Dictionary of Ham Radio Terms
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A
Amplitude : the height of a wave from the average or median position.
Amsat : The name for amateur radio satellite organizations world-wide, but in particular the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
AMTOR : A specialised form of RTTY protocol. An acronym for AMateur Teleprinting Over Radio.
ARRL : The American Amateur Radio League - the national ham radio association for the USA
APRS : Automatic Position Reporting System.
B
Balun : A passive electronic device that converts between balanced and unbalanced electrical signals using some form of electromagnetic coupling.
Band : the portions of the Electromagnetic Spectrum that are allocated to ham radio operators
Boat Anchor : A slang term used to describe obsolete ham radio gear - often applied to old transceivers
BPSK : (Biphase Shift Keying). A digital modulation method for transmitting data.
C
Callsign A unique identifier for each radio amteur throughout the world
CNDX : Abbreviation for Conditions
Coaxial Cable : Cable that has a central conductor and an outer shield as the second conductor. Known as coaxial because the cable is cylindrical and the conductors share the same central axis.
CW Abbreviations Used by CW operators to reduce the length of transmissions by shortening words or phrases to a 2 or three letter code
D
Dipole : An antenna with two sides, usually of equal length.
Dish : A highly directional antenna, parabolic in shape. Often used at microwave frequencies.
DTMF Dual Tone Multi Frequency - the allocation of a unique tone to each button on an appliance (made up of two frequencies - high and low) that allows a computer to recognize the tone.
Dummy Load : An artificila antenna that odes not radiate. used when alligning transceivers.
DXCC : DX Century Club
DX : Distance
E
Electromagnetic Waves : The waves emmitted by an antenna, having two dimensions, electric and magnetic.
F
Feedline : The wire of cable that jouns a transmitter or receiver to an antenna
Frequency: the number of complete waves that pass a reference point per second. Expressed in Hertz (Hz)
G
Gain : How much more effective an antenna is as a radiator than a half wave dipole
H
Hertz : HZ - The unit of measure for frequency.
HF : High Frequency. Frequencies in the range 3MHz to 30MHz
I
IRLP Internet Radio Linking Project. A method of linking cross-world linking of repeaters so that very basic equipment can be used to communicate with hams in other countries.
J
K
Kilohertz' : one thousand Hertz (HZ) or one thousand cycles per second.
L
LPDA : Log Periodic Dipole Array. A multiband Antenna
M
Morse Code The code used by CW operators instead of voice communications
N
O
OM : abbreviation meaning Old Man
OSCAR : Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio
OCF : Off Centre Fed Dipole. A dipole that has sides of unequal length. These are multiband wire antennas
P
Period : the time it taks in seconds for a complete wave to pass a reference point.
Phonetic Alphabet Specific, easily identfiable, non-confusable words are used instead of the letters of the alphabet
Q
Q Code Three letter codes used instead of sentences or phrases.
R
RSQ code Used to describe the readability, strength and quality of digital modes.
RST code Used to describe the readability, strength and tone of voice or CW transmissions.
RSV code used to describe the readability, stength and video quality of SSTV transmissions
S
SSTV : Slow Scan Television
SWR : Standing Wave Ratio. The ration of the height of a standing wave on a transmission line to the height of an adjacent node.
T
Transmission Line : Also known as feedline.
U
UHF : Ultra High Frequency. Frequencies in the range 300MHz to 3 000MHz
V
VHF : Very High Frequency. Frequencies in the range 30MHz to 300MHz
W
Wavelength : the distance in metres between corresponding points on a wave.
X
XCVR : Transceiver
XTAK : Crystal
XYL : wife of an amteur operator
Y
YL : Young lady
Z
Zulu : (z) Time compared to GMT
Numbers
73 : Goodbye