Glossary
Ham radio has its own vocabulary, some of it inherited from Morse-era telegraphy, some of it FCC regulatory language, some of it just hobby slang. Here's what the terms you'll run into actually mean.
- 73→
- Amateur satellite→
- Call sign→
- Coax (coaxial cable)→
- CTCSS (PL tone)→
- CW (continuous wave / Morse code)→
- Digital mode→
- Dipole→
- Duty cycle→
- DX→
- Elmer→
- FM (frequency modulation)→
- FRN (FCC Registration Number)→
- Grid square→
- HT (handheld transceiver)→
- Ionosphere→
- MPE (Maximum Permissible Exposure)→
- Net→
- Offset→
- Part 97→
- PEP (peak envelope power)→
- Phonetic alphabet→
- POTA (Parks on the Air)→
- Propagation→
- QRP→
- QSL card→
- QSO→
- Repeater→
- Rig→
- Shack→
- Simplex→
- Sporadic E→
- SSB (single sideband)→
- SWR (standing wave ratio)→
- ULS (Universal Licensing System)→
- Vanity call sign→
- VE (Volunteer Examiner)→
- VEC (Volunteer Examiner Coordinator)→
- Yagi→