Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
HelioClock is a fully customizable live Earth clock and situational awareness display built specifically with ham radio operators in mind, and it's quickly becoming known as the subscription free alternative to GeoChron. In this interview, recorded at the Huntsville Hamfest, I sit down with the creator behind HelioClock (call sign KA9NWM) to talk about why he built it, how it works, and what makes it different from a traditional GeoChron display.
HelioClock runs entirely on your own hardware with no cloud service in the loop and no subscription required. Every data feed, including radar, space weather, tropical storms, lightning, and earthquakes, pulls directly from free public government and research sources, so if any single source goes down the rest of the display keeps running. That's a big deal for anyone building a resilient EOC or EmComm situational awareness station.
For hams specifically, HelioClock tracks the live day and night terminator, also known as the greyline, which is the band of dawn and dusk that opens up long distance HF propagation. It also includes a DX cluster feed, band condition data, solar flux and K index readings, live NASA SDO solar imagery, EME moon bounce planning tools, NCDXF beacon tracking, and a full built in ham radio desk reference, all on one screen.
Beyond ham radio use, HelioClock functions as a full situational display with animated weather radar, satellite cloud cover, NWS watches and warnings drawn directly on the map, a configurable alert and news crawl, tropical storm tracking from NHC and JTWC, volcanic ash advisories, and global earthquake tracking. You can plug it into a TV or monitor over HDMI for an always on local display, or pull up Remote View from any browser on your network for a fully live interactive copy of the same screen.
HelioClock is available preloaded on an SD card for your own Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, as a bootable live USB stick to bring old PC hardware back to life, as a turnkey appliance ready to plug in, or as a multi display Pro Server built for NOC walls, EOCs, and trading floors.
If you've been priced out of a traditional GeoChron or don't want a subscription tied to your display, this interview walks through everything HelioClock does and why it might be the better option for your shack, EOC, or ARES trailer.
Learn more at helioclock.com
#hamradio #geochron #helioclock #emcomm #ares #hamfest #situationalawareness #propagation #greyline #huntsvillehamfest
🔹My Favorite Gear - amazon.com/shop/km4ack
🔹Links mentioned in the video
helioclock.com
🔹Weekly Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/40da1fe472e3/km4acknewsletter
🔹Follow Me
Twitter @km4ack
🔹Cool Ham Gear - km4ack.com
🔹Support the channel through Patreon - patreon.com/km4ack
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
HelioClock is a fully customizable live Earth clock and situational awareness display built specifically with ham radio operators in mind, and it's quickly becoming known as the subscription free alternative to GeoChron. In this interview, recorded at the Huntsville Hamfest, I sit down with the creator behind HelioClock (call sign KA9NWM) to talk about why he built it, how it works, and what makes it different from a traditional GeoChron display.
HelioClock runs entirely on your own hardware with no cloud service in the loop and no subscription required. Every data feed, including radar, space weather, tropical storms, lightning, and earthquakes, pulls directly from free public government and research sources, so if any single source goes down the rest of the display keeps running. That's a big deal for anyone building a resilient EOC or EmComm situational awareness station.
For hams specifically, HelioClock tracks the live day and night terminator, also known as the greyline, which is the band of dawn and dusk that opens up long distance HF propagation. It also includes a DX cluster feed, band condition data, solar flux and K index readings, live NASA SDO solar imagery, EME moon bounce planning tools, NCDXF beacon tracking, and a full built in ham radio desk reference, all on one screen.
Beyond ham radio use, HelioClock functions as a full situational display with animated weather radar, satellite cloud cover, NWS watches and warnings drawn directly on the map, a configurable alert and news crawl, tropical storm tracking from NHC and JTWC, volcanic ash advisories, and global earthquake tracking. You can plug it into a TV or monitor over HDMI for an always on local display, or pull up Remote View from any browser on your network for a fully live interactive copy of the same screen.
HelioClock is available preloaded on an SD card for your own Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, as a bootable live USB stick to bring old PC hardware back to life, as a turnkey appliance ready to plug in, or as a multi display Pro Server built for NOC walls, EOCs, and trading floors.
If you've been priced out of a traditional GeoChron or don't want a subscription tied to your display, this interview walks through everything HelioClock does and why it might be the better option for your shack, EOC, or ARES trailer.
Learn more at helioclock.com
#hamradio #geochron #helioclock #emcomm #ares #hamfest #situationalawareness #propagation #greyline #huntsvillehamfest
🔹My Favorite Gear - amazon.com/shop/km4ack
🔹Links mentioned in the video
helioclock.com
🔹Weekly Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/40da1fe472e3/km4acknewsletter
🔹Follow Me
Twitter @km4ack
🔹Cool Ham Gear - km4ack.com
🔹Support the channel through Patreon - patreon.com/km4ack
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
