[Elecraft] Use of Abbreviations (OT?)

[Dan Romanchik]

When I say that it's probably best not to use them, I'm 
talking as a writer and editor. I was a trade magazine 
editor at Test&Measurement World for six years and have been 
a freelance writer and editor for the last ten years or so.

Whenever we tried to include jargon in an article--and 
Q-signals are definitely jargon--we'd be challenged by the 
copy editors. Most of the time, it was simpler to simply 
reword a sentence to take out the jargon. And you know what? 
The article was much more readable without it.

I think the same is true for the use of Q-signals on phone. 
Instead of saying, "There's a lot of QRN today," I think it 
  makes more sense to simply say, "The band is noisy today"? 
It's simpler to say, and the receiving operator is less 
likely to hear "QRM" instead of "QRN." In the end, your 
message is much more readable.

73!  Dan KB6NU


vze3v8dt at verizon.net wrote:
> Or maybe it is instead better to use them on phone as well to broaden the knowledge of ham radio operators whether they know code or are "no-code".  If they are "no-code" and someday decide to get interested in code it will seem like an easier transition for them.  After all, learning the code itself is apparently quite difficult these days, not to mention having to learn all sorts of new lingo that goes with it.  Gosh, back in the days when I learned code and the Q-signals and other abbreviations and so on it wasn't so difficult, but based on many emails I read (not here though) it must have gotten more difficult, probably about the time the no-code license was suggested.
> 
> Oh, I better not forget to add "HI HI" as a tagline to the above comments!
> 
> Mark, NK8Q
> 
> 
> 
>>From: Dan Romanchik <kb6nu at w8pgw.org>
>>Date: Mon Jun 13 09:10:54 CDT 2005
>>To: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Use of Abbreviations (OT?)
> 
> 
>>I don't mind awfully much when someone uses QRM or QRN on 
>>phone, BUT, one thing I think you'll have to watch out for 
>>in the future is that there will be many no-code who simply 
>>don't know the codes. Since they never worked CW, they will 
>>never have had a chance to learn them. I run into this often 
>>on 2m FM when talking to no-code Techs.
>>
>>All things considered, it's probably best to avoid the use 
>>of Q-signals on phone.
>>
>>73!
>>
>>Dan KB6NU
>>=================================================