Q codes
Three letters that stand in for a whole sentence, in any language. Click any code to hear it — they are sent far more often than they are read, and the rhythm is how you will actually recognise them.
What they are for
Q codes were invented for commercial radiotelegraphy in the early 1900s and solved two problems at once. Morse is slow, so "what is your position" costs eighteen characters where QTH costs three. And a British operator working a Japanese ship needed a vocabulary neither of them had to translate. A Q code means the same thing to both, because the meaning is in the code rather than in a language.
They survived the end of commercial morse because amateurs kept using them, and several have escaped into ordinary speech among radio people. A QSL card is a written confirmation of a contact. A QSO is a conversation. QRP is a whole style of operating. QTH is simply where you are, and gets used in emails by people who have not touched a key in years.
The rule almost nobody explains
A Q code with a question mark is a question. Without one, it is a statement. That is the entire mechanism, and it doubles the size of the vocabulary for free.
QRS? asks "shall I send more slowly?" — QRS tells you to. QTH? asks where you are; QTH CORK answers. Listen to the two next to each other: the question mark is ··−−··, six elements, and unmistakable once you know to expect it.
The two dozen you actually need
There are over a hundred Q codes in the international series. You will meet these on almost every contact, and the rest you can look up when they turn up.
| Code | Asks | Answers | In practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| QRL | Is this frequency busy? | This frequency is busy. | The first thing you send before calling anywhere. Send it, wait, send it again. |
| QRM | Are you being interfered with? | I am being interfered with. | Man-made interference — another station, a switching supply, a plasma television. |
| QRN | Are you troubled by static? | I am troubled by static. | Natural noise: lightning, precipitation. The distinction from QRM is not pedantry — the remedies differ. |
| QRO | Shall I increase power? | Increase power. | Rarely the right answer. |
| QRP | Shall I decrease power? | Decrease power. | Became a whole branch of the hobby: QRP means operating at five watts or less. |
| QRQ | Shall I send faster? | Send faster. | Sent by the confident. |
| QRS | Shall I send more slowly? | Send more slowly. | Sent far more often, and never a thing to be embarrassed about. |
| QRT | Shall I stop sending? | Stop sending. | Also used for "I am closing down" — QRT for the night. |
| QRU | Have you anything for me? | I have nothing for you. | The commonest exchange in commercial working, thousands of times a day. |
| QRV | Are you ready? | I am ready. | Standing by and listening. |
| QRX | When will you call again? | Wait, I will call you again. | Usually with a number of minutes after it. |
| QRZ | Who is calling me? | You are being called by… | Sent after a call you could not quite copy. |
| QSB | Are my signals fading? | Your signals are fading. | The slow rise and fall of a signal that has come a long way. |
| QSK | Can you hear me between your signals? | I can hear you between my signals. | Full break-in: the receiver listens in the gaps between your own dits. |
| QSL | Can you acknowledge receipt? | I acknowledge receipt. | Became a noun — a QSL card is the written confirmation of a contact. |
| QSO | Can you communicate with… direct? | I can communicate with… direct. | Became the word for a contact itself. "My first QSO." |
| QSP | Will you relay to…? | I will relay to… | How traffic crossed an ocean before satellites. |
| QSY | Shall I change frequency? | Change to another frequency. | Off the calling frequency and onto a working one. |
| QTH | What is your position? | My position is… | The single most-used Q code in amateur radio. "QTH is Cork." |
| QTR | What is the correct time? | The time is… | Always in UTC, always four figures. |
The rest of the working list
These are the codes from the general series that saw real use on the air and at sea. The complete official allocation runs to several hundred and lives in the ITU Radio Regulations, split into three blocks: QAA–QNZ for aeronautical services, QOA–QQZ for maritime, and QRA–QUZ for all services — which is the block below, and the only one most operators ever needed.
| Code | Asks | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| QRA | What is the name of your station? | My station is… |
| QRB | How far are you from my station? | The distance is… |
| QRD | Where are you bound, and from where? | I am bound for… from… |
| QRE | What is your estimated time of arrival? | My estimated time of arrival is… |
| QRG | Will you tell me my exact frequency? | Your exact frequency is… |
| QRH | Does my frequency vary? | Your frequency varies. |
| QRI | How is the tone of my transmission? | The tone of your transmission is… (1 good, 2 variable, 3 bad) |
| QRK | What is the readability of my signals? | Your readability is… (1 to 5) |
| QRW | Shall I tell… that you are calling? | Please tell… that I am calling. |
| QRY | What is my turn? | Your turn is number… |
| QSA | What is the strength of my signals? | Your strength is… (1 to 5) |
| QSD | Is my keying defective? | Your keying is defective. |
| QSG | Shall I send… messages at a time? | Send… messages at a time. |
| QSM | Shall I repeat the last message? | Repeat the last message. |
| QSN | Did you hear me? | I did hear you. |
| QSU | Shall I send or reply on this frequency? | Send or reply on this frequency. |
| QSV | Shall I send a series of V’s? | Send a series of V’s. |
| QSW | Will you send on this frequency? | I am going to send on this frequency. |
| QSX | Will you listen on…? | I am listening on… |
| QSZ | Shall I send each word more than once? | Send each word twice. |
| QTA | Shall I cancel message number…? | Cancel message number… |
| QTC | How many messages have you to send? | I have… messages for you. |
| QTE | What is my true bearing from you? | Your true bearing is… |
| QTF | Will you give me the position of my station? | Your position is… |
| QTG | Will you send two dashes for direction finding? | I am going to send two dashes. |
| QTJ | What is your speed? | My speed is… |
| QTN | At what time did you depart? | I departed at… |
| QTO | Have you left port? | I have left port. |
| QTP | Are you going to enter port? | I am going to enter port. |
| QTS | Will you send your call sign for tuning? | I will send my call sign for tuning. |
| QTU | What hours is your station open? | My station is open from… to… |
| QTV | Shall I stand guard for you? | Stand guard for me on… |
| QTX | Will you keep your station open for me? | I will keep my station open for you. |
| QUA | Have you news of…? | Here is news of… |
| QUB | Can you give me visibility, wind and weather? | Here is the visibility, wind and weather… |
| QUC | What is the number of the last message you received from me? | The last message I received was number… |
| QUD | Have you received the urgency signal? | I have received the urgency signal from… |
| QUF | Have you received the distress signal? | I have received the distress signal from… |
| QUM | May I resume normal working? | Normal working may resume. The distress traffic is ended. |
A few that mean more than they say
Some Q codes carry weight beyond their definition, and using them wrongly marks you out faster than a poor fist would.
- QRL? is not optional. Before you call on a frequency you send it, wait, and send it again. Somebody may be working a station you cannot hear. Skipping it is the rudest thing you can do on a band, and everybody notices.
- QRS is a courtesy, not a criticism. A good operator slows to the speed of the person they are working without being asked, and nobody thinks less of you for sending it.
- QRM and QRN are not interchangeable. QRM is man-made and you can often tune away from it. QRN is nature and you cannot.
- QUM ends distress traffic and releases the frequency. It was not a thing to send lightly, and it was usually sent by the station controlling the incident rather than by whoever fancied it.
Practise them
Reading a table of Q codes is the same mistake as reading a table of dots and dashes. There is a deck of them in the exercise library, at whatever speed you like, and a maritime deck that puts them in the exchanges they belonged to.
Corrections welcome. These meanings are written from the international definitions rather than copied from anywhere, and the shades of use varied between services and decades. If you worked these for a living and something reads wrong, say so and it will be fixed.