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Chapter
26 Contents
Chapter 28
SOME OF THE MORE COMMON ABBREVIATIONS IN CW WORK
ABT about
NW now
AGN again
OB old boy
ANT antenna
OM old man
BCI broadcast interference
OP operator
BCL broadcast listener
OT old timer
BK break
PSE please
C yes
PWR power
CUD could
R received as transmitted
CUL see you later
RCD received
CUZ because
RCVR receiver
CW continuous wave
RFI radio freq. interference
(telegraphic code)
RIG station equipment
DX distance
RPT repeat; I repeat
ES and
SED said
FB fine business; excellent
SIG signal; signature
GA go ahead; good afternoon
SKED schedule
GE good evening
SRI sorry
GM good morning
TMW tomorrow
GN good night
TNX thanks
GND ground
TVI television interference
GUD good
TT that
HI high; laugh
TU thank you
HR here
UR your
HV have
VY very
HW how
WKD-WKG worked - working
LID poor operator
WL well
MSG message
WUD would
N no
WX weather
NR number
XMTR transmitter
XTAL crystal
XYL wife
YL young lady
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TRAFFIC HANDLING
AA all after
NIL nothing; I have nothing for
AB all before
you
ADR address
PBL preamble
BN all between
REF refer to
CFM confirm
SINE opr's personal initials
CK check
VC prefix to service message
DLD delivered
TXT text
GBA give better address
WA word after
MSG prefix to radiogram
WB word before
WD word
EXAMPLES
OF THE PHILLIPS CODE
The Phillips code was
developed to bring the sending operators's skill up toward that of the receiving
operator, who typically could
receive much faster than anyone could send by hand. Phillips code is a systematic,
rigid system of abbreviations used
along with normal spelling of all other words, and cuts total transmission time
about in half. There were about 6000 abbreviations
under this long-used system. It was used in commercial press (news) transmissions.
A skilled operator could easily
keep up, typing out the words in full as fast as the sender could hand send,
but he did'nt dare let his mind wander.
Words were
cut to their "backbone", leaving only the letters that carry the brunt
of their pronunciation. See the list below
for how this was done.
Abbreviated words were modified by, e.g., adding "d" for the past tense of verbs
and "g" for -ing; "s"
was added to nouns for their plural; some words added "b" forable. A couple
of simple examples of text are given here.
Example of 188 letters
reduced to 116 (?) 61.7%:-
"T DCN CD MEAN T END
F UNPRECEDENTED TWO Y CDY BTL, T FS D US X A SURROGATE MOTHER WS TKN TO TRL
FO BACKING OUT O AN AGM TO TURN OV A CHILD SHE BORE UND CAK."
ranslated into normal
text, it says:-
"The
decision could mean the end of the unprecedented two year custody battle, the
first in the United States in which a
surrogate mother was
taken to trial for backing out of an agreement to turn over a child she bore
under contract."
AB about
GG going
S send
ABV above
GTG getting
SAF soon as feasible
ADZ advise
GV give
AF after
GM gentleman SAP
soon as possible
AG again
AJ adjust
H has
SD should
ANR another
HD had
SED said
AR answer
HM him
SES says
AX ask
HR here, hear SM
some
AY any
HS his
SMG something
AYG anything
HV have
SM somehere
AYM any more
HW how
SN soon
SNC since
B be
ICW in connection SPL special
BC because
with STN
station
BD board
IM immediately SVL
several
BF before
INVG investigate
BH both
IX it is
T the
BK break
TGH telegraph
BN been
KW know
TGR together
BTN between
TI time
BTR better
LV leave
TK take
TM them
C see
M more
TNK think
CCN conclusion
MK make
TRU through
CD could
MSG missing
TS this
CK check
MSJ message
TT that
CKT circuit
MSR measure
TTT that the
CL call
TW tomorro
CLO close
TY they
CLR clear
N not
CMB combine
NA name
U you
CNG change
NF notify
UN until
CT connect
NI night
UR your
CU current
NTG nothing
CY copy
NUM number
VY very
NR near
D in the
NV never
W with
DD did
NW now
WD would
DT do not
NX next
WG wrong
DUX duplex
WH which
OD order
WI will
EMGY emergency
OFS office
WIN within
EQ equip
OP operate
WIT witness
EQPT equipment
OTR other
WK week
OV over
WN when
F of the
WO who
FD find
PGH paragraph WR
were
FJ found
PLS please
WS was
FM from
WT what
FR for
Q on the
WY why
FT for the
QK quick
FYI for your
YA yesterday
information
G from the
GD good
In addition to these
there were a large number of very short special abbreviations for phrases common
in news releases, such as
for "President of the United States," etc. Usually these consisted of
3 - 5 letters, very brief.
A FEW USEFUL
Z- SIGNALS
The Z-signals were
developed and used for a time by some commercial operators. A few of them
which might be useful to amateurs
are:-
ZCG local
receiving conditions good
ZCP
local receiving conditions poor
ZLS
we are suffering from a lightning storm
ZSH
static is heavy here
ZOK we
are receiving OK
ZSR
your sigs strong readable
ZGS
your signals are getting stronger
ZWR
your sigs weak but readable
ZFS
your signals are fading slightly
ZVS
signals varying in intensity
ZFB
your signals are fading badly
ZGW
your signals are getting weaker
ZSU
your sigs are unreadable
ZAN
we can receive absolutely nothing
ZUB
we are unable to break you
ZVF your
signals are varying in frequency
ZDH
your dits are too heavy(long), please adjust
ZDL
your dits are too light(short), please adjust
ZMO
stand by a moment
ZMQ
stand by for...
ZLB
give long breaks
ZWO
send words once
ZWT
send words twice
ZSF
send faster
ZSS
send slower
ZTH
send by hand
ZCS
cease sending
ZAP
acknowledge please
ZHC how
are your receiving conditions?
ZRO
are you receiving OK?
You will notice
that these signals are much easier to remember than the Q-signals.
The two letters following Z- are suggestive. (QST 1943 No p. 63)
In 1910 some
wireless abbreviations were:
GA= go ahead, 4= please start me, where...,
13= understand, 25= am busy now,
30= no more, 77= message for you, 99= keep out!
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