HAM Radio 101

Zulu Time, UTC Time Explained

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the globally used time standard. It’s a 24-hour clock that’s based on the 0° longitude meridian, known as the Greenwich Meridian, and it’s what meteorologists use to track weather patterns for universal tracking.

Also referred to as Zulu Time, UTC is the standardized time system that replaced Greenwich Mean Time back in the early 1970s. While the two are similar, one of the key differences is that Zulu or UTC does not observe Daylight Saving Time.

Local time is calculated by subtracting a specific number of hours from UTC, determined by the amount of time zones between you and the Greenwich Meridian. During Daylight Saving Time this requires adding or subtracting an additional hour to adjust.

Not up for the longhand conversions? Click here for a simple UTC conversion cheat sheet from the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center or pick up one of our MFJ Dual Time Zone Clocks at

DXEngineering.com for up-to-the-minute time confirmation.

Tags:

Leave a Reply