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A Glossary of radio, electronic, military, and other terms used in Monitoring Times® Compiled by Larry Van Horn, MT Assistant Editor. Although we strive to keep the "alphabet soup" to a minimum, abbreviations serve a purpose in conserving space and avoiding repetition. The following are not necessarily the most common, but they were used in MT, sometimes without explanation. If you see a phrase or acronym that has you puzzled, give us a query at editor@monitoringtimes.com and we'll add it to our list.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
The Radio Spectrum ULF - Ultra Low Frequency (3-30 Hz) ELF - Extremely Low Frequency (30-300 Hz) VF - Voice Frequencies (300 Hz-3 kHz) VLF - Very Low Frequency (3-30 kHz) LF - Low Frequency (30-300 kHz) MF - Medium Frequency (300 kHz-3 MHz) HF - High Frequency (3-30 MHz) VHF - Very High Frequency (30-300 MHz) UHF - Ultra High Frequency (300 MHz-3 GHz) SHF - Super High Frequency (3-30 GHz) EHF - Extremely High Frequency (30 GHz and above)
// - Indicates a Parallel Frequency uF - Microfarad uH - MicroHenry us - microsecond uV - Microvolt 10-11-11 MFSK - See Crowd-36 73 - Best Regards A - Saturday AB - Air Base ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation/American Broadcasting Company ABU - Asia Broadcast Union AC - Alternating Current/Adult Contemporary (light rock) music ACA - Australian Communications Authority (Australia's FCC) ACARS - Aircraft Communication and Reporting System ACE - Association of Clandestine Enthusiasts ACM - Air Combat Maneuvering A/D - Analog-to-digital ADC - Analog-to-Digital Converter Admin - Administration Aero - Aeronautical Af - Africa AFB - Air Force Base AFC - Automatic Frequency Control AFN - American Forces Network AFRTS - Armed Forces Radio and Television Service AFTN - Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network AIR - All India Radio AKM - Apogee Kick Motor ALE - Automatic Link Establishment Am - The Americas AM - Amplitude Modulation AMASS - Airport Movement Area Safety System Amb - Ambulance Amps - Amperes AMPS - Advanced Mobile Phone Service (800 MHz) AMRAD - Amateur Radio Research Development Corporation AMSAT - Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation AMTOR - Amateur Teleprinting Over Radio AMVER - Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel Rescue System AMW - Air Mobility Wing ANG - Air National Guard AOC - Air Operational Control AP - Associated Press APCO - Association of Public-safety Communications Officials APCO Project 25 (or simply P-25) - A federally-standardized, interservice, digital modulation technique APRS - Automatic Packet Reporting System APT - Automatic Picture Transmission (weather satellites) AR - Air Refueling ARCP - Air Refueling Control Point ARES - Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARG - Air Refueling Group ARINC - Aeronautical Radio, Inc ARIP - Air Refueling Initial Point ARQ - Synchronous transmission and automatic repetition teleprinter system ARQ6-90 - Six-character blocks simplex ARQ teleprinter system ARQ-E3 - Single channel ARQ teleprinter system ARRL - American Radio Relay League ARS - Amateur Radio Service/Adventure Radio Society ARTCC - Air Route Traffic Control Center (FAA) ARW - Air Refueling Wing As - Asia ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASDE-3 - Airport Surface Detection Radar System ASDL - Asymmetrical Digital Subcriber Line ASECNA - Agence pour la Securite de la Navigation Aerienne en Afrique et a Madagascar ASP - Application Service Provider ASOS - Automated Surface Observation System ASR - Airport Suveillance Radar Assoc - Association AT&T - American Telephone and Telegraph ATA - Airport Traffic Area ATC - Air Traffic Control ATIS - Automatic Terminal Information Service ATS - Applications Technology Satellites ATTRIB - Attribute ATU - Arab Telecommunications Union ATU-A - Arabic ATU-80 alphabet Au - Australia Autodin - Automatic Digital Network AVHRR - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (weather satellites) AVHRR/2 - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer/2 [5 channels] (weather satellites) AVHRR/3- Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer/3 [6 channels] (weather satellites) AWACS - AirborneWarning and Control System AWOS - Automated Weather Observation Station AWR - Adventist World Radio Bandscan - A list of stations normally received at a given location (not DX) Barefoot - Unamplified BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation BBCM - British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service BBC-WS - British Broadcasting Corporation - World Service BBG - Broadcasting Board of Governors BBS - Bulletin Board System BCB - Broadcast Band (Refers to the 530-1705 kHz AM band) BCNU - Be Seeing You Bcst - Broadcast Bd - Baud BFO - Beat Frequency Oscillator BIOS - Basic Input/Output System Bldg - Building BLM - Bureau of Land Management BNC - Coax connector commonly used with VHF/UHF equipment BSKSA - Broadcasting Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia BUD - Big Ugly Dish (C-band TVRO setup) CAI - Common Air Interface CAMSLANT - Communications Area Master Station, Atlantic CAMSPAC - Communications Area Master Station, Pacific CAP - Civil Air Patrol CAP - Combat Air Patrol Caracol - Primera Cadena Radial Colombiana Carib - Caribbean CARMA - Chicago Area Radio Monitors Association CB - Citizen Band C-band - The spectrum from 3.7-4.2 GHz where satellite TV and other fixed satellite services are broadcast. CBC - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBS - Columbia Broadcasting Company CCD - Charge coupled device CD - Compact Disc CDMA - Coded Division Multiple Access CD-ROM - Compact Disc Read Only Memory CE - Chief Engineer CES - Consumer Electronics Show CG - Coast Guard CIA - Central Intelligence Agency CIB - Compliance and Information Bureau (FCC) CID - Call-letter identification with Morse code/Criminal Investigation Division CIS-36 - See CROWD-36 CI-V - Radio computer interface made by Icom CJCS - Chairman, Joints Chief of Staff CL - Call Letters CLA - Cuban Coastal Radio Station CMA - China Meteorological Administration CMOS - Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor C/N - Carrier-to-Noise Ratio CNN - Cable Network News CO - Commanding Officer Co. - County COM 1 - First Serial Port (Asynchronous Port) COM 2 - Second Serial Port COM 3 - Third Serial Port COM 4 - Fourth Serial Port Comm - Communications COMSAT - Communications Satellite, Inc. COMSUBGROUP - Commander, Submarine Group CONUS - Continental United States COQ-8 - Eight-tone multi-frequency shift keyed teleprinter system (Coquelet) Coquelet-8 - See COQ-8 CP - Command Post CPC - Courtesy Program Committee (a group that arranges DX Tests) CPU - Central Processing Unit CQ - General call to all stations CR - Croatia Radio CRI - China Radio International CROWD-36 - A multi-frequency shift keyed communications system. (Also known as URS Multitone, CIS-36, 10-11-11 MFSK) CRTC - Canadian Radio-Television Commission (The Canadian FCC) CRW - Clandestine Radio Watch CSQ - Carrier Squelch CTCSS - Continuous Tone Controlled Squelch System CW - Continuous Wave (Morse code) C&W - Country and Western music CX - Conditions DAB - Digital Audio Broadcast dB - Decibel dBi- Decibels over isotropic DBS - Direct Broadcast Satellite DC - Direct Current DCII - DigiCipher II DCS - Digital Coded Squelch de - Morse code prosign meaning "from" DEA - Drug Enforcement Administration Dead Air - Station is on the air but broadcasting silence (no programming) Dept. - Department DGPS - Differential Global Positioning System DJ - Disc Jockey DMA - Direct Memory Access DME - Distance Measuring Equipment DMSP - Defense Meteorological Satellite Program DMX - Digital Music Express Do - Domestic DOAS - Department of Administrative Services DoD - Department of Defense DOS - Disk Operating System DPL - Digital Private Line DPS - Department of Public Safety DSC - Digital Selective Calling DSL - Digital Subscriber Line DSN - Defense Switching Network DSP - Digital Signal Processing DSR - Digital Satellite Radio DSS - Digital Satellite System DSWCI - Danish Shortwave Clubs International DTB - Digital Television Broadcasting DTH - Direct to Home DTMF - Dual Tone Multi Frequency DTRS - Digital Trunk Radio System DTV - Digital Television DUP-ARQ - Hungarian diplomatic simplex ARQ teleprinter system DVB - Digital Video Broadcast DW - Deutsche Welle DX - Distant Station Reception DXCC - ARRL DX Century Club for working at least 100 countries DXer - A person who engages in the hobby of distant radio/television reception DXing - The hobby of listening to distant radio or television signals DXpeditions - DX Expeditions (trips to the boonies by radio listeners) DX Test - A special program put on by a radio station to make it easier for DX enthusiasts to hear that station E - Voltage (measured in volts) EAM - Emergency Action Message (U.S. military forces) ECFS - Electronic Comment Filing System ECM - Electronic Countermeasures ECPA - Electronic Communications Privacy Act ECS - Emergency Communications System ECSS - Exalted Carrier Selectable Sideband EDACS - Enhanced Digital Access Communications System EE - English language EEPROM - Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory EIRP - Effective Isotropic Radiated Power ELT - Emergency Locator Transmitter EMA - Emergency Management Agency EME - Earth-Moon-Earth Emerg. - Emergency EMS - Emergency Medical Service ENIGMA - European Numbers Information Gathering and Monitoring Association whose shorthand codes became the standard to identify "numbers" transmissions EOD - Explosive Ordnance Disposal EPIRB - Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon EQT - Equatorial ER - Emergency Room ERP - Effective Radiated Power ERT - Elliniki Radiophonia Teleorassi (Greece) ESA - European Space Agency E-skip - Sporadic E-layer ionospheric propagation ET - Eastern Time E-Trax - A DOS based utility which allows tracking of the Ericsson EDACS trunking systems. Eu - Europe EW - Electronic Warfare EZL - Easy listening music FAA - Federal Aviation Administration FAC - Forward Air Controller FAPSI - Federal Agency for Communications and Intelligence (Russian Agency) FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions FAX - Facsimile FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation FBO - Fixed Base Operator FCC - Federal Communications Commission FD - Fire Department f/D Ratio - Focal Length-to-Diameter Ratio FE - Far East FEBA - Far East Broadcasting Association FEBC - Far East Broadcast Company FEC - Forward error correction teleprinter system FEC-A - One-way traffic FEC teleprinter system FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency Feng Yung - Chinese series of geostationary weather imaging satellites FF - French language FFH - Fast Frigate Helicopter FGS - Federal German Ship FHWA - Federal Highway Administration Fig. - Figure FM - Frequency Modulation FM2 - FM Squared Freq - Frequency FRS - Family Radio Service FRW - Free Radio Weekly FSS - Flight Service Station (FAA) Ft. - Fort FTA - Free-to-Air FTP - File Transfer Protocol FTW - Flying Training Wing FUNC - Function FW - Fighter Wing FY - Fiscal Year GANTSEC - Greater Antilles Section (US Coast Guard) GB - GigaByte GHFS - Global High Frequency System (U.S. Air Force) GHz - Gigahertz GI - General Instrument GID - Group Identifications GMDSS - Global Maritime Distress and Safety System GMRS - General Mobile Radio Service GMS - Geostationary Meteorological Satellite, Japanese geostationary weather imaging satellite GMT - Greenwich Mean Time (has been replaced in most applications by UTC) GOES - Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, US geostationary weather imaging satellite constellation GOMS - Geostationary Operational Meteorological Satellite, Russian geostationary weather imaging satellite Golay - Golay Sequential Pager Signaling System Goniometer - Direction finder GOS - Gospel music GPO - General Post Office GPS - Global Positioning Satellites Graveyard Stations - AM radio stations on 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, 1490 kHz GSM - Global System for Mobiles (900 MHz) GTO - Geostationary Transfer Orbit G/T Ratio - Gain-to-(noise) Temperature Ratio GVAR - GOES Variable Format (Weather Satellites) GWEN - Ground Wave Emergency Network (USAF project, no longer operational) ha. - Hectares HAARP - High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program HAR - Highway Advisory Radio (see TIS) HBO - Home Box Office HCDX - Hard Core DX HD - High Density HDTP - Handheld device transfer/transport protocol HDTV - High Definition Television HEMT - High Electron Mobility Transistor HF - High Frequency (3-30 MHz) HFDL - High Frequency Data Link HHS - Health and Human Services HM - Her Majesty HMCS - Her Majesty Canadian Ship hp - Horsepower HQ - Headquarters HRIT - High Rate Information Transmission (satellite) HRPT - High Resolution Picture Transmission (weather satellite) hrs - Hours HS - High School HT - Handi Talkie/Handheld Transceiver HTML - HyperText Markup Language HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol HWD - Height, Width and Depth Hydrolant - U.S. broadcasts of Atlantic and Mediterranean Ocean navigational warnings Hydropac - U.S. broadcasts of Pacific and Indian Ocean navigational warnings Hz - Hertz I - Current (measured in amperes) IARU - International Amateur Radio Union IBB - International Broadcasting Bureau IBC - International Broadcasting Corporation IBM - International Business Machines IBOC - Inband Onchannel IC - Integrated Circuit ICS - Internet Connection Sharing ID - Identification IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering IF - Intermediate Frequency IFF - Identification Friend or Foe IFR - Instrument Flight Rules ILS - Instrument Landing System Info - Information Inmarsat - International Maritime Satellite Organization INSAT - Indian National Satellite, a geostationary satellite launched by India that provides communication and weather imaging. INTERPOL - Organisation Internationale de la Police Criminelle Intl/Int'l - International I/O - Input/Output IPX - Internetwork Packet Exchange IRC - International Reply Coupon IRCA - International Radio Club of America IRQ - Computer Interrupt Request ISA - Industry Standard Architecture ISB - Independent Sideband ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network ISP - Internet Service Provider ITA - International Telegraph Alphabet ITU - International Telecommunications Union JIATF-E - Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-East JIATF-S - Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South JStars - Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System KBC - Kenya Broadcast Corporation kbps - Kilobytes per second KBS - Korean Broadcasting System kHz - Kilohertz km - Kilometer Knot - A nautical mile per hour, one mile is 1.15 statue miles or 1.85 kilometers Ku-band - The spectrum from 11.7-12.2 GHz were satellite TV and other fixed satellite services are broadcast. Also in North America the spectrum from 12.2-12.7 GHz were the small dish (18-inches) antenna systems operate. kW - Kilowatt LAN - Local Area Network LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department lbs. - Pounds LCD - Liquid Crystal Display LDOC - Lond Distance Operational Control LED - Light Emitting Diode LF - Low Frequency LNA - Low Noise Amplifier LNB - Low Noise Block Downconverter LNBF - Low Noise Block Downconverter Feedhorns LNBS - Lesotho National Broadcasting Service LORAN - Long Range Navigational System LOWFER - Low Frequency Experimental Radio LP10 - Proposed catagory of low power FM station with power at 10 watts LP100 - Proposed catagory of low power FM station with power at 100 watts LP1000 - Proposed catagory of low power FM station with power at 1000 watts LPF - Low Pass Filter LPFM - Low Power FM (United States) LPON - Low Power Open Narrowcasting (Australia) LRIT - Low Rate Information Transmission (satellite) LSB - Lower Sideband LSR - Local Sunrise LSS - Local Sunset LW - Longwave (150-300 kHz) LWCA - Longwave Club of America M - Monday/meter mA - Milliampere mA/h - Milliampere-hours MAC - Multiplexed Analog Components MAG - Marine Air Group MARCS - Multi-Agency Radio Communications System (Ohio) MARS - Military Affiliate Radio System MAW - Marine Air Wing mb/MB - meter band/MegaByte Mbps - MegaBytes Per Second MBTA - Massachusetts Bay Tranportaion Authority MCAS - Marine Corps Air Station MDR - Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (Germany) MDT - Mobile Data Terminal Me - Middle East Med - Medical METAR- Meterological Aviation Routine report Meteo/Metro - Meteorological Meteor - Russian series of polar orbiting weather imaging satellites Meteosat - European geostationary weather satellite constellation MF - Medium Frequency MFA - Ministry of Foreign Affairs MFSK - Multi Frequency Shift Keyed Mgt - Management MHz - MegaHertz MI6 - Military Intelligence, group 6 (U.K. spy agency) Minrex - Ministry of Foreign Affairs Cuba MINURCA - Mission des Nations Unies en Republique Centrafricaine mm/MM - Millimeter/Mass Media MNO - Merlin Network One MOA - Military Operating Area Mode C - IFF mode used by civilian aircraft MPEGII - Digital video compression technique ms - milliseconds MS-DOS - Microsoft Disk Operating System MSK - Minimum Shift Keying MSL - Mean Sea Level MT - Monitoring Times MTR - Military Training Route MUF - Maximum Useable Frequency MURS - Multi-Use Radio Service (5 channels in the 150 MHz range) MV - Motor Vessel mW - Milliwatt MW - Medium Frequency (0.3-3 MHz) MW - Medium Wave (typically 530-1710 kHz) MW - MegaWatts NAB - National Association of Broadcasters NAf - North Africa Na - North America NAM - Narrowband Amplitude Modulation NAMPS - Narrowband Advanced Mobile Phone Service (800 MHz) NAS - Naval Air Station NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASB - National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters NASWA - North American Short Wave Association NAT - Network Address Translation Natl - National NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization NAVAREA - Navigational Area (defined by IMO & IHO) Navrad - Naval Radio NAVTEX - Navigational Text (broadcast on 518 kHz) NBC - Nambian Broadcasting Corporation NBC - National Broadcasting Corporation NCC - National Coordination Center NCS - National Communications System NCS - Net Control Station NDB - Non-Directional Beacon NE - Northeast NECN - National Emergency Coordination Network NESDIS - National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service NESS - National Earth Satellite Service NetBEUI - NetBIOS Extended User Interface NetBIOS - Network Basic Input/Output System Nexrad - Next Generation Doppler Radar NFM - Narrowband Frequency Modulation NFM - Narrowband Frequency Modulation NHK - Nippon Hoso Kyokai NIC - Network Interface Card NiCd - Nickel Cadmium Battery NiMH - Nickel Metal Hydride battery NIRC - National Interagency Fire Center NIRSC - National Incident Radio Support Cache nm - Nautical mile NOAA - National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration No Joy - Station did not answer call NORAD - North American Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration NOS - Nostalgic music (mostly 1940s-1950s) NPR - National Public Radio NPRM - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking NRC - National Radio Club NRCS - Natural Resources Conservation Service NRK - Norsk Rikskringkasting NSAm - North South America NSMC - Chinese National Satellite Meteorological Center NSW - New South Wales NTIA - National Telecommunications and Information Administration NTSC - US and Japanese TV broadcasting standard utilizing 525 scanning lines NU - Numero Uno NVIS - Near Vertical Incidence Skywave NWR - National Wildlife Refuge NWR-SAME - National Weather Radio Specific Area Message Encoding NWS - National Weather Service/News Nx - News OC - Open Carrier (see Dead Air) OCF - Off-Center Fed OEDP - Operational Error Detection Patch Okean - Russian low earth orbit earth resources imaging satellite series OLD - Oldies rock music Om - Omnidirectional Op-amp - Operational Amplifier Ops - Operations ORTB - Office de Radiodiffusion et Television du Benin OTHR - Over The Horizon Radar P-25 (or APCO Project-25 - A federally-standardized, interservice, digital modulation technique Pa - Pacific Packet - Amateur radio error correcting mode PACTOR - Teleprinter system that combines certain aspects of Packet and SITOR. PAL - European TV broadcasting standard utilizing 625 scanning lines PAL - Precision Approach and Landing system or radar PBS - Public Broadcasting System PC - Personal Computer/Printed Circuit PCFM - Personal Computer Frequency Manager PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect/Interface PCS - Personal Communication System/Satellite PD - Police Department/Primary Data PDA - Personal Data Assistant PDUS - Primary Data User Station PETRA - Jordan News Agency PFC - Prepared Form Card PIP - Picture in Picture PL - Private Line PLL - Phase Locked Loop PNG - Papua New Guinea POCSAG - Digital Pager Code POL-ARQ - Polish diplomatic ARQ teleprinter system POW - Prisoner of War PPI - Plan Position Indicator PROM - Programmable Read-Only Memory PS/2 - Programming System 2 PSA - Public Service Announcement PSAP - Public Safety Answering Points PSK - Phase Shift Keying PSRA - Pre-sunrise authorization PSSA - Post-sunset authorization PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network PTT - Post, Telegraph and Telephone Administration PTT - Push to Talk Q - Performance rating regarding selectivity or bandwidth, with highest Q being sharpest or most narrow QBS - Qatar Broadcasting Service QFH - Quadrifillar Helix Antenna QRA - The name of my station is ... QRM - Interference from another station QRN - Interference from natural sources (i.e. lightning, etc) or from man-made sources other than radio stations (ignition noise, vacuum cleaners, etc) QRP - Low power operation QSL - A card or letter confirming reception of a radio station QSO - Communications between two or more stations QTH - Location R - Resistance (measured in ohms) R. - Radio R3E - Upper sideband reduced carrier RACES - Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service RAE - Radiodifusion Argentina Al Exterior (Argentina) RAF - Royal Air Force RAI - Radiotelevisione Italiana RAM - Random Access Memory RCI - Radio Canada International RCMP - Royal Canadian Mounted Police RCS - Radio Communication System RCV - Radio Christian Voice Rcvr - Receiver RDA - Radio Democracy for Africa RDF - Radio Direction Finding RDP - Radiodifusao Portuguesa EP REACT - Radio Emergency Associated Communications Teams REE - Radio Exterior de Espana Rel - Religious Rep - Republic Resurs - Russian earth resources imaging satellite series RF - Radio Frequency RFA - Radio Free Asia RFE - Radio Free Europe RFI - Radio France International RFPI - Radio For Peace International RG-6 - Low loss 75 ohm coax (highly recommended by Grove Ent for scanner/shortwave antenna installations) RHC - Radio Havana Cuba RKI - Radio Korea International RL - Radio Liberty RMI - Radio Moldovia International RMS - Royal Majesty Ship RN - Royal Navy RN - Radio Netherland RNI - Radio Norway International RNZI - Radio New Zealand International ROM - Read Only Memory rpm - Rotations per minute Rptr - Repeater RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia RS - Radio Shack RSA - Republic of South Africa RS-ARQ - (WUN term) Automatic link set-up simplex ARQ teleprinter system by Rohde and Schwarz. Klingenfuss calls this ALIS. Also known as Merlin. RTBF - Radio-Television Belge de la Communiaute Francaise RTE - Radio Telefis Eireann (Ireland) RTG - Radiodiffusion Television Guineenne RTI - Radio Taipei International RTTY - Radioteletype RTV - Radiodiffusion Television RTVM - Radiodiffusion Television Malienne (Office of, ORTM) RVI - Radio Vlaanderen International RVW - Review Rx - Receiver Sa - South America SA - Scientific Atlanta SAM - Special Air Mission (U.S. Military VIP flight)/ Surface to Air Missile SASE - Self Addressed Stamped Envelope S-band - Microwave frequencies above UHF SCA - Subsidiary Carrier Authorization (now known as SCS) SCOPE - System Capable of Planned Expansion (U.S. Air Force) SCPC - Single Channel Per Carrier SCS - Subsidiary Carrier Service SCSI - Small Computer Systems Interface Sec. - Second SECAM - French TV broadcasting standard, also used by some (former) communist countries SECURE - State Emergency Capability Using Radio Effectively SELCAL - Selective Calling SELSCAN - Selective Scanning Sesqui - A sesquipedalian word used by Glenn Hauser, commonly known as a Hauserism Sesquihour - One and a half hours Sesquiminute - One and a half minutes SETI - Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence SHARES - Shared Resources (U.S. government traffic network) S.I.B.C. - Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation Sich - Russian earth resources imaging satellite series SID - Sudden Ionospheric Distrubance/Singing Identification Silent - Station off the air SIM - Subscriber Identity Module SINAD - Signal to noise and distortion ratio SINPO - A code system used by radio hobbyists to indicate how well a station was received: S=Strength, I=Interference, N=Noise, P=Propagation, O=Overall SIO - A code system used by radio hobbyists to indicate how well a station was received: S=Strength, I=Interference, O=Overall SIS - Secret Intelligence Service (United Kingdom) SITA - Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques SITOR-A - Simplex teleprinting over radio system, mode A SITOR-B - Simplex teleprinting over radio system, mode B (FEC mode) SLBC - Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation SLR - Side Looking Radar S-Meter - Signal Strength Meter SMIS - Russian Space Monitoring Information Support SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio SMS - Synchronous Meteorological Satellite S/N - Serial Number S/N Ratio - Signal-to-Noise Ratio SNG - Satellite News Gathering Unit SNOTEL - Snowpack Telemetry SO - Sheriff Office SPST - Single Pole Single Throw (switch) SPT - Sports SPX - Sequenced Packet Exchange SQL - Squelch SRS - Sunrise Skip SS - Spanish language SSAm - South South America SSB - Single Sideband/ U.S. National Anthem: Star Spangled Banner SSN - Sunspot Number SSR - Secondary Surveillance Radar SSS - Sunset Skip SSTV - Slow Scan Television STANAG - Standardization Agreement (digital mode used by NATO ) STRATCOM - U.S. Strategic Command STS - Space Transportation System (Space Shuttle) SVGA - Super Video Graphics Adapter S-VISSR - Stretched Very High Resolution Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer SW - Shortwave (high frequency - HF) SWBC - Shortwave Broadcast SWED-ARQ - Swedish diplomatic ARQ teleprinter system SWL - Shortwave Listener SWNet - Shortwave Net SWR - Standing Wave Ratio SWRL - Shortwave Reception Log (DXtreme Software Product) Tac - Tactical TACAN - Tactical Air Navigation TACTS - Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System TASCOMM - Terrestrial Air Sea Communications (UK network) TC - Time Check TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TDF - Telediffusion de France TDMA - Time Division Multiple Access TECG - Tactical Exercise Control Group (US Marine Corps) Tent - Tentative TI - Terrestrial Interference TIAWR - Costa Rica Adventists World Radio TIP - Tiros Information Processor (satellite data mode) TIS - Traveler Information Service TL - Tower Location TLA - Three Letter Acronym TLK - Talk TOSS - Television Ordnance Scoring System TP - Test Point TRACON - Terminal Radar Approach Control Tropical Shortwave Bands - 2300-2495 kHz, 3200-3400 kHz, and 4750-5060 kHz TRS - trunked radio system TRT - Turkiye Radyo-Televizyon Kurumu TV - Television TVRO - TV Receive Only TVI - Television Interference TW - Test Wing TWEB - Transcribed Aviation Weather Broadcast TWC - Two-way communications Twinplex - Four-frequency duplex teleprinter system also known as F7B4 Twinplex SITOR-A TWR - Trans World Radio Tx - Transmit Txt - Text UART - Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter UC - Urban Contemporary UFE - User Defined Field U.S. - United States UHF - Ultra High Frequency U.K. - United Kingdom UKoGBaNI - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ULS - Universal License System UN - United Nations Unid - Unidentified UNITA - National Union for the Total Independence of Angola UPI - United Press International UPN - United Paramount Network URL - Universal Resource Locator URS Multitone - See Crowd-36 U.S. - United States USA - United States of America USAF - U.S. Air Force USB - Upper Sideband USCG - U.S. Coast Guard USIA - U.S. Information Agency USMC - U.S. Marine Corps USN - U.S. Navy USS - United States Ship USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics UT - Universal Time UTC - Universal Time Coordinated UTP - Universal Twisted Pair UV - Ultraviolet UWB - Ultra-wideband V. - Voice Va - Various Vac/VAC - Volts Alternating Current VC - Voz Christiana VCII - VideoCipher II VCR - Video Cassette Recorder Vdc/VDC - Volts Direct Current VF - Voice Frequencies (3-30 kHz) VFO - Variable Frequency Oscillator VFR - Visual Flight Rules VFT - Voice Frequency Telegraph teleprinter system VIP - Very Important Person VHF - Very High Frequency VHRR - Very High Resolution Radiometer (weather satellites) VID - Spoken call letter identification VIP - Very Important Person VISSR - Very High Resolution Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (weather satellites) VK - Amateur callsign prefix for Australia VLF - Very Low Frequencies (10-100 kHz) VOA - Voice of America VOIRI - Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran VOLMET - Aviation Weather Broadcasts (on HF) VON - Voice of Nigeria VOR - Voice of Russia VOR - VHF Omnidirectional Range VOT - Voice of Turkey VOV - Voice of Vietnam VOX - Voice Operated Relay VP - Vice President VRT - Vlaamse Radio en Televisie VSWR - Voltage Standing Wave Ratio VTO - Voltage Tuned Oscillator VTR - Video Tape Recorder VTS - Vessel Traffic Service WAAS - Wide Area Augmentation System (corrects errors in GPS system) WAM - Wideband Amplitude Modulation WAP - Wireless application protocol WARC - World Administrative Radio Conference WEFAX - Weather Facsimile WFM - Wideband Frequency Modulation WG - Wing WLM - Coastal Buoy Tender (Medium Endurance US Coast Guard cutter) WMO - World Meteorological Orgranization wpm - Words Per Minute WRN - World Radio Network (via satellite) WRTH - World Radio TV Handbook WS - World Service WTB - Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (FCC) WTI - Weapons Tactical Instructor WTFDA - Worldwide TV/FM DX Association WUN - World Utility News (www.wunclub.com) WWII - World War Two WWV - National Bureau of Standards Time Station, Ft. Collins, CO WWVH - National Bureau of Standards Time Station in Hawaii WWW - World Wide Web Wx - Weather WXSAT - Weather Satellite X-band - Expanded AM broadcast band (1610-1700 kHz) YLE - Yleisradio Oy (Finnish Non-commercial broadcast service) ZBC - Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation ZBS - Zambia Broadcasting Corporation ZL - Amateur callsign prefix for New Zealand Zulu - Military time zone (same as UTC)
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