| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 73 | Best regards (not 73s = best regardss) More info on the expression 73: History of 73 “73 mate” |
| 88 | Love and kisses |
| 99 | Go out |
| Activation | DX (rare country), IOTA or IWI (island), SES (event) or other activity, usually with a special callsign. |
| AGL | Above ground level |
| Antenna tuner, ATU | |
| A index | A 24-hour summary of geomagnetic activity. A index is an average of the eight 3-hour K indices and uses a linear scale that goes from 0 (quiet) to 400 (severe storm). |
| “Armstrong” method | Turning a directional antenna by hand instead of using an antenna rotator. |
| ASL | Above sea level |
| ATNO | “All-Time New One” (http://www.delta-alfa.com/atno-the-dx-hallelujah/) |
| Aurora | Radio aurora, a propagation mode that is associated with northern lights (aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and aurora australis in the southern hemisphere). Audio of the stations coming via auroral backscatter sound often distorted because there are several reflecting spots in an aurora and those are also in constant motion. It's possible to make aurora QSOs on SSB but on FM the sound of the station coming via aurora is too distorted. When making QSOs via radio aurora antennas are usually turned approximately to the north. Some audio of aurora QSOs going on in north Europe: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10783507 |
| Auroral E | An E-layer propagation mode that is caused by aurora |
| Azimuth map | A map showing antenna directions from your QTH to different parts of the world. See Using an Azimuth Map to Determine Antenna Direction |
| Backscatter | Backscatter happens when a signal is refracted either back from the ionosphere to the area the signal originated from or from the ionosphere to the surface of the earth and back to the ionosphere and to the area the signal originated from. Backscatter usually requires good propagation and directional antennas. |
| Balun | Balanced to unbalanced converter – See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balun |
| “Bambi” | Some 11m operators call the one element Quad (loop) a “Bambi” antenna. |
| Band | A range of frequencies |
| Bandwidth | The available space between two given points on the electromagnetic spectrum and the amount of information that can be squeezed into that space. |
| Base station | A base station is a station with a fixed antenna and with the power coming from the mains. |
| BCI | Broadcast interference |
| Beam antenna | A directional antenna that has gain in some direction. For example a Yagi or a Quad antenna. |
| Blind zone | See Skip zone |
| CB | Citizen's band (26.965–27.405 MHz) |
| Center-fed | In a center-fed antenna the feed line is connected to the antenna at the center. |
| Clarifier | See RIT |
| Club station | |
| Coax | See Coaxial cable |
| Coaxial cable | See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_cable |
| Compression | A process of automatic adjustment of variation in audio volume. |
| Contest | Contests are activities most often organized by DX groups. When participating in a contest you usually try to contact as many stations and countries as possible during a certain time period. In other contests you might be trying to contact as many islands as possible or all the counties of some country. After the contest you will usually have to send your log to the contest manager. Rules and prizes vary depending on the contest. |
| Copy | To hear another station – “Can you copy?”, “I copy you loud and clear.” |
| COTA | Castles on the air |
| Critical Frequency | |
| CQ | “Seek you”, general call – When making a call targeted to some area of the world, you add the area after the CQ (CQ USA, CQ Scandinavia). If you wish to target only stations in a certain country, you add the country name after the CQ (CQ Finland, CQ Germany). When looking for any station in any part of the world you can just call CQ or CQ 11. If you are looking only for DX stations (see DX below) you can call CQ DX. |
| Delta loop | A triangle-shaped loop antenna |
| Digital modes | A general term for digital transmission modes such as PSK31, RTTY, etc. |
| Dipole antenna | |
| Director | A parasitic element in an antenna that focuses the radiated signal to the forward direction. |
| Doublet | See Dipole antenna |
| Driven element | The element in an antenna that receives power from the transmitter. |
| DX | Distant X, distant unknown – on 11m contacts to other continents and possibly to some rare DX entities in your own continent. |
| DXpedition | An expedition to a country or an island that is wanted on the 11m band because there are no operators active there or not many. |
| End-fed | In an end-fed antenna the feed line is connected to the antenna at one of its ends. |
| eQSL | Electronic QSL – A QSL card in a digital form (could be an image or a PDF file) sent via e-mail or via some eQSL service to the receiver. |
| ERP | Effective radiated power – The power leaving from the antenna after you take into account the output power of the transceiver, loss in the feed line, and the gain from the antenna. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_radiated_power |
| Feeder | See Feed line |
| Feed line (Transmission line) | The coaxial cable or wire(s) that carry RF power from the transmitter to the antenna and received signals from the antenna to the receiver. |
| Feed point | Part of the antenna where the feed line (most often a coaxial cable) is connected. The reported height of an antenna is the height from the ground or sea level to the feed point. |
| Filter | A circuit that manipulates signals differently based on their frequency. |
| Final | The last transmission of a station in a QSO / The final stage in an amplifier |
| Fixed station | See Base station |
| Front-to-back ratio | The ratio of the radiation off the front compared to the radiation off the back in a directional antenna. |
| Gain | |
| Gamma-match | |
| GMT | Greenwich mean time – nowadays UTC is used instead of GMT |
| GP | Ground plane |
| Grey line | A terminator, twilight zone or “grey line” is a moving line that separates the illuminated day side and the dark night side of a planetary body. Radio operators take advantage of conditions at the terminator (so-called “grey line” conditions) to perform long-distance communications. Under good conditions, radio waves can travel along the terminator to antipodal points. This is primarily because the D-layer, which absorbs high-frequency signals, disappears rapidly on the dark side of the terminator line. (Wikipedia: Terminator (solar)) |
| Green stamp | 1 USD |
| Ground wave | Radio wave traveling in the lower part of the earth's atmosphere. |
| Groundwave (magazine) | Groundwave used to be a printed monthly publication from the UK with the latest 11m DX news in the '90s. |
| Half-wave antenna | An antenna that is a half-wavelength long |
| HF | High frequency – a range of radio frequencies between 3 and 30 MHz |
| HI | Laughter in telegraphy |
| Horizontal polarization | In a horizontally polarized radio wave the electric field is parallel to the earth's surface. |
| Impedance | |
| Inverted V | Inverted V is a horizontal dipole where the two sides of the dipole are bent down towards the ground. It looks like the letter V turned upside down (Λ), hence the name. |
| Ionosphere | The ionosphere is a region of the earth's upper atmosphere, from about 60 km (37 mi) to 1,000 km (620 mi) altitude. It is ionized by solar radiation and has an impact on the propagation of radio waves. |
| IOTA | Islands on the air |
| IRC | International reply coupon – See About IRCs |
| IWI | Inland waterway island (inland islands in lakes, rivers, etc.) |
| J-pole | The J-pole antenna is an end-fed omnidirectional half-wave antenna that is matched to the feed line by a quarter-wave parallel transmission line stub. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-pole_antenna |
| K index | The current state of the earth's magnetic field (in the range 0–9) |
| Kp index | The planetary K index (Kp index) is derived from the K index of 13 magnetometers between 44° and 60° northern or southern geomagnetic latitude. Current Kp index, Official Kp index website |
| Lambda λ | See wavelength |
| Letter contest | The mission in a letter contest is to collect all the letters from a phrase or a word. There are stations for each letter, and you try to contact all of them. Usually, you get a progressive number that contains the letter in question (such as 001-A) from each contacted station. |
| Loading coil | A coil (inductance) in the base or center of an antenna that makes the antenna longer electrically than its physical length. |
| Locator | The Maidenhead locator is a simple way to tell your location on the radio. QTH locators normally consist of a combination of six letters and numbers. e.g. KP03RF.
This six-character combination is simple and quick to relay over the radio. See http://www.sarl.org.za/public/QRA/Abt_Locators.asp To find out your own locator you need to know the coordinates of your QTH and use a program to calculate the locator or you can use the F6FVY QTH locator map: http://qthlocator.free.fr/index.php. |
| Long-path (LP) | A QSO via a longer route around the world to your destination station |
| Loop | A loop is a closed antenna type, that can a circle, quad or delta in shape and usually it is one wavelength long. In a Quad antenna, the feeder element and the parasitic elements are loops. |
| LOTA | Lighthouse on the air |
| Low-pass filter (LPF) | A circuit which permits frequencies below a chosen frequency to pass and blocks frequencies above the chosen frequency. |
| LUF | Lowest usable frequency – The lowest radio frequency that can be used for transmission between two points via a refraction from the ionosphere at a specified time. |
| Maritime mobile /MM | A maritime mobile station is a marine station (a boat or a ship) in international waters. The prefix used in the callsign when working as a maritime mobile station is the prefix of the country the ship is registered in. QSOs to maritime mobile stations are not valid as a worked country. |
| Mobile /M | A radio station in a vehicle, for example in a car (also vessels on inland waterways). |
| Modulation | |
| MUF | Maximum usable frequency – The highest radio frequency that can be used for transmission between two points via a refraction from the ionosphere at a specified time. (Wikipedia: Maximum Usable Frequency) |
| Multi operator | Station with multiple operators under one callsign – In contests there are sometimes stations working as multi. |
| Multipath | Radio wave can reach the receiving antenna via multiple paths. Multiple paths can cause QSB (fading). See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multipath_propagation |
| Off-center-fed (OCF) | In an off-center-fed antenna the feed line is connected to the antenna at a point between its ends which is not in the center. |
| Omnidirectional | An antenna that radiates radio wave power uniformly in all directions in one plane. Some examples of omnidirectional antennas are the vertical dipole, the GP and a ⅝-wave antenna. |
| Opening | When the propagation opens to some part of the world we are talking about an opening. |
| Operator | The person operating a radio station |
| Over | “Over to you” – Used during a radio contact in the end of a transmission when the other station gives the other station a chance to talk again. |
| Parasitic elements | Reflector and directors in a beam antenna. Called parasitic because the feed line is not connected to these elements; they receive power from the driven element by inductive coupling. |
| PL-259 | Male UHF-connector (see also Installing PL-259 Plugs Properly) |
| Pileup | Many 11m operators trying to get through to the same station at the same time, this might be a DXpedition or an otherwise interesting station. In a pileup, you repeat your callsign or only your unit number until the DX station gives you permission to go ahead and make the QSO with him (or her). |
| Polarization | |
| Portable /P | Portable stations are stations in the field using power from a battery or a generator and non-fixed antennas. |
| Preamplifier, Preamp | |
| Progressive number | A running number that is given by a DXpedition, pedition or a SES operator that you must confirm and mark on the QSL card when sending the card to the QSL manager. Progressive numbers are used in contests as well. Nowadays many DXpeditions and activations do not give you a progressive number, they just tell you that you’re in the log. |
| Proofs | Proof that the activity really took place in the location that the DX claims or claimed to be in. Proofs can be copies of plane, ferry or ship tickets, a direct QSL card received from the location, video, pictures, etc. A site presenting 11m DX proofs: http://www.dxproof.com/ |
| Propagation | Propagation of radio waves – also conditions on the band |
| PSK31 | One of the many digital modes – You can find PSK31 activity from time to time on 27.500 USB. |
| PTT | Push-to-talk – a transmit switch on the microphone of a transceiver |
| QRO | High power |
| QRP | Low power |
| QRT | Away from radio, not transmitting |
| QRZ | QRZ means “Who is calling me?” If you did not catch the callsign of the station calling you and you want him to repeat his callsign, then and only then you can ask QRZ? |
| QSB | Fading |
| QSK | Break – Break-in on an ongoing QSO |
| QSL | “Roger”, message confirmed |
| QSL card | A card confirming a radio contact |
| QSL manager | A person that handles the QSL cards of a station or activity. Normally a contribution for the post costs is required. |
| QSY | Change of frequency (e.g. QSY to 27.625) |
| Quagi | An antenna that has a Quad driven element, Quad reflector, and Yagi directors. |
| Radio shack | A place where the radio equipment is housed and operated. |
| Reflector | An element behind the driven element in a beam antenna. It reradiates a portion of the transmitted energy forward through the driven element. |
| RF | Radio frequency |
| RF gain | Controls the receive sensitivity of the transceiver. See: How To Use Your RF Gain Control (video by Ten-Tec, Inc) |
| RFI | Radio-frequency interference |
| RIT | Receiver incremental tuning – A way to offset your receive frequency incrementally from the transmit frequency. Useful when the other station you're talking to is slightly off frequency; you can use RIT to adjust only your receive frequency to hear the other station clearly. See also XIT |
| Roger | R, message confirmed |
| ROS | A weak signal digital mode created by Jose Alberto Ros. ROS activity can be found on 27.245 MHz USB and 27.635 MHz USB. |
| Rotator | An electric motor that is used to turn a beam antenna to the wanted direction. |
| RX | A radio receiver, receive |
| SAE | Self-addressed envelope – A letter with your own address filled that you send with your QSL card to a QSL manager. |
| SASE | Self-addressed stamped envelope – SAE with a postal stamp, can be sent to a QSL manager that is in the same country as you. |
| SES | Special event station |
| Short-path (SP) | A QSO via a shorter route around the world to your destination station |
| Simplex | Simplex communication is a communication channel that sends information in one direction at a time only. All traffic in 11 meters is in simplex. Sometimes the term simplex is also used in cluster DX spots to show that the DX is not working in split mode. |
| Sked | Pre-arranged QSO at some date/time |
| Skip | One “hop” (actually a refraction) of a radio wave from the ionosphere to ground |
| Skip zone | An area that is too far to reach via ground wave propagation and too near to reach via the ionosphere. |
| Skypper | Spiderbeam for 11m band. Spiderbeam is a modified Yagi antenna made from wire. In Spiderbeam the director and reflector elements are bent towards the feeder element. |
| Sky wave | Radio wave that is refracted back to the earth from the ionosphere making long-distance communications on HF possible. |
| SO-239 | Female UHF-connector |
| Solar cycle | About 11-year long period where the sun goes from solar (sunspot) minimum to solar (sunspot) maximum and back to minimum again. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle |
| Solar Flux Index (SFI) | Solar flux index is a measure of solar activity (radiation of the sun measured on a 2.8 GHz (10.7 cm) frequency). The value can change from under 50 to over 300. Values over 200 can be measured during sunspot maximum. Propagation on the 11m band starts to get good when the SFI is over 120. |
| SOTA | Summits on the air – Summits are activated using portable gear and for example transmitting from cars is not allowed. |
| Splatter | “Splatter” on SSB transmissions is high-order intermodulation distortion (IMD) caused by gross overdriving on speech peaks. More info: http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek/cleansig/no-splat.htm |
| Split operation | When the DX station is listening on a different frequency than the transmit frequency. Used by DXpeditions, so the stations listening for the DXpedition are not affected by the QRM from all the callers. Sometimes DXpeditions use a frequency range instead of a single frequency, for example 27.600–27.610. In this case, the DXpedition operator will be listening on every frequency inside this range step by step (27.600, 27.601, 27.602, etc.). This gives those trying to work the DXpedition a better chance of getting through. |
| Sporadic E, ES | Also sometimes called “summer propagation” or “short skip.” See: Understanding 10 (11) Meter Sporadic-E |
| SSTV | Slow-scan television (still-pictures sent via radio) – SSTV call frequency on 11m is 27.700 USB |
| Standard contribution | Standard or normal contribution used to be $1, nowadays because of the increased post costs the normal contribution for many DX group's QSL managers is $2, some also accept Euro(s) or IRC(s) and if the manager is in your own country he/she might even accept a SASE. If you're not sure about the contribution you should send, it's best to look for the info on the Internet or to send $2. |
| Static mobile | A mobile station that is not moving |
| Static rain | Water, snow or sleet rain, where the particles falling from the sky are electrically charged. |
| Sunspot | Sunspots are dark spots on the surface of the sun. They are darker than the surrounding sun surface because their temperature is around 1500 ℃ lower. Sunpots are caused by strong local magnetic fields. The number of sunspots varies in about 11-year cycles. There is more solar energy output when there are more sunspots and this increases ionization in the layers of the ionosphere here on earth. |
| Sunspot cycle | See Solar cycle |
| SWL | Shortwave listener |
| SWR | Standing wave ratio |
| Take-off angle | The angle above the horizon that an antenna radiates the greatest amount of energy. Lower take-off angles are better for DX contacts. Factors affecting the take-off angle are the antenna type, antenna height, and ground conditions. More info: http://www.dx-antennas.com/Height%20versus%20take%20off%20angle.htm |
| Transmission line | See Feed line |
| TVI | Television interference – Interference to a television set that is caused by a radio transmitter. |
| TX | Radio transmitter, transmit |
| UTC | Coordinated Universal Time (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/UT.php) |
| Velocity factor | The speed of radio waves is about 300 000 km/s in free space. In a conducting medium the speed is much slower (in an antenna wire about 95% of the free space speed). When calculating antenna dimensions or cutting coaxial cable to some specific use case where length matters you need to take the velocity factor into account. If you are for example calculating a length for a wire dipole, you will get the half-wavelength by dividing 150 with the frequency in MHz. You however still need to take the velocity factor into account by multiplying the result with 0.95 (the 95% mentioned above). |
| Vertical | See Vertical antenna |
| Vertical antenna | |
| Vertical polarization | In a vertically polarized radio wave the electric field is vertical with respect to the earth's surface. |
| VOX | Voice operated exchange – Function on HF radios which enables the transmit to start automatically when you start talking and to end when you stop talking. |
| Wavelength | Wavelength is the length of one complete cycle of the electromagnetic wave leaving from the antenna. On 27 MHz this is about 11 meters. Wavelength is important when calculating antenna lengths. Wavelength in a vacuum can be calculated with the formula 300 / MHz. The result is the wavelength in meters. When calculating antenna lengths you also have to take into account the velocity factor of the antenna material. |
| Work | To make radio contacts |
| WX | The weather |
| XIT | Transmitter incremental tuning – A way to offset the transmit frequency incrementally from the receive frequency. |
| XYL | Ex young lady (wife) |
| YL | Young lady – a female operator |
Image source: teear