|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
COMMONLY USED Q-SIGNALS, IN AMATEUR RADIO Q-Signals were developed for use on CW (Morse) operation in maritime and aeronautical use in the mid 1930s, and were used by
amateurs as well. There is a very large list of Q-Signals as well as military Z-Signals, elsewhere on this web site (or rather a downloadable file for them.) However, while there are many
Q-signals, only a handful are used in amateur radio. No Z-signals are used in ham radio, though it would not be illegal to use them. Q-Signals were meant for CW. As such a Q-signal followed by
a question mark meant simply that it was a question. Without the question mark, it was a statment. An example would be: QTH? That means "What is your location?" But QTH without the question
mark means "Location is." So if I sent to you, QTH? I am asking you where you are. If I send QTH MCINTOSH I am telling you where I am. A very few of the Q-signals have been used on
voice operation for decades, and, though never intended as such, have become common use. There has always been a faction in amateur radio that disdains the use of Q-signals on voice, and that faction is
quite adamant and vocal today. . The ones that have commonly been used in voice operation are QTH, QSL, QSO, QRM, QRN, and less frequently QRU and QRV. These are used in the context of QTH simply
being a substitute for the one word "location", for example. QSO is a substitute for the word "contact" (used as a noun, as in "that contact.") and QSL is usually meant as a term for a QSL
card. Lately, though, there is a disconcerting use of the word QSL, and we will discuss that later in this section. QRU has been used on voice operation to mean "I don't have anything further",
or "nothing more to say here." And QRV is used usually when a station is about to accept a message, formal or informal, from another station. One station might ask, "I have John's address, are you
ready to copy?" and the other station might answer, "Yeah, QRV." This really is used very little Below are the common-use Q-signals. Remember, if the Q-signal is followed by a question mark, it
is asking the question, not making the statement. |
|
|
|
|
QRG - Increase transmitter power QRL - Busy. Usually used as "QRL? meaning, is the frequency busy?" But can also mean "Are you busy?"
QRM - interference. Actually it means: QRM? Am I being interfered with? QRN - interference by natural causes, such as lightning. Again, it means: QRN? Am I being interfered with by
natural causes? QRO - Increase keying speed QRP - Low power. In amateur use this is usually used in this way, to mean: "I am running low power here, five watts or less."
QRS - decrease keying speed QRT - stop, stop transmitting, I am going to quit now. QRU - I have nothing further QRV - Ready to receive QRX - Standby. Normally this signal is used to mean a
longer period of time than "wait a second!" In formal use it means "QRX (DATE/TIME) So, QRZ 04252008 0900" would mean wait until 4 25 08 at 9 AM. Short term waits of a few moments are
expressed using CW as 'AS' (as a single character) which means 'wait a moment" and on voice, as "Wait" or "stand by" or "hang on a minute." QRZ - This actually means "Who is calling this
station." As a statement it means "You are being called by xxx." QSB - Used to mean "fading." Signal is fading in and out. QSK - Use on CW only. It means "I am operating full
breakin. I can hear you between my transmitted characters." QSO - used mostly as a one word substitution for "contact" used as a noun. QST - General broadcast to all amateur radio operators
QSV - CW only. "Send a series of V's." Test transmission. QSX - Rarely used on amateur radio but not totally unheard of. Means "I am listening on (frequency." FOR A FULL LIST OF ALL
Q-SIGNS, VISIT MY DOWNLOADS PAGE (LINK) AND DOWNLOAD THE Q-SIGNALS DOCUMENT. |
|
|
|
|
CONTROVERSY OVER "QSL." More and more we hear amateur radio exchanges like this: (A) Yeah, Tom, I'm going to the meeting tonight, QSL? (B) QSL, Dick, I think I'm going to be there, QSL?
(A) Yeah, Tom, I hope we have a lot of people there, QSL? (B) QSL on that, I'd like to see a big crowd, QSL? (C) QSL on that. The more the merrier, QSL? Are you sick yet? If you hear
that on the air enough, you will be. Don't be guilty! If you substitute ten-four for each QSL above, you can easily see how this got started in ham radio. It came from CB radio, and is
has corrupted the use of the QSignal "QSL" into a "yeah, roger that" or "ten four thar buddy" or just plain "over." It sounds terrible, it is very straight from CB, and truly is poor operating
practice. Please do not develop a habit of using QSL as "over" or "ten four". |
|
|
|
|
A BIT OF HISTORY REGARDING A FEW COMMONLY USED CW PROSIGNS Here are presented some of the CW prosigns that have been used over a long period of time in amateur
radio. As we advanced, some of them have changed slightly, but in general they remain as they have for decades. Prosigns were used by military and civilian commercial and government communications
back in the 1930s. At that time a lot of long-haul aviation used CW radio, and almost all maritime services were CW. This continued through the 1940s and into the 1950s. Some aviation was
still on CW into the early 1960s, and high-seas maritime CW operation continued through the 1980s. Some of it, though rare, continues even today, in the 21st century, though mostly from third world
countries. . Prosigns were developed to shorten operations that were not covered by "Q" and "Z" signals, and in fact, preceeded "Z" signals by several years. Following World War II, amateur
radio operators were allowed to return to the air waves. Two factors governed the style of communications of hams in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. First, most ham radio operators were
male. It was a technical hobby, and despite the female technical workforce during the War, most women, after the war, simply returned to being housewives. Few had the interest or the desire to
further pursue technical thinsg as a form of recreation, the exception being mostly as pilots. Many women who were trained as military ferry pilots during the war became private pilots after the
war. The second thing that stylized ham radio in the late 1940s is most of these men had served in the military. That meant they knew, had been trained on, and had been required to use,
standard operating procedures. Those procedures included Q-signals, certainly, and definitely included CW operating signs and prosigns. In the late 1940s, except for the content being casual, a
ham QSO sounded much like a military one. The big change came with the introduction of the new beginner's license, the Novice, in 1951. For the first time those not with at least some skills in
electronics as well as operating techniques, could enter amateur radio "cold." No prior training! But because these Novices were under the watchful eyes of the old timers as well as the
FCC, they learned these same standard signals. It was, though, at that time that a few changes began to appear. Through the rest of the 1950s, the 1960s, and the 1970s, things remained pretty
stable. We still used common Q signals and common CW prosigns. In the late 1980s, changes were becoming quite obvious. Part of this resulted from an influx of CB radio operators, and,
because they had not been hams, many had paid no attention to ham radio, they began bringing their own language into this hobby. It was to make serious changes in voice operation, but it barely
affected CW operation. In the 1990s, a new attitude came into ham radio. This was an attitude of "why do I have to do it the old way? I can do it my way." Again, this mostly affected
voice operation, but it began to find its way into the CW world as well. The prosigns used on CW began to take on different meanings, as did some of the Q-signals. Presented below is a list of
common prosigns, and the way they were used in the 1940s and 1950s. Some of them still are used that way. Others are not. Where newer meanings have become evident, I have included those as
I understand them. These prosigns are posted from my memory as a military and government radio operator, plus my early years in ham radio. They are not "law," but are simply the way it was. I
have followed this pattern because I always felt that when words or signs become too flexible, we lose the ability to communicate. Going to the extreme, if the word "dog" means a for-legged canine to
one person, and a deep lake or a rotten tree to someone else, then using the word "dog" will not communicate an idea. For that reason, I prefer to use standard phonetics, Q-signals, and prosigns,
the way I learned them. If that will not communicate the idea, then I will switch to plain language. Elsewhere on this web site is a list of Q-Signals, as well as Z-signals. This Prosign list
will NOT include any of those. I have chosen to designate Prosigns that are sent as ONE character, all run together, with parenthesies. That is, (SK) means ditditditdahditdah - all one
character. SK means ditditdit dahdidah - two letters. With the increased use of computer keyboards some software apparently will not put letters together. So when (BK) is meant, it
comes out BK. It is a symbol of our increasing reliance on computers and computer-operated devices to think for us, to take away our ability to do things for ourselves, but that is a topic for
another time. Here, some Prosigns. From an Old Timer I have included only the most common, and have NOT included ones specifically meant for traffic handling. |
|
|
|
|
(AR)
Sent as one character. = Technically it means "NOTHING FOLLOWS" It is the military "end of transmission, no reply expected " signal. Sent at the very end of a transmission, it means, in effect, "I'm done, and I do not expect an answer." If I send 'HAVE A GOOD DAY, DE W5HTW (AR) ' that means I am done, completely.
There is some confusion over that and the prosign CL (two letters.) CL means closing station. It means I am throwing the switch. I am not listening anymore. AR means I am not
expecting an answer. It does NOT mean I am not listening, and it does NOT mean I will not answer some other station that might call me. If I send, "HAVE A GOOD DAY DE W5HTW CL" It
means not only that I am done with YOU, I am not listening for ANYONE. The radio is OFF. The "CL" means "CLosing." This signal is not used in military/commercial CW. (
BT) This actually means Break in Text. It is commonly used in ham radio as a sort of "I'm thinking" signal! Between sentences, while one thinks what to say next. This
signal in military/commercial, means exactly that - a break and the text of the message begins, and another break and the text of the message ends. It is not used in any other manner in commercial CW.
(BK)
This is the Break signal. It is used today in lieu of call signs during a series of short transmissions, but that is not how it was intended. It is actually a signal asking for a quick response to something, like "JOE ARE YOU GOING TO THE GAME (BK) Joe would replay "YEP I'M GOING (BK) and then the QSO continues. It is NOT intended as continuous usage over a period of exchanges. Also note, the response does not need to BEGIN with (BK) Why would you do that? This signal is not used in government or commercial CW, so is an amateur-only innovation.
(SK) This means "final transmission." It is not the same as (AR) and it is not the same as CL. It means, in effect, "I am not going to transmit to you anymore, as we are
done, but if someone else calls me I will answer. Or I may call CQ." In other words, it means "I'm done with YOU." This signal was not used in military or commercial CW, and many hams take
it to mean the same as (AR) It is close, but not quite. DE means "This is." It is used in front of the sending station's call sign. It has NO other meaning. R
means "Received." It can be sent only once, and should be, but many hams, for decades, have felt it necessary to send it two or three times, such as "RRR" In military and commercial use, it is sent once only, and it means "received OK."
73 means "best regards." Note it is already plural. It does not mean "best regard." So 73s makes no sense, and is fortunately not heard of much on CW.
|
|
|
|
