Short answer: CQ zones are the 40 numbered regions of the world used in the CQ World Wide DX Contest and in CQ-based awards. In CQ WW, the exchange is the RS(T) report plus the CQ zone of the station sending it, and each new zone is a multiplier. Most countries sit in a single zone, but large countries such as the USA, Canada, Russia, Brazil and China are divided, so the call alone does not always tell you the zone. Log the zone you hear, and send the zone where you really operate.
What CQ zones are
The CQ zone map divides the world into 40 numbered zones. The system is older than most contest logging programs, and it is maintained by CQ magazine. Zones 1 to 8 cover North America, Central America and the Caribbean, zones 14 to 16 cover most of Europe, and Asia, Oceania, Africa and South America fill the rest of the map. Do not memorise the list; learn the zones of your own part of the world and of the countries that call you most often.
CQ zones should not be confused with ITU zones. They are a different system with different borders, and the two sets of numbers are not interchangeable. The IARU HF Championship uses ITU zones, while CQ WW uses CQ zones. A log that carries an ITU zone in a CQ zone field is wrong even when the figure looks plausible. Each contest has its own exchange, and the list of supported contests is a useful reminder of how many different ones there are.
The CQ WW exchange
In the CQ WW DX Contest, the exchange is the signal report followed by the CQ zone. In SSB the report is almost always 59, in CW it is 599. The report is a formality; the zone is the information. You send your own zone every time, and you copy the other station’s zone and log it.
A CQ zone also works as a multiplier: each zone worked counts once per band, in addition to the country multiplier. Check the current official rules for details, including the exact scoring and the categories; they are published at cqww.com. Because a zone multiplier adds to the score for every band, a wrong zone can quietly remove several multipliers from a high-scoring log.
How to know a station’s zone
For most stations the answer is the zone of their country. Germany, England and Spain, for example, lie in the same zone, and a station from Japan sends the Japanese zone. A good logging program stores a country file that maps each callsign prefix to a country and a default zone. When you type a callsign, it fills in the expected zone.
That default is a prediction, not a fact. The other operator sends the zone, and what they send is what counts. If a station tells you a zone that differs from your logger’s prefill, trust your ears and change the entry. Then, if the difference is large, ask yourself whether you copied the call correctly, because a surprising zone is sometimes the first clue to a busted call.
Some practical ways to learn zones:
- Print the official zone map and keep it near the station for the weekend.
- Check the zone of every station you work for the first time. Do not accept the prefill blindly for a country you do not know well.
- Pay particular attention to the countries below, where one prefix can cover more than one zone.
Countries that span several zones
Some countries are so large that they cross zone boundaries. The call area helps, but only up to a point, because operators move, hold calls from another region, or operate portable.
| Country | Zones | What to remember |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 3, 4 and 5 (plus others for Alaska, Hawaii and territories) | The mainland divides roughly into West, Central and East. The boundaries do not follow call areas exactly. |
| Canada | 1 to 5 | The east is in one zone and the north and west use others. Check by province or territory. |
| Russia | 16, 17, 18 and 19 | European Russia is separate from the Asian parts. The prefix digit is a hint, not a rule. |
| Brazil | More than one | Check the official map for the state in question. |
| China | Several | Zones depend on the province. Check the map. |
| Australia | 29 and 30 | A distinction exists between the west and the rest. |
This table is a memory aid, not a replacement for the official map. Borders can be unintuitive, and the current CQ zone list is the final word.
Typical zone mistakes
- Accepting the prefill without listening. The logger shows the default zone, you press Enter and the operator actually sent a different one.
- Sending the wrong zone yourself. A guest operator or a portable station that did not update the zone in the program. The other side logs what you sent, and their log is correct for what you said.
- Mixing CQ and ITU zones. Typical for people who also take part in IARU HF.
- Copying the zone as a different number in noise. Zone 14 and 4, 15 and 5, 16 and 6 differ by a leading digit that is easy to lose, and in CW some numbers are sent in cut form.
- Treating a zone as the same as the continent or as the number from an older contest.
- Using a stale country file. New callsigns and rare entities are added regularly, and an out-of-date file gives wrong defaults.
The first and the fourth are the most frequent, and they are related: if the number in your log looks odd for that prefix, listen again.
Portable, mobile and guest operation
The zone you send is the zone of the place where the station is, not the zone of the call. A US operator on holiday in Europe is in a European zone and sends it. A station operating portable in another region of the same country sends the zone of the new location. If you operate from a different place than usual, update your zone in the logging program before the contest starts, because the program inserts it automatically into every outgoing exchange.
Check the contest rules for the details of special cases, such as maritime mobile stations or stations on borders. If a rule is unclear, ask the contest organiser before the event rather than guessing during it.
What the zone looks like in the log
In a Cabrillo file each QSO line carries the exchange you sent and the exchange you received. For CQ WW that means a report and a zone on each side, so a line holds your own zone and the zone of the other station next to the two callsigns. Because your own zone is written into every line, a wrong setting is repeated hundreds of times. The first thing to look at in an exported file is therefore the sent zone, which should be the same number from the first QSO to the last unless you really moved.
The received zone is the one that varies. When you sort the file by callsign, stations worked on several bands should show the same zone each time. A station that appears with zone 14 on one band and zone 15 on another is a signal that at least one of the two entries is wrong. It is a quick check that needs no tools.
A simple routine for learning the zones
Zone knowledge comes from repetition, not from tables. A short routine before the contest is enough.
- Write down the ten countries you worked most often last year and look up their zones.
- Write down the split countries from the table above and the zone numbers of the parts you are likely to hear on your best bands.
- Check how your logging program handles a zone that differs from its default, and practise changing it in a test log, so the correction takes a second during the contest.
- Update the country file in the program if the vendor offers a newer one.
That is half an hour of work. It makes the exchange automatic and leaves your attention for copying the call.
Checking zones after the contest
A pass through the zones in your log is a short and productive job. Sort by zone and look for odd ones: a zone that has only one QSO, a prefix that normally sits in one zone but appears with another, a zone number that looks like a typing error.
Contest Analyzer does this part of the work. It checks every callsign and every zone against official license databases and several independent reference sources, and highlights only the few QSOs worth a second look. You can edit callsigns and zones in the report and download a corrected Cabrillo. Its statistics also show your QSOs and multipliers by CQ zone, continent and country, so you can see which zones you missed and plan better for next year. It works with Cabrillo from N1MM Logger+, DXLog and Win-Test. See the pricing page for plans.
Related reading
- CQ WW DX SSB: before, during and after
- Busted callsigns in contest logs
- What a UBN report is and how to read it
The bottom line
CQ zones are simple for most stations and tricky for a few big countries. Set your own zone correctly before the contest, listen for the zone that the other station sends, do not trust a prefill when it surprises you, and review the unusual zones afterwards. A wrong zone costs nothing to prevent and can take away a multiplier.
FAQ
How many CQ zones are there?
There are 40, numbered 1 to 40. The official zone map is published by CQ magazine and on the CQ WW contest site.
Are CQ zones the same as ITU zones?
No. They are different systems with different borders and numbers. CQ WW uses CQ zones, while the IARU HF Championship uses ITU zones.
Which zone do I send if I operate from another country?
The zone of the place where you operate, together with whatever call is required there. Update the setting in your logging program before the contest.
Is the zone a multiplier on every band?
In CQ WW each zone counts as a multiplier once per band. Confirm the details in the current official rules.
What if a station sends a different zone from my logger’s prefill?
Log what you heard. If it is surprising, listen again, because it may also mean you have the callsign wrong.
