The number 73 is used as a greeting by amateur radio operators and means something like “Thank you and greetings!”, As well as 88 “Greetings and kisses”, but only for female radio amateurs.
The abbreviations OM, YL and XYL stand in the general sense for the operator working at a radio station. They can be used as a salutation. OM comes from old man , which means lovingly old man and applies to male radio amateurs (even if they should only be 14 years old). Since radio amateurs are polite people, our ladies are referred to as young ladies (YL, young ladies). When they are married (but only then), they are addressed as XYL (ex YL).
Internationally, amateur radio is also often abbreviated to HAM.
The international alphabet is used
If two radio amateurs had a connection with each other, then this is a QSO. If something needs to be confirmed in a conversation (internationally mostly in English), then you simply say “QSL”. Afterwards you can confirm a connection with a QSL card in postcard format.
A typical QSO is confirmed with a report “59”, with 5 for intelligibility (1 = very bad, 5 = very good) and 9 for signal strength (1 = very weak, 9 = very strong).
All this information is noted in the logbook and the connection can subsequently be confirmed in the form of a QSL card in postcard format. This usually includes the callsign, the locator, the time and frequency and the report (e.g. 59) and information about Shack and the QTH (locator). As a rule, the radio amateurs design individual QSL cards in the form of postcards with beautiful motifs, according to personal taste. So that shipping is economical and you don’t have to swap addresses, shipping is via the national amateur radio associations and delivery is usually monthly (QSL service).
The QTH is the home of the radio amateur or, more precisely, the location of the radio device (if he is mobile).
If you are QRV, you declare that you are ready to send and receive on a certain frequency (QRG) or in a certain band and that you can conduct a QSO at any time. He can then, for example, call CQ or give his callsign when someone else calls CQ.
The callsign is issued in Switzerland by OFCOM after passing the test and is unique in the world. The first characters, the ITU prefix , are used to identify the nationality of the radio station. The suffix is given by the respective authority (1 number + 1-3 letters). If the radio amateur is from abroad, an additional country prefix is added, additional suffixes indicate special properties such as “/ p” = portable, “/ m” = mobile. The result looks like this, for example: HB0 / HB9GKR / P, this is the call sign of the author HB9GKR, who is broadcasting from Liechtenstein (HB0) and this with a portable radio station.
Last but not least, when a radio amateur dies, this is called a “silent key” or SK. His callsign remains reserved for him for a while and will be reassigned after a few years.
So, now you can understand a lot more about a QSO and talk to an amateur radio operator almost at eye level.
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