QSY

CQ is ham-speak for “calling any station”. For all modes— voice, Morse, visual, or digital, it signifies a radio amateur looking to make a contact.

The basic, general CQ means looking for any station to respond.

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It can be refined (a directed CQ) to be more specific, often a location. Common examples are out-of-country long distance (CQ DX), a particular prefix, country or state (CQ VT), a contest or event (CQ SOTA), or perhaps a CW specialty such as using a straight key (CQ SKCC).

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When you hear a station calling CQ, it’s your chance to work them. Respond by sending their call sign and then your own, much like on a VHF/UHF repeater.

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If a ham doesn’t hear any activity or anyone calling CQ it could mean the band is dead… or it could be a good opportunity to go fishing for a contact by calling CQ. New hams should get some experience with every new mode before calling CQ themselves.

When calling CQ , make sure that you are permitted to operate on the frequency you have chosen (and keep away from band edges). Also make sure that the frequency is not in use. Do not assume that if you hear quiet at a valid frequency that it is free; it could be that another ham is listening to a station you can’t hear.

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Always check if a frequency is in use before calling CQ. The proper way to do this is to simply ask by voice with your ID (phone), or send the Morse prosign QRL? with your call (CW mode).

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If someone else is working that frequency, they will let you know. Move to another frequency (QSY) should you receive a response to QRL.

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If nobody replies to your QRL, go ahead with your CQ. There is no official CQ protocol but there are many suggestions out there. Continue reading →

Back in the ham-speak topic we noted that ham radio vocabulary includes plenty of jargon and lingo. As mentioned there, it is best to not use too much ham-speak on the air, since plain language is preferred for voice modes (phone) but in reality you still hear many code words and abbreviations being used.

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You will run across many terms on the air as well as in books and magazines and perhaps in email that are cryptic to the new or prospective ham. To help you with this we will present the topic of Q-codes here.

The Q code (or Q-code) is a standardized collection of three-letter codes, all of which start with the letter Q, where each code has a particular meaning. These brevity codes were originally developed for commercial radiotelegraph use but were quickly adopted by amateur radio operators. Although Q codes were created when radio used Morse code exclusively, they continued to be employed after the introduction of voice transmissions. Some history on Q-codes can be found here and here and here.

Listed below are ten Q-codes the average ham is most likely to hear (in the author’s opinion), along with their meaning and common usage:

QRM- Man-made interference, interference from other stations.
QRN- Natural interference, typically static or crashing from thunderstorms.
QRP- Low power transmit, generally 5W or less.
QRT- Quitting; stopping transmission or shutting down station.
QRZ- Who is calling me?
QSB- Fading signal.
QSL- I acknowledge receipt; also confirmation of contact.
QSO- Conversation, radio contact and exchange.
QSY- Change frequency.
QTH- Location.

You should be familiar with at least these and perhaps some others as well. Comprehensive lists of Q-codes can be found here and here and here and here. t21b10