KM4RE: Russell Elementary Amateur Radio Club

Ham speak

Hams talk funny! They have slang terms that they throw around and they also use code terminology to keep things clear. Below are a few things you might hear while operating an amateur radio station.

Ham slang:

59        "You have a great signal." (The first number is readability and the second is signal strength. A readable signal that is weak, might be reported as 53 for example.)

73        "Best regards" (It is basically like saying "Have a nice day.")

Clear on your final    This means that you are done transmitting after the other person finishes their transmission.

CQ        "Calling any station" (Originally used in Morse code, but now is used in voice also.)

DX        Long distant station, usually outside of the continental U.S.

HT        Handy-talky (A handheld radio transceiver.)

Roger    "I understand"

Rubber duck    A small flexible antenna on a handheld radio

 

Amateur radio Q code:

QSL    Acknowledge that the message is received.

QTH    Location.

QSY    Change frequency.

QRM    Interference, usually from another station operating on a nearby frequency.

QRN    Static.

QRZ    Who is calling?

QSO    Communication or conversation

QSB    Fading (a weakening of the signal that makes it difficult of impossible to understand the other operator)

QRT    Stopping transmission.

Radio Phonetic Code

Radio phonetic code is used to represent letters of the alphabet when transmitting. Some letters have several different phonetics that are commonly used. Some of those are shown in parentheses.

A    ALPHA   (America)

B    BRAVO

C    CHARLIE

D    DELTA

E    ECHO

F    FOXTROT   (Fox)

G    GOLF

H    HOTEL   (Honolulu)

I    INDIA    (Italy)

J    JULIET

K    KILO    (Kilowatt)

L    LIMA

M    MIKE    (Mary    Mexico)

N    NOVEMBER    (Norway     Nancy)

O    OSCAR (Ocean)

P    PAPA

Q    QUEBEC  (Queen)

R    ROMEO    (Radio)

S    SIERRA    (Sugar)

T    TANGO

U    UNIFORM  (United)

V    VICTOR    (Victoria)

W    WHISKEY    (William)

X    X-RAY

Y    YANKEE

Z    ZULU    (Zed    Zanzibar)

More to be added soon...

For a very extensive list of amateur radio terminology, click HERE.

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