Ham radio jargon and terminology can be cryptic, exclusive, and confusing.
This informal, brief, and semi-non-technical glossary of terms might
help.
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AGM
|
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alkaline
|
![]() alkaline batteries |
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
|
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ammeter
|
![]() DC ammeter |
amplitude modulation
|
![]() AM waveform © HamRadioSchool.com |
![]() AM spectrum |
antenna
|
![]() ham radio antenna |
![]() antenna symbol |
antenna analyzer
|
![]() antenna analyzer |
antenna array
|
![]() antenna array |
antenna farm
|
![]() antenna farm of JH4UYB |
antenna match
|
![]() antenna (gamma) match |
antenna rotator / antenna rotor
|
![]() antenna rotator |
antenna rotator controller / antenna rotator control unit / antenna rotor controller
|
![]() antenna rotator controller |
antenna switch
|
![]() antenna switch |
antenna tower
|
![]() beam antenna atop an antenna tower |
antenna tuner
|
![]() (manual) antenna tuner |
arc-fault circuit interrupter / arc fault circuit interrupter
|
![]() AFCI outlet and breaker |
arcing / electrical arcing
|
![]() arcing between wires |
![]() lightning, a form of arcing |
ARRL
|
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ARRL Section
|
artificial ground
|
![]() artificial ground |
ASK
|
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ATS
|
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audio frequency
|
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aurora
|
![]() Aurora Borealis |
auto tuner / autotuner / automatic tuner
|
![]() auto tuner |
az-el / azel
|
![]() az-el rotator shown on a satellite antenna mount |
azimuthal / azimuth
|
![]() an antenna's azimuthal radiation pattern |
balun
|
![]() current balun |
![]() balun cutaway |
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band
|
![]() band allocation chart |
band-pass filter / bandpass filter / band pass filter
|
![]() band-pass filter graph |
band-reject filter / band-stop filter / band reject filter / bandstop filter
|
![]() band-reject filter graph |
bandspread / / band-spread / band spread
|
![]() vintage receiver with bandspread tuning control |
base station
|
![]() base station transceiver |
battery
|
![]() batteries |
![]() battery symbol |
battery management system
|
![]() battery management system |
batwing antenna / bat-wing antenna
|
![]() batwing antenna |
beam antenna
|
![]() beam antenna |
beamwidth / beam width
|
![]() azimuthal antenna pattern showing approximately 34° beamwidth |
Beverage antenna
|
![]() modern 160-meter Beverage antenna, about 280 m in length |
![]() diagram for a Beverage antenna about 6 feet above ground and at least 1 wavelength long |
BiCMOS
|
![]() BiCMOS internal schematic |
bleeder resistor
|
![]() schematic showing bleeder arrangement |
block diagram
|
![]() transceiver block diagram |
BNC
|
![]() BNC connectors |
boat anchor / boatanchor
|
![]() Hallicrafters boat anchor |
![]() Heathkit boat anchor |
boom
|
![]() vertical Yagi antenna showing its elements held in place by the boom |
![]() boom placement with respect to Yagi elements |
bridge circuit
|
![]() bridge circuit |
bug
|
![]() Vibroplex bug |
bus
|
![]() ground bus |
![]() power distribution block with both a positive bus and a negative bus |
BZ / B sub Z
|
![]() IMF diagram showing BX, BY, BZ components |
capacitance hat
|
![]() capacitance hat |
capacitor
|
![]() assorted capacitors |
![]() capacitor symbols |
Carolina Windom antenna
|
![]() Carolina Windom antenna diagram |
cathode-ray tube / cathode ray tube
|
![]() cathode-ray tube |
cat's whisker / cat's whiskers / cat whisker / cats whisker
|
![]() cat's whiskers antenna |
![]() diode showing cat's whisker |
cavity filter
|
![]() band-pass cavity filters |
![]() cavity filter diagram |
center insulator
|
![]() dipole center insulator |
charge controller
|
![]() solar charge controller |
Chebyshev filter
|
![]() Chebyshev filter schematic |
choke / filter choke
|
![]() assorted chokes |
![]() choke symbol |
chordal hop
|
![]() red = chordal hop green = typical radio wave hop |
circuit breaker
|
![]() typical household circuit breaker |
circular polarization
|
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circulator
|
![]() circulator |
closed
|
CMOS
|
![]() CMOS chip |
![]() CMOS transistor symbols |
coaxial cable
|
![]() coaxial cable |
coaxial capacitor
|
![]() coaxial capacitor |
![]() coaxial capacitor symbol |
cold solder joint
|
![]() cold solder joint (right) |
![]() cold (grainy) solder joint |
collinear antenna
|
![]() vertical, two-element collinear antenna |
Colpitts oscillator
|
![]() circuit employing a Colpitts oscillator |
combiner
|
![]() combiner / splitter |
complex power
|
![]() |
For
(especially
)
connectors, see
|
For power, see
|
For other types, see
|
corona ball / corona ring / corona cap
|
![]() corona ball |
![]() corona rings |
corona discharge
|
![]() corona discharge around a ring |
coronal mass ejection
|
![]() coronal mass ejection |
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CQ Zone
|
crystal ladder filter / crystal filter / crystal lattice filter
|
![]() crystal ladder filter diagram |
crystal oscillator / crystal resonator
|
![]() crystal oscillators |
![]() crystal oscillator symbol |
![]() equivalent circuit, showing R1 = motional resistance C1 = motional capacitance L1 = motional inductance C0 = shunt capacitance |
crystal radio
|
![]() crystal radio set |
CSCE
|
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cutoff frequency
|
![]() cutoff frequency for a filter response |
DDRR antenna
|
![]() DDRR antenna |
DE-9 / DE9
|
![]() DE-9 connectors |
delta loop antenna / delta-loop antenna
|
![]() delta loop antenna |
![]() delta loop antenna diagram |
delta match / delta matching system / delta matching network
|
![]() delta match |
![]() delta match diagram |
demodulation / demodulate
|
![]() demodulation steps of an AM signal |
depletion region / depletion layer
|
![]() depletion region during reverse-bias |
deviation
|
![]() deviation and bandwidth © HamRadioSchool.com |
diode
|
![]() silicon diode |
![]() silicon diode symbol |
dip meter
|
![]() dip meter |
diplexer
|
![]() mis-labeled diplexer |
dipole
|
![]() stick trapped dipole |
![]() dipole configurations |
directional antenna
|
![]() directional antenna |
directional coupler
|
![]() directional coupler |
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discone antenna
|
![]() discone antenna of rods |
![]() discone antenna of sheet metal |
dogbone insulator / dog bone insulator / dog-bone insulator
|
![]() dogbone insulators |
double-bazooka antenna / double bazooka antenna
|
![]() double-bazooka antenna |
double half-square antenna / double half square antenna
|
![]() double half-square antenna diagram |
double-sideband / double sideband
|
![]() double-sideband without carrier |
![]() compare with full AM |
double-Zepp antenna / double Zepp antenna
|
![]() double-Zepp antenna diagram |
doublet antenna
|
![]() doublet antenna diagram |
dual in-line package
|
![]() DIP IC example |
dummy load
|
![]() dummy load |
duty cycle / duty factor
|
![]() duty cycle |
egg insulator
|
![]() egg insulator |
electrical service
|
![]() electrical service drop |
electrical service panel / electrical panel
|
![]() electrical service panel |
electrolytic capacitor
|
![]() electrolytic capacitors |
![]() capacitor symbols |
electromagnetic radiation
|
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electromagnetic spectrum
|
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elliptic filter / elliptical filter
|
![]() elliptic filter response |
elliptical polarization
|
![]() blue = electric field path orange = side view of the electric field purple = resulting apparent ellipse |
end-fed
|
![]() end-fed antenna |
E-plane / E plane
|
![]() E and H planes for a vertical antenna |
![]() E and H planes for a Yagi antenna |
EWE antenna
|
![]() EWE antenna diagram |
extended double-Zepp antenna
|
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F1 connector / F2 connector
|
![]() F2 connectors |
fall arrest / fall arrester / fall arrestor
|
![]() fall arrest climbing harness |
fan dipole antenna
|
![]() fan dipole antenna |
Faraday, Michael
|
![]() Michael Faraday |
F connector
|
![]() F connectors |
ferrite choke / ferrite bead
|
![]() snap-on ferrite chokes |
![]() built-on ferrite choke |
![]() ferrite beads |
field-effect transistor
|
![]() field-effect transistor |
![]() FET symbols |
field-programmable gate array
|
![]() FPGA |
field strength meter / field-strength meter
|
![]() field strength meter |
filter
Some filter types |
![]() graphs of various filter types |
FME
|
![]() FME connectors |
folded dipole antenna
|
![]() folded dipole antenna |
![]() folded dipole antenna diagram |
frequency counter
|
![]() frequency counter |
frequency modulation
|
![]() AM and FM waveforms compared |
front-to-back ratio
|
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full-wave rectifier
|
![]() full-wave rectifier circuit |
fundamental
|
![]() fundamental and its overtones |
fuse
|
![]() glass tube fuses top = 'blown' bottom = 'good' |
![]() fuse symbols |
G5RV
|
![]() G5RV antenna |
![]() G5RV antenna diagram |
gain compression
|
![]() graph showing gain compression |
gamma match / gamma matching system / gamma matching network
|
![]() gamma match |
![]() gamma match diagram |
geomagnetic index / geomagnetic indices
|
solar activity report showing the current planetary (globally averaged) indices KP and AP in the upper portion of the left column |
geostationary
|
![]() geostationary illustration |
gin pole
|
![]() gin pole |
![]() gin pole use diagram |
glass-mount / glass mount / glassmount
|
![]() glass-mount antenna |
glowbug
|
![]() glowbug |
go-kit / go kit / gokit
|
![]() go-kit |
goniometer
|
![]() goniometer |
GOTA
|
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green stamp
|
![]() green stamp |
ground
|
![]() ground symbols |
ground braid / grounding braid / flat braid
|
![]() ground braid |
ground-fault circuit interrupter / ground fault circuit interrupter
|
![]() American GFCI outlet |
ground panel
|
![]() ground panel |
ground plane
|
![]() ground plane antenna |
ground rod / grounding rod
|
![]() copper-clad ground rod |
ground strap / grounding strap / copper strap
|
![]() flat copper strap |
Gunn diode
|
![]() Gunn diodes |
![]() Gunn diode symbol |
guy-wire / guy wire / guywire / guy-line
|
![]() guy-wires supporting an antenna mast |
half-square antenna / half square antenna
|
![]() half-square antenna diagram |
half-wave dipole / halfwave dipole
|
![]() half-wave dipole antenna |
![]() half-wave dipole antenna diagram |
ham-in-a-can / ham in a can
|
![]() ham-in-a-can |
handheld transceiver
|
![]() handheld transceiver |
hard line / hardline / hard-line
|
![]() Heliax hardline |
harmonic
|
![]() |
Hartley oscillator
|
![]() circuit employing a Hartley oscillator |
headphones / head phones
|
![]() headphones |
headset / head set
|
![]() headset |