Radio Lingo

Even on Zello, especially with the users that are more 2-way Radio savvy, you may hear certain 10 codes, Q codes, and other terminology that you may not be familiar with.

Below you will find the more common CB / Ham terminology that is still being used on Zello today:

Here are some 10 Codes:

4-10:

• 10-4 reversed, usually used in a question and wanting a confirmation ("This weather is crazy, 4-10?")

10-4:

• Confirmation. OK

10-6:

• Busy / Stand By

10-7:

• Signed off / Out of Service
• ("Hey everyone, I'm going 10-7") or ("Looks like Joe is 10-7)

10-8:

• Signed on and active / In Service
• ("I'm 10-8.")
• Also when driving to a location, it can mean you are in route to a specific location.
• ("I'm 10-8 to your location.")

10-9:

• Repeat
• ("10/9?")

10-10:

• Not signing off, but standing by and only listening
• ("I'll be 10-10 on the side....")

10-20:

• Location
• usually shorted to "20".
• ("What's your 20?") or ("My 20 is on the corner of ________")...

10-33:

• Emergency Traffic on this channel

10-36:

• Correct Time...
• ("Joe's 10-36 is 3 hours behind ours")

10-100:

• Take a leak (unofficial)

10-200:

• Take a dump (unofficial)

Here are some Q Codes:

CQ :

• Calling 'CQ' is a general call for contact, inviting any operators listening on that frequency (or channel) to respond.

QSO :

• A two way communication, conversation or chat.
• ("Thank you for the QSO!" )

QSL :

• Confirmation or agreement
• As a question "QSL?"
• confirm information is correct
• as an answer "QSL..."

QTH :

• Your location or position
• As a question: "What is Your QTH?"
• As an answer: "My QTH is Ayrshire, Scotland."

QSY :

• Change Frequency (or channel)
• "QSY to 3.777MHz" = change frequency to 3.777
• "QSY to channel 03" = change to channel 03

QRX :

• Stand By
• As a statement: "Please QRX" = Please stop transmitting:
• "I am going to QRX" = I am going to stop transmitting.

QRZ :

• Who is calling me?
• (This is often used incorrectly by stations calling QRZ when no one else has actually called them)

QRT :

• Closing down: "I am going QRT" = I am switching off the radio.

QRV :

• Ready to receive on this frequency. (or channel)

Radio Terminology:

73:

• Best reguards / My Complements
• ("73 to all")

88:

• Hugs and Kisses
• ("73 to all, and 88 to the Ladies!")

Break Channel:

• Use this term to politely interrupt a conversation to get a hold of someone in the channel or to quickly change the subject

Call sign

• Series of unique letters and numbers assigned to a person who has earned an Amateur Radio license.

Dropping the Hammer or Dropping the Maul

• Normally used when a strong station keys up over top a weaker station. Still can be used in Zello if the timer is set to where a mod or admin can quickly key up over top of a troll for example

DX:

• Distance, foreign countries. ("CQ DX.")

Emergency traffic:

• Messages with life and death urgency

Lot Lizzard:

• Trucker term for prostitute found at truck stops

Over-modulated:

• Transmission is very loud and distorted

Priority traffic:

• Emergency-related messages, but not as important as Emergency traffic

PTT:

• Push to talk

Reading the Mail:

• Same as 10-10 / Just listening ("I'll be 10-10 and reading the mail")

Roger / Roger Wilco

• Message Received / Understood

Step on someone:

• Keying up over-top of someone's transmission

Under-modulated:

• Transmission is very low; hard to decipher what was said

Amateur Radio Phonetic Alphabet

For more Ham terminology, see http://www.arrl.org/ham-radio-glossary

For more CB terminology, and some good laughs, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CB_slang