Expectations by users about locator accuracy are ambitious so here is a graphical representation of locator squares, I used the KH8RRC lookup as an example.
The world is divided into 32,400 two letter grid squares (e.g.AH) covering thousands of square miles.
AH locator
- AH locator.png (48.99 KiB) Viewed 11355 times
When you add the two numbers to the two letter reference the main grid square is sub divided into 100 smaller squares (Total of 324,000 squares in the world) Each of these squares are approximately 70x100 miles
AH45 Locator as provided by FT8 software
- AH45 Locator.png (61.25 KiB) Viewed 11355 times
Adding the two letters after the first 4 characters (AH45PR) sub divides each of the 4-digit squares into 576 sub squares (A total of 18,552,400 sub squares covering the world)) each sub square is approximately 4 miles by 6 miles
AH45PR Locator
- AH45PR Locator new.jpg (39.08 KiB) Viewed 11355 times
Adding a further two numbers to the 6 digit reference like AH45pr99 subdivides the 6 digit square so a closer fix can be made on the location.
AH45PR99 Locator
- AH45PR99 Locator new.jpg (25.9 KiB) Viewed 11355 times
This is why you don’t see an exact match to a stations location because with the provided information we don’t know where the station is located within the indicated square so we display the square with the marker in the centre. (sometimes the centre of the square could be in the ocean)
Even given a 12 digit locator, as used by microwave operators, its only possible to get to within a couple of hundred yards of the actual location.
