When you are making contact with another ham and they ask you, “What is your CQ zone?”, what are they talking about?
CQ Zones are used in the “CQ WW” competitions. You may be asked by some contesters what your CQ zone is when you make a contact.
The authoritative source of the zone definitions can be found at the CQ Magazine Worked All Zones Map. This map can be a little difficult to read, but it does show the state borders in the US, which many of the other maps out there do not show.
A much easier to read map, minus the state borders, can be found on EI8IC’s Website.
A more complete definition of the zones can be found on the CQ Magazine Worked All Zones Aware Rules.
I have my CQ zone listed on my logbook template (you can find my logbook template here) so that I always have it available with my grid square and ITU zone. Although I know that these memorized, I still keep them listed in the event I forget! (I am not asked very frequently for these)
You can find a copy of my log book template here: QSO Logbook Template.
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