Editing Maidenhead Locator System (section)

{{Short description|Geocode system used by radio amateurs}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
The '''Maidenhead Locator System''' (a.k.a. '''QTH Locator''' and '''IARU Locator''') is a [[geocode#Geocode system|geocode system]] used by [[amateur radio]] operators to succinctly describe their [[geographic coordinate system|geographic coordinates]], which replaced the deprecated [[QRA locator]], which was limited to European [[Contact (amateur radio)|contact]]s.<ref name="G4FTJ">{{cite book |first=R.J., G4FTJ |last=Eckersley |year=1985 |title=Amateur Radio Operating Manual |edition=third |pages=64–66 |publisher=[[Radio Society of Great Britain]] |isbn=0-900612-69-X|location=Potters bar, UK}}</ref> Its purpose is to be concise, accurate, and robust in the face of [[Interference (communication)|interference]] and other adverse transmission conditions. The ''Maidenhead Locator System'' can describe locations anywhere in the world.

Maidenhead locators are also commonly referred to as ''QTH locators'', ''grid locators'' or ''grid squares'', although the "squares" are distorted on any non-[[equirectangular projection|equirectangular]] [[cartographic projection]]. Use of the terms ''QTH locator'' and ''QRA locator'' was initially discouraged, as it caused confusion with the older QRA locator system. The only abbreviation recommended to indicate a Maidenhead reference in Morse code and radio teleprinter transmission was '''LOC''', as in '''LOC KN28LH'''.<ref name="G4FTJ"/>

John Morris [[Amateur radio#Call signs|G4ANB]] originally devised the system and it was adopted at a meeting of the [[International Amateur Radio Union|IARU]] VHF Working Group in [[Maidenhead]], England in 1980.<ref name=QRZ.RU-Locator_System/>