ok so ive been listening to a lot of HF lately and people keep throwing around all these QSL QRM QRZ and a bunch of others and i kind of get the gist from context but i dont actually know what they all officially mean. like i know QSL has something to do with confirming a contact but is it like a question or a statement depending on how you use it? and whats the difference between QRM and QRN because i see both used and it seems like theyre both just saying theres interference or something. also people say 73 at the end of everything which i looked up and means best regards basically but are there other number codes like that i should know? sorry if this is a really dumb question im pretty new to all this

not a dumb question at all, this stuff confused me for a long time too. so yeah QSL is one of those that works both ways depending on context - if someone asks QSL? theyre asking if you received them okay, if they just say QSL they're confirming they got your transmission. its a bit weird but you pick it up fast. QRM is interference from other stations, like another signal stepping on yours or just general crowding on the band, whereas QRN is natural static and noise, like from thunderstorms or atmospheric stuff. so if someones saying QRM theyre usually annoyed at another human, QRN is just the weather being awful.

as for number codes 73 is the big one everyone uses. 88 shows up sometimes meaning love and kisses, traditionally sent to a woman operator but honestly people use it however nowadays. you dont really hear many others in casual conversation. the Q codes were originally for morse code use so everything could be kept short, but they stuck around for voice too. theres a pretty long official list but realistically you only need maybe a dozen or so for everyday operating. QRN QRM QSB QSY QRZ QTH QSL and a few others will cover most situations you run into.

yeah what he said, and also QSB is one that trips people up - thats when the signal is fading in and out, like you'll hear someone say QSB is bad tonight meaning signals keep dropping. QSY means change frequency which you hear in nets a lot. QRZ is asking whos calling me, like when someone comes out of a pileup and says QRZ to see who else is out there. oh and QTH is just your location, people will ask whats your QTH meaning where are you. honestly just listen for a few weeks and you'll have most of them figured out from context, thats how i learned em