity from DX Lite (G7VJR). DXpeditions from NG3K's Announced DX Operations (ADXO) list. Contests from WA7BNM Contest Calendar. All data sourced directly from upstream agencies and operators with attribution; no proprietary or paywalled feeds.RelatedThe live dashboard runs at bloomwx.com/ham. Beginner-friendly explainers for MUF, K-index, solar flux, HF band conditions, DXpeditions, and contests are in the BloomWX learning library at bloomwx.com/learn. The companion weather kiosk for your shack is at bloomwx.com/livedash.