[CQ-Contest] IARU HF zones
Milt, N5IA
n5ia at zia-connection.com
Wed Jul 7 22:13:41 PDT 2010
Hmmm. Inquiring minds want to know.
I am located in NM with the 109th meridian being my east property line. The
AZ state line is 3 miles to the West. Some are pointing out that the ITU
Zone 7 extends to the 110th meridian, about 80 miles to the west. Others
say,and some maps seem to indicate, that the AZ/NM state line is the
boundary between Zone 6 and 7. Also, it appears from some maps that being
this close to the border with Mexico might put me in Zone 10.
With regards to comments that have been flowing on the contesting.com
reflector, the map in this link provided by Dave, AB7E, who would definitely
be in Zone 10,
http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/images/broad-namer.gif
indicates there appears to be a conflict with what some are saying about the
ITU zones, in that boundaries of the zones are being drawn along the Lat and
Lon lines.
This map seems to show the zones following state lines and the international
border with Mexico.
http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=12892
The map in the following link shows the zones boundaries following Lat and
Lon lines with some diagonal take offs from those and that the international
boundaries either in the North with Canada or in the South with Mexico are
not necessarily the zone boundaries. Look at the state of Washington and
around the Great Lakes.
http://www.mapability.com/ei8ic/maps/itu-zone.gif
Also, written descriptions that Dave, AB7E, points out mention east to west
divisions.......
6. W6, W7 (excluding Wyoming & Montana east of 110W)
7. W5 (excluding Mississippi), W7 (Wyoming & Montana east of 110W), W0
8. W1, W2, W3, W4, W5 (Mississippi only), W8, W9, 4U (New York)
but has nothing to say about north to south divisions.
And the full descriptions at the other site Dave, AB7E, points to have the
following which reference Longitude lines and not state lines or
international boundaries..........
06 W-K-N-A U.S.A. (Washington, Oregon,
California, Nevada, Idaho,
& that part of Montana,
Utah & Arizona west of
110 Deg. W.)
07 W-K-N-A U.S.A. (N. Dakota, S. Dakota,
Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado,
New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma,
Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, that
part of Utah & Arizona East
of 110 Deg. W., & that part
of Michigan, part of Montana
Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas,
Tennessee, Mississippi,
Louisiana & Wisconsin west
of 90 Deg. W.)
08 W-K-N-A U.S.A. (Indiana, Alabama,
Georgia, Florida, Virginia,
Kentucky, N. Carolina, S.
Carolina, West Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New
York, Maine, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Vermont, &
that part of Michigan, Illinois,
Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi,
Tennessee, Louisiana &
Wisconsin east of 90 Deg. W.)
I agree with Dave, that someone, somewhere, sometime needs to declare once
and for all where the actual zone boundaries are located.
Mis dos centavos.
de Milt, N5IA
>
> On 7/7/2010 4:44 PM, RT Clay wrote:
>> Actually, getting the precise zone is quite important because of the
>> zone-based scoring (1 pt same zone/3 points other zones). I bet that if
>> you are in zone 10, your score will be higher by 15-20% compared to zone
>> 6.
>>
>> In the past, the ARRL had a list which precisely defined what parts of
>> which states were in which zone. No part of AZ was in zone 10 ! It seems
>> that the list was removed when the ARRL website was revamped, but you can
>> still get it at:
>>
>> http://web.archive.org/web/20070318210126/www.arrl.org/contests/vev0vy.html#wkna
>>
>> Then I found
>>
>> http://www.arrl.org/contest-update-issues%3Fissue%3D2010-06-09
>>
>> which references a map
>>
>> http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/maps/index.html
>>
>> and "corner coordinates" at
>>
>> http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/reftables/ciraf.txt
>>
>> But I think those are actually "test points" for evaluating signal
>> strengths, and not on the boundaries of zones. If you plot some of them
>> (for example the SW quadrant of zone 8 where I am), you will see they are
>> not at all the boundaries. Also notice for example that the east boundary
>> of zone 7 does not correspond to the west boundary of 8 in that list.
>>
>> So which one should we use? I'd be happy to put myself in zone 7
>> according to the "corner coordinates" referenced and get a 20% increase
>> in score :)
>>
>> Tor
>> N4OGW/5
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Wed, 7/7/10, David Gilbert<xdavid at cis-broadband.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> From: David Gilbert<xdavid at cis-broadband.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] IARU HF zones
>>> To: cq-contest at contesting.com
>>> Date: Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 12:38 PM
>>>
>>> I don't believe that the precise ITU zone borders are what
>>> the contest
>>> sponsors expect you to use. If they were, I would be
>>> in zone 10, not
>>> zone 6. Besides, how could anyone actually know what
>>> zone they are in
>>> if they were close to a line that didn't follow a political
>>> border?
>>> I've seen some pretty detailed official ITU zone maps but I
>>> still can't
>>> determine exactly where the dividing line is as it crosses
>>> southern
>>> Arizona. Even if I could find the coordinates for the
>>> endpoints of the
>>> ITU boundary lines, I'd have to calculate the coordinates
>>> for any other
>>> point on the line. I seriously doubt anyone expects
>>> us to do that.
>>>
>>> Yes, we all should copy what is sent, but when someone
>>> doesn't send what
>>> they are supposed to it creates needless confusion.
>>> In my opinion, you
>>> needlessly bring that lost QSO rate upon yourself.
>>>
>>> I've sent an email to KX9X asking him to clarify this issue
>>> for the
>>> upcoming IARU contest and maybe he will reply.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Dave AB7E
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7/7/2010 6:22 AM, Joe wrote:
>>>
>>>> But since 1977 I'm now in Wisconsin, But
>>>>
>>> in Zone 7! But many assume
>>>
>>>> being a 9 land Call and in Wisconsin, MANY assume that
>>>>
>>> the border is the
>>>
>>>> state line, and it is not! I bet I easily in
>>>>
>>> this contest loose a 10%
>>>
>>>> QSO rate confirming that I'm in 07 NOT 08.
>>>>
>>> Grrrrr,
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>>>
>>>
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