FSD-220 - ARRL Communications Information


Communications Procedures · ITU Phonetic Alphabet · RST System · Time Conversion Chart

ARRL Communications Procedures

VoiceCodeSituation
Go aheadKUsed after calling CQ, or at the end of a transmission, to indicate any station is invited to transmit.
OverARUsed after a call to a specific station, before the contact has been established.
KNUsed at the end of any transmission when only the specific station contacted is invited to answer.
Stand by or waitASA temporary interruption of the contact.
RogerRIndicates a transmission has been received correctly and in full.
ClearSKEnd of contact. SK is sent before the final identification.
Leaving the air or closing the stationCLIndicates that a station is going off the air, and will not listen or answer any further calls. CL is sent after the final identification.

ITU Phonetic Alphabet

Word list adopted by the International Telecommunications Union

A--Alfa

B--Bravo

C--Charlie

D--Delta

E--Echo

F--Foxtrot

G--Golf

H--Hotel

I--India

J--Juliett

K--Kilo

L--Lima

M--Mike

N--November

O--Oscar

P--Papa

Q--Quebec

R--Romeo

S--Sierra

T--Tango

U--Uniform

V--Victor

W--Whiskey

X--X-ray

Y--Yankee

Z--Zulu

The RST System

Readability

1--Unreadable

2--Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable.

3--Readable with considerable difficulty.

4--Readable with practically no difficulty.

5--Perfectly readable.

Signal Strength

1--Faint signals, barely perceptible.

2--Very weak signals.

3--Weak signals.

4--Fair signals.

5--Fairly good signals.

6--Good signals.

7--Moderately strong signals.

8--Strong signals.

9--Extremely strong signals.

Tone

1--Sixty cycle a.c or less, very rough and broad.

2--Very rough a.c., very harsh and broad.

3--Rough a.c. tone, rectified but not filtered.

4--Rough note, some trace of filtering.

5--Filtered rectified a.c. but strongly ripple-modulated.

6--Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation.

7--Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation.

8--Near perfect tone, slight trace of modulation.

9--Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind.

If the signal has the characteristic steadiness of crystal control, add the letter X to the RST report. If there is a chirp, the letter C may be added to so indicate. Similarly for a click, add K. The above reporting system is used on both cw and voice, leaving out the "tone" report on voice. Turn card over for examples.

Time Conversion Chart

UTCEDT/ASTCDT/ESTMDT/CSTPDT/MSTPST
0000*20001900180017001600
010021002000190018001700
020022002100200019001800
030023002200210020001900
04000000*2300220021002000
050001000000*230022002100
0600020001000000*23002200
07000300020001000000*2300
080004000300020001000000*
090005000400030002000100
100006000500040003000200
110007000600050004000300
120008000700060005000400
130009000800070006000500
140010000900080007000600
150011001000090008000700
160012001100100009000800
170013001200110010000900
180014001300120011001000
190015001400130012001100
200016001500140013001200
210017001600150014001300
220018001700160015001400
230019001800170016001500
2400*20001900180017001600

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the time at the zero or reference meridian. Time changes one hour with each change of 15 degrees in longitude. The five time zones in the US proper and Canada roughly follow these lines.

* 0000 and 2400 are interchangeable. (2400 is associated with the date of the day ending, 0000 with the day just starting.)


Page Last Updated, 05/09/09

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