MORSE REFERENCE
CW abbreviations, Q-signals and prosigns
Three conventions with different boundaries
An abbreviation shortens a written phrase. CQ is a general call, DE identifies who is sending, and 73 is a customary expression of best regards. These groups are sent with normal gaps between their letters or digits. The abbreviation has meaning because operators share the convention, not because its marks create a new alphabet.
Q-signals are three-letter groups with contextual meanings. A question mark can turn a statement into a question: QTH? asks about location, while QTH followed by information supplies it. An introduction to radio terminology should explain that context rather than assign one fixed English sentence to every use.
A prosign is sent continuously
AR, used as an end-of-message signal in the relevant convention, joins its elements into .-.-. without the ordinary A-to-R letter gap. The plus punctuation symbol shares that pattern. SOS is another continuous signal, ...---..., distinct from the normal spaced letters in a text conversion.
This translator does not interpret typed AR or angle-bracket notation as a prosign request. It encodes the letters you type with normal spacing. Use a documented continuous pattern when studying a procedural signal, and distinguish that from a word or abbreviation in your written explanation.
Check an abbreviated example
CQ DE ANNA uses three word groups: a general call, an identification convention and a name. The name is an example for studying spacing, not a claim that it is a valid station callsign. The code below lets you inspect the groups and listen to their ordinary letter boundaries.
An abbreviation can reduce the characters sent, but there is no single percentage reduction for every message. Compare a specific abbreviated phrase with its intended full wording if you want a meaningful count. The result depends on both the text and the code patterns, so a character count alone is not an exact duration comparison.
Read a report without treating it as a measurement
An RST report of 579 indicates readability 5, strength 7 and tone 9. RS omits the tone digit for voice reports. The strength number is an operator report; it is not a universal conversion to an S-meter reading or received power. Read the ARRL reference for the full descriptions and use reports in their actual operating context.
Selected CW groups: context matters
| Group | Common meaning | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| CQ | General call | Ordinary letter gaps |
| DE | From / this is | Ordinary letter gaps |
| QTH? | What is your location? | Question mark changes the context |
| QRS | Send more slowly | Ordinary letter gaps |
| QRZ? | Who is calling me? | Question context |
| 73 | Best regards | Two numeral groups |
| AR | End-of-message procedural signal | Continuous in its prosign use |
The RST report
| Component | Range | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| R: readability | 1–5 | 1 unreadable; 2 barely readable; 3 readable with considerable difficulty; 4 readable with practically no difficulty; 5 perfectly readable |
| S: strength | 1–9 | 1 faint, barely perceptible; 2 very weak; 3 weak; 4 fair; 5 fairly good; 6 good; 7 moderately strong; 8 strong; 9 extremely strong |
| T: tone (CW) | 1–9 | 1 very rough alternating-current tone; 2 very rough and harsh; 3 rough, low-pitched rectified tone; 4 rather rough, with some filtering; 5 filtered rectified tone, strongly ripple-modulated; 6 filtered tone with definite ripple; 7 nearly pure tone with trace of ripple; 8 nearly pure tone with slight trace of modulation; 9 pure tone |
Worked examples
These patterns use International Morse. Spaces separate letters; / separates words. A slash in the original text is encoded as -..-.
- CQ DE ANNA
- Try this message
-.-. --.- / -.. . / .- -. -. .-4.86 seconds at 20 WPM - QTH?
- Try this message
--.- - .... ..--..2.82 seconds at 20 WPM - 73
- Try this message
--... ...--1.74 seconds at 20 WPM
Compare these signals
AR as a continuous prosign
.-.-.A and R as ordinary text
.- .-.