so ive been listening to HF a lot lately trying to learn before i actually transmit and everyone is using all these codes and abbreviations and i can only figure out some of them from context. like i know QSL means confirmed or something and QTH is your location but then people say stuff like QRM and QRN and QSB and i have no idea what half of them mean or when you're actually supposed to use them vs just saying the thing in plain english

is there like a standard set that everyone uses or do different modes have different ones, i hear them a lot on SSB but also see them in logs and stuff. also some guys on the local repeater use abbreviations that dont seem to be Q codes at all, like they'll say 73 or 88 and i know those are numbers not Q codes so is that a whole separate thing

basically just trying to get a handle on all the shorthand before i embarrass myself when i finally key up

yeah the Q codes originally came from maritime and commercial telegraphy, way before ham radio even existed, so they were designed to work across language barriers which is why they're still useful on CW where you're just sending a few characters instead of spelling everything out. on phone (SSB etc) a lot of guys still use them out of habit more than necessity but you'll hear them constantly.

the ones you'll run into most are QRM which is interference from other stations, QRN is natural static or noise, QSB is signal fading, QRT means shutting down or going off air, QRZ is asking who's calling, and QTH is location like you figured out. QSO just means a contact or conversation. QRO and QRP are high power and low power respectively, and QRP has kind of taken on a whole life of its own as a subculture of guys running really low wattage.

the 73 and 88 thing is totally separate, those are from the old Phillips telegraphic code which is different from Q codes. 73 means best regards and 88 is love and kisses, 88 is usually just between people who know each other well. there's a whole bunch of other number codes too but most of them have fallen out of use, 73 is really the only one you hear constantly.

honestly just spend some time with a Q code reference sheet and it'll click pretty fast, most of the common ones you'll memorize just from hearing them repeated.

i was in the same boat not that long ago, the Q codes felt really overwhelming at first but honestly you only really need maybe 10-15 of them for everyday operating. the rest are pretty obscure and even experienced operators have to look them up sometimes. dont stress too much about memorizing the whole list before you transmit, you'll pick them up naturally as you go