Shortwave Radio ABCs

THE ABCs OF SHORTWAVE (SW) RADIO

From the moment radio was invented up to the present day, its primary application has been the transmission of information from one point to another — radio communication. The possibility of using radio waves to transmit messages over a distance was first demonstrated in 1896 by the inventor of radio, A. S. Popov. And although the world's first radiogram consisted of only two words ("Heinrich Hertz") and covered a distance of 250 meters, the foundation was laid. Radio communication quickly gained widespread acceptance. Radio stations appeared on ground facilities and ships, on aircraft, and on spacecraft. Radio penetrated military affairs and firmly entered everyday life. The tremendous popularity of radio was largely promoted by enthusiastic amateurs who selflessly devoted their time and energy to experiments. One of the first radio amateurs in Russia was the famous Russian scientist M. A. Bonch-Bruevich. Back in 1906, he built a receiver and a transmitter based on A. S. Popov's design. But amateur radio truly became a mass movement in our country only after the revolution...

The Nizhny Novgorod Laboratory became the real center of Soviet radio engineering. Its head, M. A. Bonch-Bruevich, highly appreciated the creative enthusiasm of radio amateurs and involved them in collaboration. Fyodor Alekseevich Lbov also worked in the laboratory. He had been interested in radio engineering for a long time. In 1923, he even received a special permit from the Nizhny Novgorod Executive Committee for experiments with a radio station "with a power of not more than half a horsepower and a wavelength of not more than 200 meters" (Not lower than 1.5 MHz). Why "not more"? The fact is that in those years, all official radio communication was conducted on long and medium waves. These waves are less absorbed by the Earth's surface and can propagate over long distances. Shortwaves, however, fade out at a distance of about a hundred kilometers from the transmitter. Therefore, at first, they were considered unsuitable for serious radio communication and were left for experiments to radio amateurs, who even began to be called "shortwavers". Once, foreign amateur radio magazines fell into F. A. Lbov's hands. And, as he recalled later, "it took my breath away from excitement." It turned out that on these "junk" waves, radio amateurs managed to span the Atlantic Ocean, communicating from Europe with Australia at a distance of about 20 thousand kilometers!!! In a word, the radio amateur was "on fire"! Despite difficulties with radio components, F. A. Lbov, together with his colleague V. M. Petrov, assembled a 15-watt transmitter, and on the winter evening of January 15, 1925, the signals of the first Russian amateur shortwave radio station R1FL flew into the air (this call sign stands for: Russia, First, Fyodor Lbov). The receiver was not ready yet, so the enthusiasts sent their address "into space" and, having worked for about an hour, went home. And a day later, a telegram arrived from Iraq: the R1FL transmission had been received at a distance of three thousand kilometers! And then two-way amateur communications started: England, France, Australia... In the summer, V. M. Petrov went on a business trip to Tashkent. For about a month, Petrov and Lbov regularly met on the air and exchanged news...

It turns out that shortwaves were considered "junk" for nothing. By repeatedly reflecting under certain conditions from the ionized layer of the atmosphere — the ionosphere — and the Earth's surface, they covered enormous distances. And this unknown property of radio waves was discovered by radio amateurs!

The first successes of the experimenters inspired a mass of enthusiasts...

FROM PENSIONERS TO SCHOOLCHILDREN

Our world is populated by amateurs — passionate people dedicating their leisure time to a favorite hobby. Who can't you find among them? Collectors, hikers, amateur photographers, craftsmen, gardeners... Sometimes the energy, skill, and persistence in achieving a set goal by passionate people command deep respect: one glues together a model of St. Basil's Cathedral out of matches, another is ready to run halfway across the city in search of a rare postage stamp or postcard.

True enthusiasts devote all their leisure time to their favorite hobby, sometimes even sacrificing sleep. So, just one hobby is quite enough — more than enough.

There is, however, a very special kind of hobby. It allows you to combine the excitement of a hunter and the passion of a collector, makes you engage in designing and building, requires the ability to speak foreign languages, and encourages you to learn about geography and radio engineering. You have probably guessed that we are talking about shortwave amateur radio.

According to recent data, the total number of shortwavers in the world will soon reach several million. The youngest representatives of this army are under ten years old, the oldest are over eighty. Shortwaves fascinate people of technology and art, military personnel and housewives, schoolchildren and university students, teachers and politicians, workers and entrepreneurs.

Russian radio amateurs rightfully consider Ernst Teodorovich Krenkel (RAEM) to be shortwaver number one. A "sniper" of the airwaves, an outstanding radio operator who was trusted to conduct the most crucial communications, he was boyishly enthusiastic about shortwaves. Those who saw Krenkel at the telegraph key for the first time were immediately struck by how seriously he took going on the air. Contemporaries recalled that when Ernst Teodorovich sat down at the radio station, his surroundings ceased to exist for him. Like an astronaut, he "detached from the earth" and went into the ether. He listened to the whole world, talked to the planet, and this solemn act was reflected on his face. So far, we have told you about male radio amateurs. However, let the reader not think that shortwaves are only their domain. Every year, shortwave amateur radio finds more and more not only male fans, but also female fans. Approximately every 30th call sign belongs to a female radio amateur, and this ratio is gradually evening out.

What attracts such different people to shortwaves? To answer this question, let's try to understand what the essence of shortwave amateur radio is. We have already said that shortwaves propagate over long distances, reflecting from the ionized layers of the atmosphere (the ionosphere) and the Earth's surface. At the same time, some part of the radio wave energy is inevitably absorbed. The degree of reflection and absorption of energy depends on the degree of ionization of the ionosphere, that is, on solar activity. And this activity is very inconsistent and can change dramatically even within a single day. Therefore, turning on the radio station, you never know in advance what awaits you: the silence of an empty band or a massive "pile-up" of signals from distant radio stations.

Uncertainty is also created by the varying degrees of activity of shortwavers in different parts of the globe. This is, however, quite understandable: none of us can devote all 24 hours a day to amateur radio. Therefore, for you to be able to contact, say, one of the few shortwavers on the island of Trinidad, a whole chain of coincidences is necessary: first, he must turn on his radio station at the exact same time as you do; second, there must be stable radio wave propagation between your locations; third, at some point in time, the frequencies of your radio stations must exactly match; fourth, one must be receiving while the other is transmitting; fifth, the signals of your radio stations must not drown in a chorus of signals from other radio stations; sixth, communication with you must also be interesting to him (otherwise he might prefer someone else out of the many wishing to contact him); seventh... However, what has already been said is probably enough to understand: contacting the station you are interested in is not such a simple matter; it requires patience, skill, knowledge of the habits of the "hunted" correspondent, intuition, and, of course, a little bit of luck. How could a purely hunting excitement not arise here? This excitement, fueled by the eternal dream to "establish the most distant, the most interesting, the most unusual contact" (the exact words of E. T. Krenkel), wakes you up in the middle of the night and makes you run headlong to the radio station...

Finally (hooray!), the "most distant, most interesting, most unusual" contact is established. But what is this? Now it no longer seems the "most-most" to you. Moreover, you are absolutely sure that the "most-most" is still ahead. And your excitement hasn't cooled down at all; on the contrary, the established contact has only fueled it.

But how to prove that the contact, which cost you considerable excitement and sleepless nights, was established? Be patient and wait for the mail to bring you a QSL card from Trinidad. This is a document confirming the establishment of the contact. Now you have every right to record in your asset a confirmed contact with yet another territory of the world and, to the question of your friends, "How many countries do you have?", proudly name a solid number. Moreover, you can now obtain one of the amateur radio awards, the conditions of which require a contact with Trinidad. It is beautiful, this award! However, the QSL card itself is a sight for sore eyes! And, perhaps, others received for previous contacts are also not bad — funny drawings, colorful photographs... All of them could make up a small collection. But why small? After all, as many contacts — that many cards! And more cards mean more awards! And the collector, slumbering in you until then, awakens.

There comes a time when a distant contact ceases to be a rarity. Within an hour, you manage to virtually visit the exotic island of Trinidad, Congo, Canada, France, and the Philippines. Jules Verne himself would probably envy such a pace of world travel. And in these meetings with old acquaintances (and you have already got regular correspondents in different parts of the globe), there is a certain special romance.

John from Adelaide reported that the weather is cloudy but warm... Jose from Costa Rica has just built a new antenna and asks to estimate his signal strength... Masa from Tokyo shares his joy: after long attempts, he finally established contact with a rare station...

If you had been asked two or three years ago where Costa Rica is located, or in which region to look for the city of Adelaide, you probably would have only shrugged your shoulders. But now, even without checking a map, you can navigate in Asia, Africa, and Oceania. And your current level of English proficiency is beyond comparison with what you managed to achieve in five whole years of study at school.

How did you manage to make this step in a few years? It seems you didn't put in any special effort, just regularly worked on the air. Well, true, you had to tinker with the equipment: build a better antenna and upgrade the radio station. But now you are also an ace in radio engineering — you can find almost any malfunction in a radio receiver or TV in a maximum of half an hour...

Shortwave amateur radio taught all this. This is probably why shortwaves have adherents everywhere. There is another side to shortwave amateur radio, a sporting one: participating in various contests, fighting for the best result in establishing the maximum number of contacts with different correspondents. Many such contests are held — from local to international. To compete in skill with radio athletes from other countries, a shortwaver does not even need to leave his home. And the result he can show is the highest: to become a champion or record holder of the country, to fulfill the standards of sports categories, and even become a master of sports of international class.

HOW TO MEET ON THE AIR?

Although amateur radio communication on SW really depends on many random factors, this does not mean at all that meeting a colleague on the air is generally very difficult and such meetings are extremely rare. Shortwavers have their own techniques that help minimize the element of chance. These techniques will be discussed. Let's start with an everyday example. You need to meet a friend. You will, of course, agree on a meeting place (say, at the entrance to the cinema) and name a more or less exact time of your arrival. But what if the person you have an appointment with is a stranger? There is a way out for this case too — you need to agree on some identifying mark (a green scarf, a book in hand, etc.) and more precisely stipulate the stranger's location (say, at the third pillar on the left).

Shortwavers use something similar, with the difference, however, that the meeting is not always planned by both correspondents. More often, the radio amateur simply searches the airwaves and establishes contact with the station that interests him the most. There are, however, cases of two-way agreement, when both correspondents agree in advance to conduct a scheduled contact (sked).

So, the meeting place. In a general sense, it is the ether, the shortwave band of radio waves. However, now there are so many different stations operating on shortwaves (which is easy to verify by turning the tuning knob of a broadcast receiver) that simply saying: "See you on shortwaves" means roughly the same as "See you in the city." Radio amateurs are allocated several relatively narrow segments — amateur radio SW bands:

160-meter (1.810 - 2.000 MHz),
80-meter (3.500 - 3.800 MHz),
40-meter (7.000 - 7.200 MHz),
30-meter (telegraph-only band 10.100 - 10.150 MHz),
20-meter (14.000 - 14.350 MHz),
17-meter (18.068 - 18.168 MHz),
15-meter (21.000 - 21.450 MHz),
12-meter (24.890 - 24.990 MHz),
10-meter (28.000 - 29.700 MHz).

VHF/UHF bands (the most popular ones are listed)
2-meter (144.000-146.000 MHz),
70-centimeter (430.000-440.000 MHz),
23-centimeter (1.260-1.300 GHz),
and other (high-frequency) amateur radio microwave bands.

Additionally, a low-frequency LF band is allowed:
2.2-kilometer (135.7-137.8 kHz)

NOTE: In different countries, the number of bands and frequency ranges differ slightly. It is necessary to follow the operating instructions for amateur radio stations of the latest year of issue, which indicate the frequency bands, emission modes, and transmit power limits permitted for different categories of radio stations.

So the place where you can meet your fellow hobbyist is known. And when a shortwaver does not have in mind a specific contact with a certain correspondent, but simply wonders who he can "work" right now, at this given time, he "strolls" along this segment of radio waves, listening to the signals of amateur radio stations. If he doesn't care about the correspondent and is equally ready to establish contact with both a distant station and his nearest neighbor, the transmitter is turned on, and a general call flies into the air: "CQ, CQ…". A third, intermediate case is also possible: he is not interested in contacts with just any radio amateurs, but only with a certain group of them, for example, with amateurs from Australia. Then a general call is also sent, but a special, directed one: "CQ Australia…". In cases where the task is to establish contact with a specific correspondent, a more precise "meeting place" is specified: a certain frequency of a specific amateur band. This is usually done either with a two-way agreement on a contact, or when it is necessary to inform about the appearance of an interesting rare station (DX spotting). The time of establishing a particular contact is largely determined by the conditions of radio wave propagation on the path of interest to you. It is easiest to establish contact with the nearest neighbor, at a distance of up to about 70 km. The fact is that within the line of sight (or a little more), the so-called ground wave propagates. And its propagation distance is affected only by the attenuation of the wave in the Earth's surface and the obstacles encountered along the way, as well as the curvature of the Earth — factors that are practically constant for any time of day and year. But after all, the most interesting contact, as a rule, is a contact with a distant correspondent! And here one should use the "capricious" method of propagation via reflection of waves from the ionosphere.

Solar radiation causes ionization of the upper layer of the atmosphere, therefore named the ionosphere. In its composition, it is a highly rarefied gas in which there are free electrons, ions, and molecules. With an increase in solar radiation, the number of free electrons and ions increases, and consequently, the electrical conductivity of the gas increases. With a decrease in radiation, conductivity drops due to the recombination of free electrons and ions into molecules. A radio wave falling on the ionosphere interacts with free electrons, as a result of which its refraction, partial or complete reflection can occur. In all cases, absorption also occurs — the loss of some part of the radio wave energy. Depending on the electrical conductivity of the ionosphere and the frequency of the radio wave, one or another physical process may predominate, which leads either to the presence or absence of propagation.

It is easy to see that with a single reflection of a radio wave, communication is possible over some limited distance (usually it does not exceed 4 thousand km). But we know that radio amateurs have repeatedly established contacts even with their antipodes. Such contacts require conditions that allow radio waves to repeatedly bounce between the ionosphere and the Earth's surface. This is the so-called multi-hop propagation. Naturally, it is observed less frequently than single-hop, and the absorption of energy during it is much greater. Evaluating the expected conditions for radio wave propagation, a shortwaver chooses the most optimal time and band to establish contact with the correspondent or region of the globe he is interested in. A great help in this can be radio wave propagation forecasts published on websites and in amateur radio magazines.

Roughly speaking, long-distance (DX) propagation can be expected on:

160 and 80 meters - "night" bands. Distant contacts are possible in winter (minimum thunderstorms) deep at night (minimum solar activity) and especially in the pre-dawn hours.

40 and 30 meters - "universal" bands. Less susceptible to atmospheric noise than 160 and 80 meters. Popular for long-distance contacts.

20 to 10 meters - "daytime" bands. Propagation opens mostly in summer, spring, and autumn at the peak of solar activity. 20 meters is popular with experienced hams. 10 meters is the most "capricious" SW band. It borders on VHF and has many corresponding features. Propagation opens extremely rarely, but if it does open, it allows making distant and rare contacts with a simple vertical antenna (2.5 meters high) and low power (10 W). In addition to the band and time of the contact, the shortwaver chooses the emission mode. Previously, the vast majority of radio amateurs around the world worked with telegraphy, using amplitude keying of continuous radio signals with the CW telegraph code (Morse code). Now the main mode of communication has become telephony with single-sideband modulation SSB (USB/LSB). It must be said that amplitude modulation (AM) on amateur SW bands is very rare: it has been superseded by the more advanced single-sideband. On VHF, narrowband frequency modulation (FM) telephony is popular, working through amateur radio repeaters. In addition, radio amateurs enthusiastically use digital communication modes via computers. Amateur radio contacts with spacecraft on VHF (both voice and digital modes) are also not uncommon.

Telegraph is "longer-range" because weak telegraph signals are easier to receive in noisy conditions. In addition, a "telegrapher" does not necessarily need to know a foreign language. However, to work with telegraphy, you need to be able to receive by ear and transmit the Morse code characters with a key. Learning to work with a phone is, of course, easier. Therefore, there are more "telephonists", and many novice shortwavers work with this type of emission. Phone also gives one more advantage — the opportunity to hear the living voice of the correspondent. However, making distant contacts by phone is somewhat more difficult. Besides, when working by phone, you need to know English at least superficially.

But how do shortwavers recognize (or rather, identify) each other on the air? After all, it is not always possible to recognize even a good acquaintance by voice, and when working with telegraphy, which "depersonalizes" your interlocutor, it is even more impossible. A system of identification signals comes to the rescue — the so-called call signs. Call signs are assigned to all radio stations: broadcast, official, amateur. A call sign is the "name" of the radio station, and for radio amateurs — also the pseudonym of its owner. Shortwavers memorize each other's call signs first of all. It couldn't be otherwise: there are thousands of Ivanovs or Smiths, but there are no repeating call signs; each call sign is unique.

Call signs can be different. For broadcast radio stations, these are most often melodies, musical excerpts sounding on the air before the start of the transmission; for spaceship radios — "symbol words" (for example, "Vostok", "Chaika"); for ordinary official ones — a combination of letters and/or numbers. Amateur call signs also consist of letters and numbers. So that the country to which the radio station belongs can be determined by the call sign, according to an international agreement, each country is allocated blocks of initial characters of call signs. Thus, Russia is allocated the letters RA-RZ, R, UA-UI, U. All call signs of amateur radio stations in Russia begin with these characters. Here are some examples of blocks of initial characters (prefixes) for call signs of some other countries:

UR, US or UT — Ukraine, UU — Crimean Peninsula, SP — Poland, I or IC — Italy, F — France, LY — Lithuania, YL — Latvia... We do not have the opportunity to list all the prefixes used by amateurs, so we direct the reader to the Radio Amateur Handbook or the latest data on amateur radio prefixes (AMATEUR RADIO PREFIXES) on the Internet. There they will also find other information very useful for the shortwave radio amateur.

Call signs of amateur radio stations are structured according to their own special rules. First of all, there is a number in the middle of an amateur call sign, for example: RV3ABM or SP2DX. By the way, which countries do these call signs belong to? Correct, Russia and Poland. The first part of the call sign — shortwavers call it a prefix — often allows you to determine the region of the country where the radio station is located. For example, the territories of Russia, Poland, the USA, and most other countries are divided into conditional amateur radio districts. Therefore, having heard, let's say, the call sign SP5AD, you can immediately say that this radio station is located in Poland, in the Warsaw Voivodeship (the fifth amateur radio district). Undoubtedly, this system is very convenient for radio amateurs. Nevertheless, it is not adopted in some countries. By the prefixes of call signs of shortwavers in some countries, it is sometimes possible to determine whether the owner of this call sign is a beginner or an experienced radio amateur, since call signs there are issued sequentially, without taking territorial affiliation into account.

By the prefix of the call sign of some countries, one can determine whether the radio station belongs to a single person (individual radio station) or a club, a collective (collective radio station). In Sweden, for example, collective stations have prefixes starting with SK, while individual ones start with SM, etc. Often, one can judge the qualification of the radio station owner by the prefix. So, in the USA, beginners are issued call signs with the letters WN, WL, WH. By the way, the system of prefixes for amateur call signs in Russia is quite interesting and worth talking about in detail.

The territory of Russia is conditionally divided into amateur radio districts: 1st district - the north-west of the European part of Russia (St. Petersburg, Murmansk, etc.), 2nd - Kaliningrad region, 3rd - Central Federal District (Moscow, Voronezh, etc.), 4th - Volga Federal District (Penza, Kazan, etc.), 6th and 7th - Southern Federal District and the North Caucasus (Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Stavropol), 8th - Ural Federal District, 9th - Siberian Federal District, 0th (Zero) - Far Eastern Federal District (Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, etc.). Sometimes call signs with numbers 2 and 5 are issued to radio amateurs from the 3rd district, and with the number 8 for the 9th district.

By the first letter of the suffix, you can find out the specific region (oblast) in which the radio station is located. Currently, each region and some major cities are assigned their own suffix letter (after the number), for example: St. Petersburg - 1A, Moscow - 3A, Voronezh Region - 3Q, Krasnodar Territory - 6A and 6B, Rostov Region - 6L and 6M, Chelyabinsk Region - 9A.

The call sign system adopted in our country is convenient because it allows you to determine the location of the station by a single call sign and decide whether a contact with it is of interest for fulfilling award requirements or getting extra points in a contest. Suppose you hear the radio station F5AA and have to guess: which department is it in, is it worth working with for the French award? It's a different matter if, for example, UB4LAB is working — it's immediately clear: this is the Ulyanovsk region. By the way, what if it's RU4L or RZ4LMK, in which region should you look for them? There can be no doubt — in the same place (the number of the 4th district and the letter 'L' of the suffix give the exact address)!

There is an exception to the general call sign system — special event call signs. One of the special call signs — the memorial call sign RAEM — has already been mentioned. Quite often, special call signs are issued for special occasions: in important contests, in commemoration of outstanding events, anniversaries. Thus, in honor of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War, stations with special call signs containing an anniversary number went on the air. War veterans use U3BA, U4AA. The space station "MIR" used U1MIR… U9MIR.

Sometimes you can encounter amateur call signs containing a forward slash (stroke). Such slashes are used, for example, by radio amateurs temporarily operating from a territory for which a different prefix is established (within one state or abroad), for example: RA/W8NGG (an American operating from Russia) or SP/R7MZ (a Russian operating from Poland). In addition, Russian radio amateurs temporarily operating from another settlement or region add the number of that region to their call sign through a slash. For example: RV6LML/6, RU0AX/9.

Some call sign endings after a slash indicate special operating conditions: /P (portable) for portable stations, /M (mobile) for stations installed on a car or boat, /MM (maritime mobile) on sea vessels, /AM (aeronautical mobile) on airplanes, /S (space) — spacecraft. There is a special ending for the operation of an inexperienced operator who does not yet have his own personal call sign, under the constant supervision of the owner of the call sign and the radio station: /N. Call signs with these endings look like this: UB6AJA/M, UT7IM/P, etc.

This image shows an example of a simple QSL card. This is a receipt card confirming that a radio contact has taken place. Radio amateurs exchange such cards by mail or through special QSL bureaus. It indicates:

Your call sign (in large letters), country, and region. A special table includes: the correspondent's call sign (TO RADIO), the date of the contact (DAY-MO-YEAR), the universal Greenwich time (UTC, UT, or GMT), the band frequency (MHz or BAND), how you rated the received signal (RS or RST), and the emission mode (2-WAY or MODE).

PSE QSL — a checkbox is ticked — meaning "Please send a QSL card". TNX QSL — thanks for the card, this one is for you in return. 73! — means best regards to the correspondent.

Cards are approximately 9 by 14 cm in size. They are usually printed in a typography on thick paper and have a free-form design. Both single-sided and double-sided ones are found.

WHAT DO THEY TALK ABOUT?

People who are little familiar with the specifics of radio amateurs' work on the air are usually most interested in the question: "What do shortwavers talk about among themselves?". Hearing in response that the conversation in most cases does not go beyond the scope of amateur radio topics, they are perplexed: "Is that all?" They probably do not realize that this topic is exactly what is of the greatest interest to the vast majority of true radio amateurs. And there is nothing surprising here: a truly passionate person gets the most pleasure from talking about the subject of their passion. What do avid fishermen usually talk about? About fishing! And stamp collectors? About stamps! Well, radio amateurs talk about amateur radio. There are, however, some amateurs who apparently do not see much difference between a radio station and a telephone and are ready to have long conversations on the air on the most abstract topics. "What's wrong with that?" — you might ask. Here is what. Our amateur radio ether is not too spacious: only a couple of hundred kilohertz are allocated to amateurs in each of the bands. And what is a hundred kilohertz? Let's figure it out. Since an AM transmitter emits a signal that occupies a frequency band of about 6-9 kHz, only about ten stations can operate simultaneously without interfering with each other on a 100 kHz segment! Single-sideband (SSB) modulation helps a lot here (a sideband takes up about 3 kHz). About thirty such stations can fit there. However, it takes only one long-winded talker for someone else to be unable to conduct an interesting contact. In contrast to these people, true amateurs never conduct lengthy "rag-chewing" without need and strictly adhere to established ethics on the air.

Politeness! They will never forget to say hello and goodbye to their correspondent, thank him for the contact, or for the QSL card that he promised to send. It is safe to say that the amateur radio language is the most polite language in the world. This language is international. It is understandable to a German, a Frenchman, and a Japanese. The basis of the language consists of two codes: the Q-code and the amateur radio jargon. The Q-code is borrowed from official communications practice. Each phrase of the Q-code is a three-letter combination starting with the letter Q. If there is a question mark after this combination, the phrase is a question; if there is no question mark, it is a statement or answer.

For example:

QRZ ? - Who is calling me? What is your call sign?

Here are some more popular expressions in the affirmative form:

QRT - I am stopping transmission,
QSY - I am leaving the frequency or changing frequency,
QRM - I am experiencing interference from other radio stations,
QRN - I am experiencing atmospheric noise (static),
QSB - Your signals are fading,
QSO - A radio contact,
QSL - I confirm reception (or a QSL card).

If the signal strength from your transmitter is quite high, allowing the correspondent to easily hear the transmitted information, a detailed exchange of information is not needed, the contact can be short. This, by the way, has another positive side: with short contacts, a larger number of people who want to can log a rare correspondent in their asset. The content of such a contact fits into a certain template, a formal pattern. Here is how, for example, a "typical" voice contact goes. One of the shortwavers (let's assign him the Moscow call sign UA3AAA) heard a general call given by a station, say UA0LAA ("CQ, CQ, this is UA0LAA..."). By the call sign, he immediately determined that this is an amateur radio station from the Primorsky Territory (0L) and wanted to contact it. He was lucky: the Far Easterner heard the Muscovite's call and gladly answered it. By tradition, at the beginning and end of each transmission, correspondents transmit both call signs several times "by letters" to be sure the call sign is received correctly.

Below is the international phonetic alphabet used by radio amateurs worldwide (with corresponding Russian mnemonics for cultural reference):

A - Alpha, Anton, Anna ( .- , di-dah, ay-daa )

B - Bravo, Boris, Baltimore ( -... , dah-di-di-dit, baa-ki-te-kut )

C - Charlie, Center ( -.-. , dah-di-dah-dit, tsaa-pli-na-shli )

D - Delta, Dmitriy, David ( -.. , dah-di-dit, doo-mi-ki )

E - Echo, Elena ( . , dit, yest' )

F - Foxtrot, Fyodor, Florida ( ..-. , di-di-dah-dit, fi-li-mon-chik )

G - Golf, Grigoriy, George ( --. , dah-dah-dit, gaa-raa-zhi )

H - Hotel, Khariton, Henry ( .... , di-di-di-dit, hi-mi-ka-ti )

I - India, Ivan, Italy ( .. , di-dit, i-di )

J - Juliet, Ivan Kratkiy, Japan ( .--- , di-dah-dah-dah, yash-ma-ne-vreot )

K - Kilo, Konstantin, Kilowatt ( -.- , dah-di-dah, kaa-ti-teas )

L - Lima, Leonid, London ( .-.. , di-dah-di-dit, lu-naa-ti-ki )

M - Mike, Mariya, Michigan ( -- , dah-dah, maa-maa )

N - November, Nikolay, Norway ( -. , dah-dit, naa-te )

O - Oscar, Olga, Ontario ( --- , dah-dah-dah, o-ko-lo )

P - Papa, Pavel, Paula ( .--. , di-dah-dah-dit, pi-laa-poo-yot )

Q - Quebec, Shchuka, Quelle ( --.- , dah-dah-di-dah, shchuu-kaa-ne-taa )

R - Romeo, Roman, Radio, Richard ( .-. , di-dah-dit, re-shaa-yet )

S - Sierra, Sergey, Santiago ( ... , di-di-dit, sa-mo-lyot )

T - Tango, Tamara, Tatyana, Theodor ( - , dah, taak )

U - Uniform, Ulyana, United ( ..- , di-di-dah, u-ne-sloo )

V - Victor, Zhuk, Zhenya, Victory ( ...- , di-di-di-dah, ya-buk-va-zhee )

W - Whiskey, Vasiliy, Washington ( .-- , di-dah-dah, vol-chaa-taa )

X - X-ray, Znak, Myagkiy Znak ( -..- , dah-di-di-dah, myag-kiy-znak-zdes )

Y - Yankee, Yery, Ygrek ( -.-- , dah-di-dah-dah, i-gree-ko-vii )

Z - Zulu, Zinaida, Zanzibar ( --.. , dah-dah-di-dit, zaa-kaa-ti-ki )

• UA0LAA, here is UA3AAA. Hello! Thank you for the call. I am receiving your signals at five, nine. I am located in Moscow, my name is Yuri. Please send your QSL card. Thank you very much for the QSO, I wish you all the best, 73! UA0LAA, this is UA3AAA over and out, goodbye.

• UA3AAA, here is UA0LAA. Excellently received, Yuri! The QSL will be 100 percent. Please accept my 73, goodbye!

A "typical" QSO in English can be conducted using the same template. Let's choose the Englishman G2BB as a correspondent for our Yuri. He is also calling CQ:

• CQ, CQ, CQ !!! here is G2BB, G2BB, Golf-Two-Bravo-Bravo calling and tuning.

• G2BB, G2BB, this is UA3AAA, Uniform-Alpha-Three-Alpha-Alpha-Alpha calling. Over.

• UA3AAA, this is G2BB. Good afternoon, old man! Thank you for the call. Your signals are five, nine. My name is John, Juliet-Oscar-Hotel-November. My QTH is London. How copy? UA3AAA from G2BB. Over.

• G2BB from UA3AAA. All copied 100%. Thank you for the nice report. You are also five, nine here. My name is Yuri, Yankee-Uniform-Radio-India. My QTH is Moscow. Please send your QSL card. G2BB from UA3AAA. Over.

• UA3AAA this is G2BB. Thanks Yuri for the nice QSO. My QSL card is 100% sure. 73 and good luck! UA3AAA from G2BB, over and out.

• Thanks John! 73 and bye-bye!

Here we saw that radio amateurs often call each other "old man" (OM for short) on the air, regardless of their actual age. If the operator at the radio station is a woman, she is courteously called "young lady" (YL), regardless of how many grandchildren she has. The wife of a radio amateur is given the title XYL ("ex-young lady").

Sometimes a shortwaver wants to contact not just anyone, but only one of his friends or an interesting, rare station. For this, a directional call is made. But not everyone responds to a directed call... Say, 9Y4AA transmits: "CQ Europe..." (Calling all European stations). And at that moment, an amateur from America is calling him. What should the owner of 9Y4AA do? Naturally, if he does not have time or just doesn't want to chat with America right now, he will ask him to wait or politely refuse:

• W2ABC from 9Y4AA. Sorry OM. I'm calling Europe only. Your five, seven. Good luck from UA3AAA, bye-bye!

• So long, 73! 9Y4AA clear.

So far, we have been talking about contacts made by phone. However, their patterns are preserved in telegraph QSOs as well. True, in this case, almost the entire text consists of code phrases and abbreviations. Let's try to translate the phone contact with G2BB into the language of the telegraph:

• CQ CQ CQ de G2BB G2BB pse K.

• G2BB de UA3AAA pse K.

• UA3AAA de G2BB. GA DR OM. TKS VY MUCH FR UR CALL. UR RST 599. MY QTH IS LONDON. MY NAME IS JOHN. HW ? UA3AAA de G2BB K.

• G2BB de UA3AAA. GD JOHN. VY GLD TO NICE QSO. UR SIGS RST 599 ALSO. QTH IS MOSCOW. MY NAME IS YURI. QSL IS SURE. TKS FR NICE QSO. NW QRU. VY 73 G2BB de UA3AAA SK.

• UA3AAA de G2BB. TKS YURI. 73. SK.

As you can see, English words in telegraph are usually shortened by throwing out vowels. Sometimes amateur abbreviations of English words are also used: "pse" (please), "de" (from), "K" (answer, over), "DR" (dear), "TKS" or "TNX" (thanks), "VY" (very), "FR" (for), "UR" (your), "NW" (now), "QRU" (I have nothing more to transmit), "SK" (end of contact).

When establishing telegraph contacts in Russian, these English abbreviations are sometimes replaced by abbreviations of Russian words: BLG (thank you), TOV (comrade), ZDR (hello), DSV (goodbye), etc. The most common abbreviation is DSV. It's interesting that foreign shortwavers have also started widely using it in contacts with our radio amateurs.

In practice, the content of a QSO may differ somewhat from the scheme we have drawn. Some shortwavers, for example, after greeting, immediately introduce themselves to the interlocutor, giving their name. Sometimes, on their own initiative, amateurs report transmitter power, antenna type, or inform about the weather (more detailed information about the radio station, location, propagation conditions, etc., as a rule, is transmitted only at the request of the correspondent). Quite often, the request to send a QSL card is accompanied by advice on how best to do it (via the QSL bureau of a national amateur radio organization, via an intermediary (so-called QSL manager), or DIRECT: providing a home address).

From what has been said, a conclusion can be drawn: in order to conduct amateur radio contacts, it is highly desirable to know spoken English. But what if you know not English, but French? Well, at least you will work with shortwavers in France in their language. By the way, French is common in a number of African countries and in Canada. And knowing Spanish, you can talk with radio amateurs in many South American countries. However, anyone who is truly passionate about shortwaves can master at least the basics of amateur English without much effort.

RIGHT TO THE AIRWAVES

Every morning millions of cars go out onto the streets of large cities. Heavy trucks, overcrowded buses and trolleybuses, and nimble small cars move in a continuous string. You can get behind the wheel of a car only after having thoroughly familiarized yourself with the traffic rules and learned how to drive it. Otherwise, you can cause an accident.

This rule fully applies to the airwaves. Here, too, by deviating from the assigned frequency, ineptly conducting a contact, or turning on the transmitter at the wrong time, you can cause a "collision" or get "run over" yourself. Violation of frequency discipline is especially dangerous (which, by the way, is quite rare among radio amateurs). After all, by occupying a frequency not assigned for amateur communication, you can become the culprit of an irreparable event: who knows, maybe it is exactly on this frequency that a ship in distress or a plane caught in bad weather and lost its bearings is crying out for help in vain. Just like a future motorist, a beginner shortwaver must undergo the necessary training before getting the "right to drive" — the right to go on the air.

Currently, a simplified procedure for issuing permits for setting up a radio station and using amateur frequency bands operates in Russia (the rules were changed in 2012). To legally build, register an amateur radio station and start communicating on the air, you need to pass an exam in the form of a simple computer test at your local radio frequency center, or right at the nearest amateur radio club via the internet. Usually, the minimum required age is 8 years. Novice radio amateurs begin to master shortwave amateur radio not as an operator of an individual station, but as an observer. They observe the operation of amateur stations on the SW bands and confirm the reception by sending out their QSL cards. For a real observer, the whole world opens up on the air, they learn how to conduct QSOs and find rare stations (DX). After successfully passing the computer test, you can get a 3rd category right away, pass the 2nd category exam, or even the 1st category if you know telegraphy, which gives you the opportunity to work on all amateur bands.

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