ok so ive been listening to HF a lot lately and people throw around all these weird codes like QSL and QRZ and QTH and i kind of figured out a few of them from context but is there like a master list somewhere or does everyone just kind of memorize them over time. also people use other abbreviations that arent Q codes at all like 73 and 88 and DE and stuff like that and i wasnt sure if those were different or part of the same system. my elmer mentioned CW origins but i dont really operate CW so i wasnt sure if that stuff even applies to me on phone. do people actually say these out loud on voice or is that weird

yeah the Q codes go way back, originally from maritime and commercial telegraphy before ham radio even existed, so they predate CW in amateur radio by a long stretch. the reason they work is because you can send a lot of info with just three letters, like QRM means interference from other stations, QRN is static or natural noise, QSB is fading, QTH is your location, QSL means confirmed or acknowledged. on phone people absolutely say them out loud and it doesnt sound weird at all, especially on HF where theres a lot of crossover from CW ops. youll hear guys say my QTH is kansas city or the QRM is terrible tonight and nobody blinks.

the 73 thing is separate, thats just traditional ham shorthand for best regards basically, been used forever. 88 means love and kisses and you mostly hear that between people who know each other. DE just means from in morse shorthand and yeah people say it on voice too sometimes, like DE W5whatever. honestly the best thing to do is just keep listening and theyll all start clicking pretty fast, you dont need to memorize a chart or anything

there is actually an ARRL document with a big list of them if you google around, i found a pdf once that had like every Q code plus all the common procedural abbreviations. honestly though most of the ones you actually hear day to day are maybe like 15 or 20 of them. QRP is low power operation which you see a lot online too not just on air. QSO is a contact or conversation. QRM QRN QSB like the other guy said. QRX means wait or standby. QRT means im shutting down or going off air. people say going QRT all the time on voice.

the one that tripped me up when i started was QRZ, i thought it just meant whos calling but it can also be used at the end of a cq as kind of a question like whos there, and then on the qrz dot com website its a whole different thing lol