so i just got my technician license a few weeks ago and ive been listening around on HF with my uncle's rig and people are constantly throwing out all these Q codes and abbreviations and i can only catch maybe half of what's being said. like i know QSL means like a confirmation card but then someone said QRM and i had no idea what that meant. and then theres stuff like 73 and 88 that dont even start with Q but everyone uses them.

is there like a standard list of these somewhere or do people just kind of pick them up over time? also do people actually say them out loud or do they mostly type them in like digital modes? just trying to get a handle on the whole thing before i start transmitting myself

yeah there's definitely a learning curve with the shorthand, dont worry about it too much at first. the Q codes originally came from maritime and commercial telegraphy back before voice was even a thing, so a lot of them are worded kinda weird when you say them out loud but hams just kept using them anyway.

the ones you'll hear most on voice are QSB (signal fading), QRM (interference from other stations), QRN (static and natural noise), QRZ (who is calling me), QSY (change frequency), and QTH which is your location. QSL you already know. on CW and digital modes people use way more of them.

73 means best regards, it's just an old telegraph shorthand that stuck around. 88 is love and kisses, you'll mostly hear that between hams who know each other well or sometimes on nets. there's also stuff like OM (old man, means any male ham), YL (young lady, any female ham regardless of age), and XYL which is a married woman or wife.

ARRL has a decent list on their site and there's a Q code chart you can print out. honestly though you just kind of absorb them by listening and after a while they start sounding totally normal

one thing that tripped me up when i was new was that people dont always use Q codes exactly by the book. like technically QRM is man-made interference but ive heard folks use it for any kind of noise on the frequency. and some older operators have their own shorthand on top of everything else lol

PSE is please, TU is thank you, WX is weather, GE is good evening, GA is good afternoon. those come up constantly especially on phone. also if someone says QRT they're shutting down for the day, and QRX means stand by or wait a minute. once you get those basics down you can follow most qso's pretty easy