John Morris G4ANB originally devised the system and it was adopted at a meeting of the IARU VHF Working Group in Maidenhead, England in 1980. The only abbreviation recommended to indicate a Maidenhead reference in Morse code and radio teleprinter transmission was LOC, as in LOC KN28LH. Use of the terms QTH locator and QRA locator was initially discouraged, as it caused confusion with the older QRA locator system. Maidenhead locators are also commonly referred to as QTH locators, grid locators or grid squares, although the 'squares' are distorted on any non- equirectangular cartographic projection. The Maidenhead Locator System can describe locations anywhere in the world. Its purpose is to be concise, accurate, and robust in the face of interference and other adverse transmission conditions. QTH Locator and IARU Locator) is a geocode system used by amateur radio operators to succinctly describe their geographic coordinates, which replaced the deprecated QRA locator, which was limited to European contacts. Geocode system used worldwide by radio amateurs
