Maidenhead locator converter plus great-circle distance and beam headings.
Enter two grids or use coordinates from above.
Fields (2 letters) are 20°×10°, squares (2 digits) 2°×1°, subsquares (2 letters) 5′×2.5′. Six-character grids are standard for contests and satellites.
Use the calculated Maidenhead locator and bearing for logging, contest exchanges and planning. Treat the bearing as a great-circle initial bearing, not a compass direction corrected for local magnetic declination.
Grid squares represent areas, so the displayed centre coordinate is an approximation. Long-distance paths can also follow propagation conditions that differ from the geometric great-circle route.
For field operation, compare the calculated bearing with your mapping application and account for local magnetic declination when using a magnetic compass.
Maidenhead grid locators provide a compact way to describe an operating location for contests, awards and DX exchanges. The system divides the Earth into progressively smaller fields, squares and subsquares, so a longer locator gives a more precise position. This calculator converts latitude and longitude to common four-, six- and eight-character formats and can also recover the approximate centre of a supplied grid. The returned position is a cell centre, not a survey coordinate, and the precision depends on the number of characters. When using a locator for beam headings, remember that the bearing is calculated between the geographic positions represented by the two cells; it is therefore a planning value rather than a measurement of the antenna's actual radiation pattern. Near the poles or across the 180-degree meridian, geographic calculations deserve particular care. For normal amateur-radio use, the six-character locator is usually a useful balance between precision and simplicity.