Morse Code Abbreviations
Morse Code text is made more efficient with abbreviations.
Here are some of the most common ones.
Some abbreviations, such as GA may have dual meaning, for example "Go Ahead" or "Good Morning" - so the context of the phrase will normally reveal which abbreviation is intended.
The GB2RS Morse Code Player [ available here ] uses these abbreviations, and they are common in general Morse Code conversation, so the Morse Code Player is a great way to get familiar with them.
Click either of the headers to sort either column in alphabetic order. If you repeat click, you will get ascending or descending order.
 Word / Phrase |
Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| 0 | T (example 4TT W for 400 Watts) |
| 1 | A (example serial number A23 for 123 in a contest exchange) |
| 9 | N (example 5NN for 599) |
| about | abt |
| administration | admin |
| afternoon | pm |
| again | agn |
| American Radio Relay League | ARRL |
| and | es |
| antenna | ant |
| auf Wiederhören (Goodbye - lit. Look forward to hearing you again - German) | awdh |
| Bad operator | lid |
| be seeing you! | bcnu |
| been | bn |
| best wishes (most common) | 73 |
| best wishes + love & kisses | 161 (73+88) |
| best wishes (in low power contacts) | 72 |
| Break (request to break into a conversation, or an indication that the other party can break in now) | BK |
| Break (between sections of text, often used in conversation, in place of full-stops, for brevity. The = symbol was used to break up sections of Telex messages, and became popular in Morse chats.) | BT -...- This is the same combination of dots and dashes as an equals-sign = , so if you are using a morse decoder to decode an amateur radio conversation, you will see many = symbols, which separate sections of text. |
| Bonjour (Good-day in French) | bjr |
| Bonsoir (Good-evening in French) | bsr |
| bureau | buro |
| Calling... | CQ |
| callsign | c/s |
| certificate | cert |
| Change frequency | QSY |
| close down | QRT |
| condition | condx |
| conditions | condx |
| confirm | QSL |
| contact | QSO |
| dear | DR |
| Do you have more to say? | QRU |
| Do svidaniya (goodbye in Russian) | DSW |
| end of contact | SK ...-.- |
| end of message | AR .-.-.
|
| Error | EEEEEEEE ........ 8 dits
|
| Europe | eu |
| examination | exam |
| excellent | FB (fine business) |
| fading | QSB |
| first | 1st |
| for | fer |
| forecast | fcst |
| forward | fwd |
| frequency | freq |
| frequencies | freqs |
| from | fm |
| from [callsign] | de [callsign] |
| girl/girlfriend/young lady | yl |
| go ahead | GA |
| good | gd |
| good | gud |
| good afternoon | GA |
| good evening | GE |
| good morning | GM |
| going | gng |
| high power | QRO |
| information | info |
| interference | QRM |
| interference (deliberate) | DQRM |
| happy | hpi |
| have | hv |
| how copy? | hw |
| Laugh or :-) | HI |
| Location | QTH |
| Logbook of the World | LOTW |
| Long distance | DX |
| Love & Kisses | 88 |
| low power <10W | QRP |
| low power <1W | QRPP |
| man/gentleman | om |
| many | mni |
| manager | mgr |
| Merci (Thanks in French) | mci |
| Merci beaucoup (Many thanks in French) | mbc |
| mobile | /m |
| morning | am |
| Over to anyone | K |
| Over to you ONLY | KN -.--. |
| please | pse |
| pleased | psd |
| portable | /p |
| power | pwr |
| Radio Emetteurs de France (French radio society) | REF |
| Radio Society of Great Britain | RSGB |
| read | rd |
| readability/signal/tone | RST |
| ready | QRV |
| receive | rx |
| relay (a message) | QSP |
| repeat | agn |
| repeater | rptr |
| Roger / yes | r |
| Roger / yes (emphatic) | rr |
| serial number | s/n |
| second | 2nd |
| see you again | CUAGN |
| Silent key (deceased operator) | sk |
| slow down | QRS |
| speed up | QRQ |
| static/atmospheric noise | QRN |
| station | stn |
| take | tk |
| thanks | tnx |
| thank you | tu |
| third | 3rd |
| this is [callsign] | de [callsign] |
| through | thru |
| transmit | tx |
| very | vy |
| wait (alternative to QRX) | AS .-... |
| wait (alternative to AS) | QRX |
| weather | wx |
| wife | xyl |
| with | wid |
| worked | wkd |
| would | wud |
| year | yr |
| you | u |
| you are | ur |
| your | ur |
| you're | ur |
| yourself | urslf |
| Monday | Mon |
| Tuesday | Tue |
| Wednesday | Wed |
| Thursday | Thu |
| Friday | Fri |
| Saturday | Sat |
| Sunday | Sun |
| January | Jan |
| February | Feb |
| March | Mar |
| April | Apr |
| June | Jun |
| July | Jul |
| August | Aug |
| September | Sep |
| October | Oct |
| November | Nov |
| December | Dec |
73, de Graham, G4JBD