| 
Readability
 | 
| 
1 | 
Unreadable | 
| 
2 | 
Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable | 
| 
3 | 
Readable with considerable difficulty | 
| 
4 | 
Readable with practically no difficulty | 
| 
5 | 
Perfectly readable
 | 
| 
Signal Strength
 | 
| 
1 | 
Faint signals, barely perceptible | 
| 
2 | 
Very weak signals | 
| 
3 | 
Weak signals | 
| 
4 | 
Fair signal | 
| 
5 | 
Fairly good signals | 
| 
6 | 
Good signals | 
| 
7 | 
Moderately strong signals | 
| 
8 | 
Strong signals | 
| 
9 | 
Extremely strong signals
 | 
| 
Tone
 | 
| 
1 | 
Sixty-cycle ac or less, very rough and broad | 
| 
2 | 
Very rough ac, very harsh and broad | 
| 
3 | 
Rough ac tone, rectified but not filtered | 
| 
4 | 
Rough note, some trace of filtering | 
| 
5 | 
Filtered rectified ac but strong ripple-modulated | 
| 
6 | 
Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation | 
| 
7 | 
Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation | 
| 
8 | 
Near perfect tone, slight trace of ripple modulation | 
| 
9 | 
Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind
 | 
| 
If the signal has the characteristic steadiness of crystal control, add the letter X to the report. If there is a chirp, add the letter C. Similarly for a click, add K. The above reporting system is used on both CW and voice; leave out the "tone" report on voice. |