Q code

Q codes were introduced and institutionalized as early as 1912 at the Radiotelegraph Convention. It is a code for the transmission of standardized messages, which is mainly used in maritime radio, aviation, amateur radio and telegraphy.

Q codes have the advantage of limiting complete instructions and responses to a few letters. According to the applications, there are several code groups consisting of three letters and always having the letter "Q" as the first letter:

QAA to QNZ: this code group is reserved for air traffic

QOA to QQZ: this code group is reserved for shipping traffic

QRA to QUZ: this code group is reserved for various services.

QZA to QZZ: this code group is reserved for other applications.

There are hundreds of Q codes that have proven themselves in practice in air and sea traffic and that can be translated meaningfully with just a few keywords without the risk of misinterpretation.

Here are a few examples: QAP stands for ready to listen, QRE for probable time of arrival, QRG for frequency, etc.