ok so ive been listening on HF for about two weeks now and i keep hearing and seeing stuff like QSL, QRZ, QTH, QRM and honestly i dont even know where to start with all of it. someone in a QSO (i think thats what the conversation is called?) said something about being QRP and i had to just nod along. is there like a master list somewhere or do people just kind of pick it up over time? also whats the difference between saying 73 and just saying goodbye, is 73 actually a Q code or something different entirely? feels like theres a whole second language layered on top of ham radio that nobody told me about before i got my ticket

ha yeah its a lot at first but you do just kind of absorb it after a while. 73 isnt actually a Q code, its what they call an operating abbreviation or just a procedural code — means best regards basically, comes from old telegraph days. Q codes are specifically the ones that start with Q and they were originally made for morse so you could send a whole phrase with just three characters. QTH is your location, QRM is interference from other stations, QRN is natural static like from storms, QSB means your signal is fading, QRP means low power operation (usually 5 watts or less), and QSL means acknowledgement or confirm received — thats also why QSL cards are a thing, its literally just confirming a contact. QRZ is asking whos calling, youll hear that at the start of a pileup a lot. honestly just google ARRL Q codes list and bookmark it, you dont need to memorize all of them but those common ones youll have down in like a week just from hearing them

73 tripped me up too when i was new lol. and yeah people throw in stuff like 88 sometimes which means love and kisses, you mostly hear that between people who know each other. theres also shorthand that isnt Q codes at all like OM (old man, just means any male ham), YL is a female ham, XYL is basically wife. its kind of its own whole culture honestly. took me probably a few months before i stopped having to look things up mid-qso