A	Alpha (AL fah)	N	November (no VEM ber)
B	Bravo (BRAH voh)	O	Oscar (OSS cah)
C	Charlie (CHAR lee)	P	Papa (pah PAH)
D	Delta (DELL tah)	Q	Quebec (keh BECK)
E	Echo (ECK oh)	R	Romeo (ROW me oh)
F	Foxtrot (FOKS trot)	S	Sierra (see AIR rah)
G	Golf (GOLF)	T	Tango (TANG go)
H	Hotel (hoh TELL)	U	Uniform YOU nee form)
I	India (IN dee ah)	V	Victor (VIK tah)
J	Juliet (JEW lee ETT)	W	Whiskey (WISS key)
K	Kilo (KEY loh)	X	X-ray (ECKS ray)
L	Lima (LEE mah)	Y	Yankee (YANG kee)
M	Mike(MIKE)	Z	Zulu (ZOO loo)

Readability 1 – 5 (5 being the best)
Signal Strength 1 - 9
Tone 1 – 9

Tone is used to describe the quality of a CW note.  With modern transmitting equipment rarely will this be less than “9”.

Reading the top scale of this S meter, it shows a received signal strength 30 dB over S-9.  This would be reported as “five nine plus thirty” or “thirty over nine.”

Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) is the time at the zero or reference meridian.

To calculate UTC add the hours in the chart to your local time.  24 hour format is standard.

Example:
10 AM Eastern Standard Time is 1500 UTC

Be sure to use the correct date if the conversion results after midnight UTC.

Example:
Dec 31, 2007 7 PM Pacific Standard Time is 0300 Jan 1, 2008 UTC

 

Standard Time Zone     Daylight Savings Time

Atlantic + 4 hours                  + 3 hours

Eastern + 5 hours                  + 4 hours

Central + 6 hours                   + 5 hours

Mountain + 7 hours                + 6 hours

Pacific + 8 hours                    + 7 hours

A Q signal followed by a ? asks a question. A Q Signal without the ? answers the question affirmatively, unless otherwise indicated.

QRA -- What is the name of your station?

QRG -- What is my exact frequency?

QRH -- Does my frequency vary?

QRL -- Are you busy?

QRM -- Is my transmission being interfered with?

QRN -- Are you troubled by static?

QRO -- Shall I increase transmitter power?

QRP -- Shall I decrease transmitter power?

QRQ -- Shall I send faster?

QRS -- Shall I send slower?

QRT -- Shall I stop sending?

QRU -- Have you anything for me? (Answer in negative)

QRV -- Are you ready?

QRX -- When will you call again?

QRZ -- Who is calling me?

QSA -- What is my signal strength? (1-5)

QSB -- Are my signals fading?

QSK -- Can you work break-in?

QSL -- Can you acknowledge receipt?

QSO -- Can you communicate with..... direct?

QSP -- Will you relay to ..... ?

QSX -- Will you listen for ..... on ..... ?

QSY -- Shall I change frequency?

(Answer negative)

QTC -- How many messages have you to send?

QTH -- What is your location?

QTR -- What is your time?

 

Voice	Code
Go ahead	K
Over	AR
Over (specific station)	KN
Stand by or wait	AS
Roger (Transmission received in full)	R
Clear	SK
Leaving the air or closing the station	CL

 

Alabama	AL		Montana	MT
Alaska	AK		Nebraska	NE
Arizona	AZ		Nevada	NV
Arkansas	AR		New Hampshire	NH
California	CA		New Jersey	NJ
Colorado	CO		New Mexico	NM
Connecticut	CT		New York	NY
Delaware	DE		North Carolina	NC
Florida	FL		North Dakota	ND
Georgia	GA		Ohio	OH
Hawaii	HI		Oklahoma	OK
Idaho	ID		Oregon	OR
Illinois	IL		Pennsylvania	PA
Indiana	IN		Rhode Island	RI
Iowa	IA		South Carolina	SC
Kansas	KS		South Dakota	SD
Kentucky	KY		Tennessee	TN
Louisiana	LA		Texas	TX
Maine	ME		Utah	UT
Maryland	MD		Vermont	VT
Massachusetts	MA		Virginia	VA
Michigan	MI		Washington	WA
Minnesota	MN		West Virginia	WV
Mississippi	MS		Wisconsin	WI
Missouri	MO		Wyoming	WY

Alberta	AB
British Columbia	BC
Manitoba	MB
New Brunswick	NB
Newfoundland and Labrador	NL
Nova Scotia	NS
Northwest Territories	NT
Nunavut	NU
Ontario	ON
Prince Edward Island	PE
Quebec	QC
Saskatchewan	SK
Yukon	YT