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From: devine@vianet.UUCP (Bob Devine)
Newsgroups: net.mail.headers
Subject: Re: Timezone
Message-ID: <21@vianet.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 12-Aug-86 15:55:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: vianet.21
Posted: Tue Aug 12 15:55:00 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 13-Aug-86 03:15:41 EDT
References: <2857@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Reply-To: devine@vianet.UUCP (Bob Devine)
Organization: ViaNetix, Inc., Boulder, CO
Lines: 27

In article <2857@brl-smoke.ARPA> XBR1YD14%DDATHD21.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA (YD14@BR1.THDNET) writes:
>What's the timezone code for Central European Time?
>Some nodes use +0100 other use -0100.
>I think +0100 (or A military time) is correct.
>So f.e. EST would equivalent to -0500 or R.
>Is that correct?
>
>Regards Reinhard Goeth (Techn. Univ. of Darmstadt; Fed. Rep. of Germany)

  Locations EAST of the Standard Time Meridian (aka Greenwich or Zulu)
are given as POSITIVE times; those WEST are NEGATIVE.  So, EST is -5:00.

  What confuses this is the conflicting descriptions.  The world-wide
standard is document 4031 from ISO which defines the above rule.  However,
and this is very important to you, two countries did not give approval
in 1978 -- Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom.  I don't
have any information if they have since approved of this standard.

  The confusing part comes from the *naming* of the different time zones.
Those zones east of the ST meridian are named the "Minus Zones" and have
zone letters of A-M (there is no J).  Western zones are the "Plus Zones"
and are N-Y.  'Z' is the ST meridian.

  The "Minus Zones" and "Plus Zones" are, as far as I can tell, just a
convention.  They are not ISO agreements.

Bob