From QRZ.Com, the Icom handout, and Part 97 Of The FCC Rules -
Ham Radio Glossary - An overview of amateur radio terms.
Q
"figure of merit" with regard to a tuned circuit (source: ARRL Handbook).
With regard to an antenna circuit, the Q has an inversely proportionate relationship to useable bandwidth (with reasonable SWR). For example, an antenna with "high Q" will not provide a good SWR over a very wide range of frequencies.
QCWA
"Quarter Century Wireless Club", an organization for hams who have held a license for 25 or more years. For more information, see
http://www.qcwa.org.
Q-Signals
Originally developed by CW (Morse Code) operators to make certain,
frequently used phrases short and concise -- a sort of Morse Code
"shorthand". Common signals include:
"QRT" (closing station/signing off),
"QST" (announcement/attention all amateurs),
"QSL" (confirmation),
"QTH" (location),
"QTR" (current time), and
"QRZ" ("who is calling me?"). For more Q-signals, please see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_code.
QSL Bureau
Also known as the "buro"; an organization that provides a collecting and distributing point for QSL cards. In large scale situation, typically
broken into an "incoming" and "outgoing" bureaus. A good example is the
biggest QSL Bureau representing the U.S., the ARRL QSL Bureau. For more information, see ARRL's Incoming Bureau at
http://www.arrl.org/qsl/qslin.html and their Outgoing Bureau at
http://www.arrl.org/qsl/qslout.html.
QSL Card
Often referred to as simply a "QSL"; similar in size to a postcard, it
is used to "confirm" (or show proof of) having made contact with another station on the air; applies to both "two-way" and "one-way" (SWL) communications; the QSL card is filled out by the issuer/sender, and by convention it contains
(1) the station contacted,
(2) UTC date and time of contact,
(3) frequency/band,
(4) signal report (RST), and
(5) callsign and address of issuer/sender.
QSL cards are commonly used as proof of fulfilling various operating awards such as DXCC, WAS, etc.
QSL Manager
A person, commonly an Amateur Radio operator, who manages the receiving and sending of QSL cards for a particular Amateur Radio station (the "managed" station). Often, a QSL Manager performs this service because the managed station either has difficulty handling the volume of incoming QSL cards, or
the station is geographically located such that it is difficult or
impossible for that station to accept and/or send QSL cards. It is very
common for "rare" DX stations and DXpeditions to have a QSL Manager.
Question pool
All current examination questions for a designated written examination
element.
Question set
A series of examination questions on a given examination selected from the question pool.
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (316:36/20)