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I understand and fully accept your point. But it seems that Iām expressing myself poorly, or people simply arenāt understanding me. My answer was to āWhat is the best/clearest/shortest way to askā¦ā, and I simply shared what, for me, turned out to be the shortest, quickest, and most effective way, since Iāve used it several times to ask for the Grid Locator in V/UHF contests. And precisely because in those contest exchanges the Grid Locator wasnāt required (but I wanted it because I wanted to know the distances of my QSOs), and because I didnāt want to waste the time of the station I was calling or the one answering me, I tried to keep it as short as possible. And in my case, it worked.
Iām simply describing what was effective for me. What worries me the most is that many people canāt contextualize an abbreviationāor rather, a question like āGL?ā. Honestly, who would ever ask someone āGood luck?ā It makes no sense at all. And precisely because it makes no sense, the logical reaction would be for them to send me a āGL?ā back, and in that case Iād have no choice but to use a more orthodox format. Iāll say it again: in my case, āGL?ā worked and helped save time for me and for others.
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How does that help? If you are away from home your QRZ page wonāt have your location on it.
You expressed yourself very well and I understood your points but I have a slightly different opinion. Thatās healthy and allows the original questioner to choose from several proposed solutions.
If your sending āGL?ā has already been working for you in your Association then stick with it.
It doesnāt make sense to me either. And it might simply confuse some operators who wonāt realise fast enough that itās meant to stand for āGrid Locatorā. Thatās not a phrase Iām used to but rather āGrid Squareā or āGrid Referenceā or āLocatorā or āMaidenhead Locatorā. Hence my suggested abbreviations above. Maybe āGrid Locatorā is common in your association.
Unlike contesters, Iām never in such a hurry to want to abbreviate my Morse too much. For clarity, I always add āURā to āUR LOC?ā to make it clear itās his locator I want. With QSB, QRN or QRM the ā?ā could easily be lost and - believe it or not - the ā?ā character confuses some ops [with ā/ā ?] especially CW newbies. A bit of redundancy avoids confusion and having to resend the request.
Good luck with the 2026 Challenge.
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Richard, Maybe Iāve got it wrong - If we are talking about the Maidenhead locator, mine is on my QRZ page under āDetailā then down to IO94rk. Isnāt that my Maidenhead locator for Robin Hoods Bay?
ahhhā¦.ā¦ā¦..I think I understand now - do you mean the Maidenhead locator if I was elsewhere? IE portable?? If so I wouldnāt have a clue. Iād just tell them I donāt know. If it was some kind of competition and I was in it, Iād look my expected operating position and find out the Maidenhead locator up before I left home.
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Itās the Maidenhead locator of your home QTH. If you are away from home then it wonāt be the locator of your current QTH.
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As far as the 2026 Challenge [2m/70cm CW/SSB] is concerned it would be wrong. The rule says that you must not assume a non-SOTA-summit chaser is at home or that his qrz.com locator entry is correct. You must explicitly ask for it on air. A valid reply would be to say your qrz dot com locator is correct (but most ops remember their home locator).
Hence all these discussions about that best / clearest way to request it in Morse.
Thatās fine but the activator would get no 2026 Challenge points from working you on 2m/70cm CW or SSB.
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When using VK Port-a-log, there is an option to have the location of the logging tablet displayed as a 6 character MH grid locator on the (top right) corner of the screen. Turn that on as a standard option and it stares you in the face whenever you are activating, or at the beach etc. So users of that software will always be able to reply with their current grid square. There are some options to refresh the GPS location, which may be necessary if you have moved to a new location since the locator was last updated. It also records the lat/lon you were at when the contact was made. (Clearly if your logging tablet is at home, the locator code determined when you record your contacts is your home locator. This for people who donāt log on summit using the app. )
On cw I would ask UR GRID LOC? If I needed it.
Itās standard practice on VHF in VK to exchange grid locators so the weary old āIām not in the contestā response should never occur. Maybe thatās because most vhf operators aim to achieve the vhf grid locator certificates on offer from the national association.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA
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The OP asked as to how youād ask for a 6 digit grid square in morse.
Wouldnāt many people take this to mean an OS grid reference?..
Clarity is everything. 
Perhaps thats the reason for the variety of answers.
Donāt abbreviate too much it seems confuse a lot of people!!
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No. The 6-digit Maidenhead locator (or āgrid refā) is frequently required for VHF and higher (UHF/Microwave) contests. It was devised for amateur use and is the standard method for describing locations on VHF, UHF, and SHF amateur radio QSOs.
On the 15 2m CW and SSB QSOs I had so far this year there was no confusion or ambiguity as to what āplease give me your locatorā or āUR LOC?ā meant. Iāve been asked for many odd things over the years, e.g. WAB square, trig point number, but never my OS GR.
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No. Radio hams, especially the ones who do 6m and up SSB/CW etc, are intimately familiar with locator squares. Less common amongst those who use VHF FM for local nattering.
The issue comes because a number of non-VHF types are venturing on to VHF and up and finding itās an entire new world thatās quite different to HF operation.
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Yes, but that reverse migration is to be welcomed even if those HF types are unaware of the subtle operating procedure differences and which should lead to a broadening of their ham radio experiences.
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Oh yes, of course itās welcome. Itās just that someone may have been operating for a long time, say 30 years, and never really given 2m SSB / CW a decent go. Theyāre in for quite big shocks finding out how different operation is and what people expect them to know.
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Thank you for clarifying that for me Andy.
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David, let me see if I can tempt you.
Would I be right in saying that you operate only on HF [and always CW]?
Donāt you find that you can always get plenty of CW contacts on 40m and 30m on every activation? I do. Despite the challenges of hillwalking, winter weather, getting older, etc ā¦ isnāt the radio side becoming [has already become] predictable, even easy?
Do you have a multimode rig with 2m? Would you be tempted to try CW on 2m for a change? [Forgive me if you do it already]. Itās far from a sure thing especially if like me youāre not prepared to sit around in January weather assembling a Yagi and beaming it in all directions. Itās still very practical and quick with a simple vertical antenna and 5W of CW.
[Devil in disguise] Andy
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