What does QSL mean???

[D.S. Fenstermacher]

Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
affirmative. But what does it mean?

Scott

[Don Hayes]

QSL is a response used by ham radio operators that basically means that
the
response was received. Actually, it should only be used for CW
communications
( morse code ).

Their use of the term seems improper.

Don N2QAY

[JIM DALLAS]

Although N2QAY probably know more about this than I do ( I have only operated
on 2 meters, and that for only about 3 months ), Postcards called "QSL Cards"
also are exchanged by hams (and SWLs get into the act too by submitting reports)
to confirm a conversation.

QSLs are used to backup logs during contests and such. Some are also pretty nifty
looking, aswell (atleast the ones I have seen).

By the way, does anyone know if QSLs are ever exchanged on 6 meters? 2? 440?
10? Just curious...

Jim
KC5WXX

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OH MOST DEAR USENET READER, HI!
* BE GRATEFUL THAT THOUST DO NOT LOOK AS GOOFY
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[Donald Gray]

"D.S. Fenstermacher" <sc...@comp1.cc.wm.edu> wrote:

>Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
>appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
>affirmative. But what does it mean?

Hello Scott

QSL means "I acknowledge receipt of that message/signal"

A lot of hams seem to claim the INTERNATIONAL "Q" code as their own.
It is not their private domain. They use it in the same manner as many
professional radio operators do.

It is an Internationaly recognised code and is in use in most forms of
commercial and military communications through out the world.

Listen to the airband (civil or military) and you will hear all manner
of "Q" codes used in voice. Most commonly used will be the codes for
local baramatic pressure, tempearture, wind direction, speed, cloud
height etc...

The "Q" codes can be used in all modes of transmission from CW to
Voice and Data

Each 3 letter "Q" code represents a complete sentence. The meaning of
the sentence IS THE SAME, irrespective of the language (although
international air comms must use English! EG: A Japanese Pilot flying
a Nissan Aeroplane, landing in Tokyo Airport, talking to a Japanese
controller MUST converse in English!)

Running from QAA to QZZ, there are 676 possible variations of the
"Q". However not all Q codes have an *International* meaning allocated
to, some are deliberately left blank for future expansion AND for user
definition.

Each "Q" code can mean a question OR an answer (or a statement)
depending on the way it is used

For example: QSL? means DID you recieve the message, but just QSL
(with out the quetion mark) is the reciept. A person receiving will
never send QSL? so the circumstances are unambigious as to the
interpretation.

I have long since lost my copy of the international Q codes and cannot
remember them all. I would be most grateful if any one has them as a
file (or if you know of a URL) to email them to me

Here are some that I remember using when I was a professional morse
operator back in the 1960s! (the exact wording may not be as in the
manual but the exact meaning is the same)

QSA? What is my signal strength?
QRK? What is my readability?
QSB? Are my signals fading?
QRN? Is there static interference?
QRM? Is there radio interference?
QRL? Are you busy?
QRU? Do you have any messages for me?
QTH? What is your location?
QSY? What frequency shall I change to?
QAP? Are you listening on (frequency added)
QPR? Are you a Qeens Park Ranger supporter? (how the hell did that get
there?) [English joke]
and the list goes on.....

A couple of UNOFFICIAL "Q" coced used by professional operators:-

QSS = This was a BIG insult to a novice or other morse operator whose
"fist" was not readable. Meaning: Quit Sending Shit

QFO: when sent with QSS, the insult was magnified. It was "Quickly
F**k Off. The literal interpretation was "Your morse is lousy, quit
sending and put a competant operator on!"

BTW: there is also a 3 letter "Z" code in use in military comms that
is also based on the same principles as the "Q" One that I remember is
ZGN = "I cannot hear you"
Donald Gray

[W9FL]

"D.S. Fenstermacher" <sc...@comp1.cc.wm.edu> wrote:
>Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
>appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
>affirmative. But what does it mean?
>
>

>Scott
>

Of course others have answered your question allready, but I wanted to add a comment.
I was watching "Cops" a while back, and heard the Police usuing Q-codes. If I
remember right, it was Dade county, Florida, Sherriff's dept.
I thought it was interesting, as I thought they all used 10-codes.

[Reverend Tweek]

D.S. Fenstermacher <sc...@comp1.cc.wm.edu> wrote:
>Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
>appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
>affirmative. But what does it mean?

It can be used as a question, or an answer...

QSL? = Do you copy? Will you confirm? etc
QSL = Copy. OK. 10-4 etc

--
Reverend Tweek Spiritual Advisor and Religious Liaison
DataBasix mailto: tw...@databasix.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Followups to Enoch and Cramer are deposited in alt.fan.kooks.mikael-enoch

[Thomas M. Sommers]

Donald Gray wrote:
>
> A couple of UNOFFICIAL "Q" coced used by professional operators:-
>
> QSS = This was a BIG insult to a novice or other morse operator whose
> "fist" was not readable. Meaning: Quit Sending Shit

QSS *really* means, "I will use the working frequency ...".

> QFO: when sent with QSS, the insult was magnified. It was "Quickly
> F**k Off. The literal interpretation was "Your morse is lousy, quit
> sending and put a competant operator on!"
>
> BTW: there is also a 3 letter "Z" code in use in military comms that
> is also based on the same principles as the "Q" One that I remember is
> ZGN = "I cannot hear you"
> Donald Gray

ZBM2 means, "Put a competent operator on watch on this frequency." I
often wondered whether it was significant that it was thought necessary
to include an operating signal for this sentence.

[Gary Saffer]

d>QSL is a response used by ham radio operators that basically means
d>that the response was received. Actually, it should only be used for
CW communications
d>( morse code ).

Actually, some police agencies in Florida, Metro-Dade County comes to
mind use Q codes instead of 10 codes. Why, I don't know, but they do.

d>Their use of the term seems improper.

That would be up to the individual agency to determine.

Gary

* CMPQwk 1.42 129 *Two most common elements: Hydrogen & Stupidity

[Doug Wittich]

>>Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
>>appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
>>affirmative. But what does it mean?

QSL Means "I am acknoledging receipt of your message". On voice,
the traditional term for this is "Roger", or in CW, R (.-.) three
times. Q codes were intended for CW, but a few painful ones like
QSL slip in way too much. One would assume in routine two-way
contact that if someone did not understand something, they would ask
for a repeat.

>QSLs are used to backup logs during contests and such. Some are also pretty nifty
>looking, aswell (atleast the ones I have seen).

A lot of people do quite a bit of collecting them.

>
>By the way, does anyone know if QSLs are ever exchanged on 6 meters? 2? 440?

I return a card for a contact on any band or mode whenever I am
asked. I also like to get them for every HF contact.

Doug N3VEJ

[she...@pluto.njcc.com]

sar...@cuug.ab.ca wrote:
>
> D.S. Fenstermacher (sc...@comp1.cc.wm.edu) wrote:
> : Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It

> : appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
> : affirmative. But what does it mean?
>

> : Scott
>
> The term QSL is one of 60 or so Internationally recognized Q-codes that are
> used to abbreviate common sayings in radio transmissions. They originated
> out of the morse code days because people found it easier to abbreviate
> than type full sentences. These codes are probably most commonly utilized
> by HAM radio operators and cover such things as: Are you ready? Shall I
> send Faster/Slower? Should I increase/decrease power? , etc.
>
> The term QSL when asked as a question means, "Do you acknowledge?" and it
> could also be used in a statement as, "I acknowledge". Basically its the
> CB equivalent of Ten-four (10-4).
>
> Check out some of the amateur radio sites to learn other Q-codes.
>
> Regards,
>
> Tino, VE6SZR

Q Signal Logged

[sidco...@gmail.com]

Q and Z codes are used because they mean the same in any language so are easy for international communications.

[mnans...@gmail.com]

My father used qsl when talking on the radio when he worked for the light company

[Retired]

On 8/15/16 5:35 PM, mnans...@gmail.com wrote:
> My father used qsl when talking on the radio when he worked for the light company
>

As a question, it's kind of the 2 way radio version of the cellphone
"Can You Hear Me Now"

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QSL_card for more info.

[edv...@sbsbcc.com]

On Friday, January 31, 1997 at 4:00:00 PM UTC+8, D.S. Fenstermacher wrote:
> Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
> appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
> affirmative. But what does it mean?
>
>
> Scott

QSL? and QSL originate from CW (morse code) and basically mean either "are you listening", "I am listening" or "I heard". It really has no place on ham, police or any other radio, but I suppose people appropriated it to sound more cool.

My guess as to why the letters were selected is that they form a distinct pattern of short and long beeps that makes it easy to distinguish when a message ends or begins - my basis for this is the year I spent in the army listening to morse code and that even 20 years later, the sound of "QSL" morsed out is engrained into my brain even better than the 3 short, 2 long 3 short that Nokie phones used to beep out when you got an SMS message (3 short is an "S", 2 long is an "M" in morse)

[Grant Taylor]

On 08/21/2018 06:47 AM, edv...@sbsbcc.com wrote:
> It really has no place on ham, police or any other radio, but I suppose
> people appropriated it to sound more cool.

Where was QSL (mis)appropriated from ff it has no place in ham, police,
or any other radio?

Was it an early telegraph short hand?

Where did the other Q codes originate from?



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

[downtime null]

My understanding is that it is basically the same as "roger" which means
"I hear you and understand". Although it may be more like "copy" which
just means that "I hear you". QSL and the long list of Q codes are mostly
used in CW communication on the amateur bands.

[kurt...@yahoo.com]

On Friday, January 31, 1997 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, D.S. Fenstermacher wrote:
> Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
> appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
> affirmative. But what does it mean?
>
>
> Scott

Many years ago I was a Corrections Officer with Dade County Florida. The Dade county Public Safety Department uses the Q code and not the 10 code as almost all other police agencies do. As far as I know Dade County is the only police Department that uses the Q code which comes from HAM radio operators. It makes it tough for the Florida Highway Patrol. They have to know both and switch back and forth.

[rnet...@gmail.com]

On Friday, November 30, 2018 at 1:30:02 PM UTC-5, kurt...@yahoo.com wrote:

"As far as I know Dade County is the only police Department that uses the Q code which comes from HAM radio operators."

Yes, ham operators use Q codes. No, Q codes do not come from ham radio. The Q codes were devised to allow European land-line telegraphers who did not necessarily speak the same language to communicate procedural matters, such as "Do you accept these charges?", "Yes, I accept these charges." They were defined by the International Telegraph Union.

When radiotelegraphy was invented, the same codes were used for the same purposes, as well as newly devised codes pertaining only to radio. "Shall I decrease transmitter power?", "Yes, decrease transmitter power."

Once amateur radio became established, Q codes were used in part for the same purposes as in commercial radio and wired telegraphy, in part to appear professional.

[jiml...@gmail.com]

On Friday, January 31, 1997 at 4:00:00 PM UTC+8, D.S. Fenstermacher wrote:
> Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
> appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
> affirmative. But what does it mean?
>
>
> Scott

QSL! = Quiet Silly Looser!
Affirmative/10-4/Rodger/OK