Ham Radio

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Hamspeak ¶ 

When you eavesdrop on ham radio satellites and ISS, you’ll probably hear a lot of letters, numbers, and strange words, like “KC2UHB Foxtrot November three one … roger roger.” One reason is that ham operators use a phonetic alphabet to make themselves clear through the static and interference, so that “P” sounds nothing like “T,” for example.

The ham ABCs are: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, and Zulu.

Also, orbits don’t last very long, so radio operators extending their reach via satellites tend to communicate quickly, following the same general dialogue. Here’s an example:

“Kilo Charlie two Uniform Hotel Bravo.” (Hi, my call sign is KC2UHB, does anyone want to talk to me?) A call sign is like a screen name assigned to ham radio operators when they receive their license. Some operators have vanity call signs like NE1RD.

“KC2UHB from Whiskey two Victor Victor please copy Foxtrot November three one.” (I hear you KC2UHB, my call sign is W2VV and I am in Maidenhead location FN31.) The Maidenhead system divides the Earth into grid squares as shorthand to describe locations, and FN31 covers most of Connecticut and some of New York State. You can look up grid square locations online at levinecentral.com/ham/grid_square.php and elsewhere.

“W2VV, QSL this is KC2UHB, Echo Mike eight nine.” (W2VV, I received your transmission, my location is EM89.) KC2UHB is in central Ohio.

“QSL. Thank you for the contact. 73.” (I received your transmission. Thank you for the contact. Goodbye.)

“73.” (Goodbye.)

Just as we text each other abbreviations like OMG, BRB, TTYL, LOL, BF, GF, and <3, ham operators have their own, much older shorthand that was originally based on Morse code but became spoken with the advent of voice transmissions — much like when people say “Oh em gee” or “Be eff eff” today. Here are some ham abbreviations you may hear:

73 = goodbye, best wishes

88 = xoxo

OM (old man) = a friendly term for a male ham, a boyfriend/husband if described as “my OM”

YL (young lady) = a female ham, a girlfriend if described as “my YL”

XYL = wife

QSL = confirmation of message received

QRP = operating with low power

HT (handy talky) = a walkie-talkie