Modes
From classic voice contacts to methods that still get a contact through when all you hear in the speaker is noise.
- CW
- telegraphy, a carrier is keyed, goes a long way with very little power
- SSB
- single sideband, the standard for voice on HF
- AM
- amplitude modulation: a carrier with two sidebands, twice as wide as the audio, broadcasting on short and medium wave
- FM
- frequency modulation, common on 2 m and 70 cm and through repeaters
- FT8
- digital mode with a 15-second cycle, very sensitive, short standard messages
- FT4
- faster variant of FT8, popular in contests
- JS8
- derived from FT8, allows free text and relaying
- PSK31
- narrowband keyboard-to-keyboard mode
- RTTY
- radioteletype, the oldest digital mode in amateur radio
- SSTV
- slow image transmission over the voice channel
- WSPR
- beacon mode with the lowest power, used to observe propagation
- C4FM, DMR, D-STAR
- digital voice modes, each with its own repeater and network system
- POCSAG
- paging to pagers, in amateur radio for example DAPNET on 439.9875 MHz; two tones about 9 kHz apart, in short bursts
- APRS
- position reports and short messages over radio, mostly on 144.800 MHz
- Packet Radio
- older data transmission with AX.25, partly still running for mailboxes
- Winlink
- email over radio, often used in emergency communication
- EME
- Earth-Moon-Earth, the moon as reflector
- ATV, DATV
- television in amateur radio, analogue or digital
Related
More sections in the glossary
Q codes Abbreviations in telegraphy RST report Phonetic alphabet Callsigns in Germany Law and administration Regulation and radio policy DARC, DOK and awards Portable programmes Repeater operation Modes Propagation Shack technology