ok so ive been licensed for about 4 months now and i keep seeing and hearing these Q codes and abbreviations and honestly half the time i have no idea whats being said. like i know QSL means like... confirming the contact? and QTH is location i think. but then people on the nets are saying stuff like QRM and QRN and QSB and i just nod along pretending i get it.

and its not just Q codes either, theres all this other shorthand like 73 and 88 and OM and YL and DE and honestly it feels like learning a whole second language on top of already learning the radio stuff. is there like a good reference somewhere or do people just pick this up over time. also someone said QRP to me the other day and i wasnt sure if they were asking me something or just telling me about their setup

haha yeah it definitely feels overwhelming at first but honestly you pick most of it up pretty fast just from being on the air. the ones you listed are the main ones youll hear constantly. QRM is interference from other stations, like man-made noise, and QRN is natural static, like from thunderstorms. QSB is when your signal is fading in and out, which happens a lot on HF. and yeah QRP just means low power operation, usually 5 watts or less, so if someone says theyre running QRP they're just telling you their transmitting with a small radio or low power.

the ARRL has a full list on their website and honestly its worth bookmarking. but the ones that come up all the time on phone and digital are QTH, QSL, QRM, QRN, QSB, QRZ (which means whos calling me, youll hear that one a ton), and QRT which means shutting down or going off the air. 73 just means best regards or best wishes, its been used since the telegraph days. 88 is hugs and kisses, usually between close friends or husband and wife type thing, some people get weirdly sensitive about it being used casually. OM is old man which sounds rude but its just how hams refer to other male operators, YL is young lady for female operators regardless of age, and DE just means from, like its separating callsigns when someone IDs themselves.

honestly just get on the air and ask. most hams are happy to explain stuff, especially to a newer op.

QRZ is the one that tripped me up forever because it sounds like it should mean something about interference but nope, its just who is calling or sometimes used as like a general CQ type call on some repeaters. took me way longer than id like to admit to figure that one out

also worth knowing QSY means change frequency, youll hear that in contests a lot or when someone wants to move a contact to a clear spot