so ive been licensed for about 3 months now and i keep seeing people throw around stuff like QSL and QTH and QRM and honestly i have no idea what half of it means. i looked up a list online but there were like hundreds of them and i dont know which ones people actually use vs which ones are just historical leftovers from like the telegraph days or whatever

also on top of that there are abbreviations that arent even Q codes, like people say 73 and 88 and OM and YL and i had no idea what any of that was until someone in my club explained 73 means best regards but even then i wasnt sure if thats what you say at the end of every contact or just sometimes. is there like a practical short list somewhere of just the ones that actually matter for everyday HF operating? i feel like im missing half the conversation every time i tune around

yeah the full ITU Q code list is massive and most of it you'll never hear on the air, like ever. the ones you actually run into day to day are probably QSO (a contact), QTH (your location), QSL (confirming receipt or also the card you send), QRM (interference from other stations), QRN (static and natural noise), QSB (fading signal), QRZ (who is calling me), QRP (low power, though people use it loosely now), and QRT means you're shutting down or signing off

for the non-Q stuff, 73 is just the standard goodbye, you hear it at the end of basically every contact. 88 is love and kisses, traditionally sent to female operators so you'd only use that if you actually know the person. OM is old man which sounds rude but its just how hams refer to other male operators, and YL is young lady which gets used for any woman operator regardless of age. DX means a distant or rare station, usually overseas. and honestly just listening to a few hours of phone or CW and it starts clicking pretty fast

the one that tripped me up for the longest time was QRZ, i kept thinking it meant something was wrong because people would say it kind of urgently lol. turns out its just asking who called. and QSY means change frequency which comes up more than youd think especially if someone tells you to QSY up a few kHz to get away from a pileup or whatever

also worth knowing QRO just means high power, kind of the opposite of QRP. i didnt see that one on most beginner lists but people throw it around a lot