A VHF contact, word for word
The reason most new licensees sit and listen for a month is that they do not know what to say. Here is the script. A contact is called a "QSO", and on VHF it is mostly just a friendly chat.
Before you press the button
- Listen for at least a minute. Someone may be mid-conversation with a gap you cannot hear.
- Have your callsign written down. Everyone forgets it the first time.
- Press the button, wait half a second, then start talking - repeaters clip the first syllable.
Announcing you are there
On a repeater, you do not call "CQ". You just say who you are:
You: "November Alpha Four Romeo Oscar, listening."
That is the whole thing. If someone is around and wants to talk, they will answer. If nobody answers, wait a few minutes and try once more - it is not a rejection, most people have the radio on in another room.
Answering someone else
Them: "NA4RO listening."
You: "NA4RO, this is your callsign."
Them: "Good evening, thanks for the call. My name is Alex, I am in Springfield. Your name and location?"
You: "Good evening Alex, my name is Sam, and I am in Riverton. This is my first contact, so please bear with me."
Say that last line. It is the magic sentence in amateur radio: the other operator will slow down, be helpful, and probably talk you through anything you are unsure about.
What to talk about
- Your radio and antenna, and how you are hearing them.
- How long you have been licensed and which club you found.
- The weather. Yes, really - it is the universal opener.
Give a signal report if they ask: on VHF people usually just say "full quieting" (perfectly clear), "a bit scratchy", or "you are breaking up".
Handing it back and ending
Say their callsign and then yours when you hand over, and end with:
You: "Thanks for the contact Alex, hope to catch you again. NA4RO, this is your callsign, seventy-three, clear."
"73" means best wishes. "Clear" means you are done. Then get up and enjoy the fact that you have used your licence.
Calling on simplex
Off a repeater - talking radio to radio - you do call CQ:
You: "CQ, CQ, this is your callsign calling CQ and standing by."
The three rules you must follow
- Give your callsign at the end of a transmission and at least every ten minutes.
- No business, no obscenity, no music, no secret codes.
- Anyone can hear you - treat it like speaking in a crowded room.