About the Beam Headings Master List
and Derivative Tables

All beam headings listed on this website are true.   To translate between true and magnetic values, then apply local point declination to magnetic readings first.   Magnetic readings thus translated are still magnetic, but you can call them magnetic true values.   Do not apply declination to true values.   See STEM Challenge ONE for practical advice and practice with beam headings and declination.  

The Beam Headings Master List gives a table of directional and distance information for specified end points.  Most points are amateur radio stations.  A tan color reference for 180° Headings from the True Compass Rose is built in to each table.  

Under the title area of the Master List can be found links to derivative pages and tables that offer data specific to an amateur radio callsign or point of interest.  Each derivative list page is based on the complete and comprehensive Master List.  For ease of selection and navigation, all derivative lists carry links to sister pages and the Master List.  

The Master List is designed to contain all beam heading data in one page for ease of search.  Text searches can be performed with the web browser.  After navigating to your page of interest, simply use the web browser's Find or Search command to look for text on the page.  Suggested values for text searches include names of points and amateur radio call signs.  Other ideas include distances and bearings.  It is not recommended to search for compass points because little can be done with the result.  180° Headings from the True Compass Rose are an aid to visually sorting the data and will not be of use if extracted from it.  It is common for one text search to yield multiple results, so be prepared to consider the complete result in order to save time with searches.  Navigating from one search hit to the next may be done in the web browser using the provided commands, menus, and tools.  There may be an arrow or "next" button along with the search term to indicate where to continue on to the next instance in the search results.  

Here is a descriptive legend that interprets the meaning of the colors used in each beam heading row.  

Color Legend

All beam headings in the table are organized first on the far left by the beam heading greater than 180°.  The reciprocal beam heading is listed on the same row at the far right.  This arrangement creates a pair of beam headings for use from both points, and the distance in kilometers and miles is presented in between the pair of points.  Not all beam headings are 180° apart, so the far right beam headings may show numbers that appear out of place.  Most beam headings on the same continent and in the same hemisphere will be near to 180° apart.  The curvature of the earth becomes more apparent on Great Circle paths at longer distances, skewing the beam heading pair to something wildly different from 180°.  

The westernmost points are depicted on the left side of the table, and the easternmost points are depicted on the right side.  The northernmost points are depicted toward the top left and bottom right of the beam headings table, and the southernmost points are depicted toward the bottom left and top right.  This is similar to the way a compass needle points, and can be further appreciated by viewing the True Compass Rose table for 180° Headings.  This corresponds to the northings and eastings of amateur radio stations and other points depicted in the AC5JW Geolocation Table.  

Labeling of the entire table conforms to the True Compass Rose.  Geographical relationships between points can thus be visualized or imagined with more context than beam headings.  For example, if the same three points appear next to each other in separate rows of the beam headings table, then one of the three points is likely between the other two.  If the beam headings themselves are within a few degrees of each other, then the distances will bear out the end points and the middle point.  The beam headings may be interpreted as "lining up" in such instances when the same three points are involved.  This effect is more visible in the Master List, where beam headings for all points are listed together.  

Candidates for new derivative beam heading tables are points, listed in the AC5JW Geolocation Table , for which at least ten (10) beam headings have been generated and displayed in the Master List.  

[ Official Time for the United States ]