Ham Radio Lingo

Here's a list of ham radio lingo/nomenclature/slang/terminology/jargon I'll do my best to keep adding to! Have a suggestion? Contact me any time: About / Contact. The one and two character terms become suddenly-prevalent in CW (Morse Code), where unnecessary letters require extra effort, and/or can lead the other party to confusion

Potentially Life-Saving

If you hear one of these and don't immediately hear a response (EG: Coast Guard), you should contact a relevant authority- Coast Guard for vessels, FAA for aviation, etc. If you don't know who to call, it's 9-1-1:

• Mayday - International distress call
• Pan-Pan - Urgent call (from French "panne" - breakdown) - indicates urgent situation but not immediately life-threatening, such as mechanical failure, medical issue needing assistance, or safety concern

General Jargon

• DE - From (as in "this is")
• FB - Fine Business (excellent)
• Footwarmer - Tube amplifier (they get hot)
• GL - Good luck
• Ham - Amateur radio operator
• K - Invitation to transmit/over
• Lid - Poor operator (derogatory)
• Mike - Microphone
• Roger - Message received and understood
• Ticket - Amateur radio license
• TU or TY - Thank you

People & Operators

• Elmer - A mentor who helps new hams learn the hobby
• OM (Old Man) - Any male ham radio operator (regardless of age)
• SK (Silent Key) - A deceased ham radio operator
• YL (Young Lady) - Any female ham radio operator, regardless of age
  • XYL (Ex-Young Lady) - A married female ham operator, or an operator's wife

Operating Terms

• 73 - Best regards
• CQ - Calling any station, seeking contact
• QSO - A contact/conversation between stations
• QSL - Confirmation of contact (also the confirmation card itself). Used during a QSO, EG: "name here is Mark. QSL?" - "QSL, Mark, good signal. Name here is Beth"
• QTH - Location/address
• QRM - Man-made interference
• QRN - Natural static/interference
• QRP - Low power operation (generally 10 watts of input, or 5 watts of measured output) [Source]
• QRO - High power operation
• QSY - Change frequency, EG: "shall we QSY to 146.550?")
• QRT - Done transmitting/shutting down
• QRV - Are you ready? Or: I am ready
• QRZ - Who is calling me? Or: next contact, please
• RST - Signal report: Readability, Strength, Tone. Find a chart here

Equipment & Operations

• Dummy Load - Non-radiating practice antenna for testing. And sometimes used to describe bad gear, EG: "I wanted to like that antenna but it was just a dummy load"
• Duplex - Transmit and receive on different frequencies (repeater operation)
• Key - Morse code sending device (straight key, paddle, etc.)
• Mobile - Operating from a vehicle
• Portable - Operating away from home station with temporary setup
• Repeater - Automated station that retransmits signals for extended range
  • Networked Repeaters - Several repeaters linked together either via internet or radio backhauls
• Rig - Radio transceiver
• Scanner - A receive-only radio used to listen to police, aviation, ham radio, etc.
• Shack - Ham radio operating station/room
• Simplex - Direct station-to-station communication (as opposed to through a repeater)
• SWR - Standing Wave Ratio (antenna efficiency measurement)

Contests & Activities

• Contest - Competitive operating event. Check out a contest calendar here
• DX - Long distance communication, usually international. Contesters focussed on making distant contacts may call "CQ DX {callsign}"
• Net - Organized on-air gathering at scheduled time
• Pileup - Multiple stations calling one station simultaneously
• Ragchew - Long, casual conversation
• Round Table - A conversation involving three or more stations taking turns, often informal and social. In SoCal? Check out our twice-monthly one of these!
• SOTA - Summits on the Air (operating from mountain peaks). I'm pretty into this and have a section of this site about it: SOTA (Summits on the Air). And here is the program's official website
• POTA - Parks on the Air. Info here

See also this concise, printable PDF from the AARL:

Here's a reminder to get in touch if you have anything to add to this list! About / Contact

73 to you!