Radio traffic
Q codes and abbreviations
Sending Morse takes time, so operators abbreviate wherever they can. Q codes are three-letter codes that mean the same thing in every language, and amateur radio added its own shorthand over the decades.
How Q codes work
Every Q code starts with Q and has two forms: a statement (“QRS” – please send more slowly) or, with a question mark, a question (“QRS?” – shall I send more slowly?). Created for professional radio traffic, they live on mainly in amateur radio – often even in conversation, as in “my QTH is Hamburg”.
The most important Q codes
| Code | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| QRL | I am busy / this frequency is in use. As a question: “Is this frequency in use?” | |
| QRM | I am being interfered with by other stations. | |
| QRN | I am troubled by static (atmospheric noise). | |
| QRO | Increase power. Informally: operating with high power. | |
| QRP | Decrease power. Informally: operating with very low power. | |
| QRQ | Send faster. | |
| QRS | Send more slowly. | |
| QRT | I am stopping transmission. | |
| QRU | I have nothing for you. | |
| QRV | I am ready. | |
| QRX | Please wait, I will call you again. | |
| QRZ | Who is calling me? | |
| QSB | Your signals are fading. | |
| QSL | I acknowledge receipt. Hence the name QSL card. | |
| QSO | A contact (two-way communication) with another station. | |
| QSY | Change frequency. | |
| QTH | My location is … |
Operating abbreviations
These structure a contact from the first call to the sign-off. Some of them – AR, KN or SK – are sent as procedural signs without a gap between the letters.
| Code | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| CQ | General call to all stations. | |
| DE | “From” – precedes your own call sign. | |
| K | Go ahead (any station may answer). | |
| KN | Go ahead – only the station called. | |
| BK | Break: quick back-and-forth without full call signs. | |
| AR | End of message. | |
| SK | End of contact. | |
| RST | Signal report: readability (1–5), strength (1–9), tone (1–9). 599 is the best. | |
| TNX | Thanks. Also TU. | |
| FB | Fine business – excellent. | |
| OM | Old man – a friendly way to address another operator. | |
| YL | Young lady – a female operator, of any age. | |
| GM / GA / GE | Good morning / good afternoon / good evening. | |
| 73 | Best regards – the classic sign-off. | |
| 88 | Love and kisses. |
What a short contact sounds like
A simplified exchange: station A calls “CQ CQ DE …” with its call sign and “K”. Station B answers with both call signs. They exchange a signal report (“RST 599”), location (QTH) and names, say thanks (“TNX FB QSO”) and sign off with “73” and “SK”. Many operators confirm the contact afterwards with a QSL card.
Reading Q codes is good. Having them in your ear is better.
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