so ive been listening on HF for a few weeks now and everyone just rattles off QSL QRZ QRM QTH and like a dozen others and im sitting here completely lost. i know QSL has something to do with confirming contact but beyond that i dont really have a clue. is there like a master list somewhere or do people just kind of pick these up over time? also sometimes people say 73 at the end of everything, is that a Q code too or something different? sorry if this is a really basic question but nobody in my local club really sat down and explained it to me

73 isnt a Q code, its actually from way back in the old landline telegraph days, just means best regards basically. people still use it all the time though, totally normal.

for the Q codes themselves yeah there's a ton of them but honestly you only really need maybe 15-20 for everyday use. QTH is your location, QRM is interference from other stations, QRN is static/natural noise, QSB is fading signal, QRZ means who is calling me, QSL is confirmation like you guessed. ARRL has a pretty decent list on their site if you search for it, i think its in the operating manual too. you'll pick up the common ones real fast just from listening, the weird obscure ones you might never hear on the air anyway.

yeah i was in the exact same spot like six months ago lol. what helped me was just keeping a little notepad next to the radio and writing down codes as i heard them and then looking them up later. felt dumb at first but now most of the common ones are just automatic. QSY means change frequency which trips people up sometimes, and QRP means low power which you see a lot on forums too not just on the air. oh and 88 is another one you'll hear occasionally, means love and kisses, usually between operators who know each other well