[CQ-Contest] IARU HF zones
RT Clay
rt_clay at bellsouth.net
Thu Jul 8 06:19:40 PDT 2010
It looks like ARRL made a decision: the old text list placing all lower-48 US stations in zones 6, 7, and 8 has been added to the IARU contest rule page:
http://www.arrl.org/iaru-hf-championship
see "ITU Zone Borders for the US and Canada"
Tor
N4OGW/5
--- On Thu, 7/8/10, Milt, N5IA <n5ia at zia-connection.com> wrote:
> From: Milt, N5IA <n5ia at zia-connection.com>
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] IARU HF zones
> To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> Date: Thursday, July 8, 2010, 12:13 AM
> 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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> >>>
> >>>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
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>
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