IU4NLA

Amateur Radio Station
Parma - Italy


NATO ALPHABET AND RADIO ABBREVIATIONS

I wrote this page to keep all the notes of various abbreviations I had around. I check this page and update it from time to time, and maybe it could be helpful to someone else too.

NATO ALPHABET:
A - Alpha
B - Bravo
C - Charlie
D - Delta
E - Echo
F - Foxtrot
G - Golf
H - Hotel
I - India
J - Juliet
K - Kilo
L - Lima
M - Mike
N - November
O - Oscar
P - Papa
Q - Quebec
R - Romeo
S - Sierra
T - Tango
U - Uniform
V - Victor
W - Whiskey
X - Xray
Y - Yankee
Z - Zulu

also numbers are pronounced in an unique way to avoid missunderstandings:

0 - Zee-ro
1 - Wun
2 - Too
3 - Tree
4 - Fow-er
5 - Fife
6 - Six
7 - Sev-en
8 - Ait
9 - Nin-er

One note: it is important to notice that sometimes Italian operators spell the I in their callsign as "Italia" instead of "India" (especially on domestic contacts). This is formally an incorrect use, even if a very frequent one.

 

 

 

 

Q-Code
Q-code is a series of standardized 3-letters codes starting with Q. They were invented as abbreviations back when only radiotelegraphy was used. Since there are truly a lot, and only some are used in amateur radio, I will only list those most used together with other abbreviations. Every Q-code can be used as a statement, or as a question.
Q-codes are also used in spoken and written (even off-air) communications as pratical abbreviations. As an example: "Hey man, did you fix your QRP rig?"

 

 

 

 

RADIO ABBREVIATIONS:
73 - Best Regards
88 - Hugs and Kisses
APRS - Automatic Packet Reporting System
CW - Continuous waves (morse code)
GND - Ground
K - Please Transmit
Key - Device used to manually send Morse-code
Old Man, OM - Amateur Radio Operator
Paddles - another device to manually send Morse-code
QRP - it usually indicates low-power radio operation (5W or less). In Q-code, it means to reduce power, as in: "QRP?" (should I reduce power) - "QRP" (please reduce power).
QSO - a radio contact
QTH - Q-code for position, it is often used to mean one own radio station.
RF - Radio Frequency
Roger -  short for "I received your message". It derives from telegraphy's "R", which was spelled as "Roger" (before "Romeo" became the standard)
RX - Receiver
SSTV - Slow-scan television , is a method of sending pitcures via radio  
TNX - Thanks
TX - Transmitter
UTC - Coordinated Universal Time

 

The list is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather as a list of those abbreviations I happen to see and use the most (both on-air and on-line).

 

 

 

 

 

Radio bands
VLF - Very Low Frequency
LF - Low Frequency
MF - Medium Frequency
HF - High Frequency
VHF - Very High Frequency
UHF - Ultra High Frequency
SHF - Super High Frequency
EHF - Extremely High Frequency

 



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