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How ham radio endures - and remains a disaster lifeline - in the iPhone era (www.zdnet.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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When disaster strikes, and conventional communication systems fail, amateur ham radio operators step in to bridge the gap, providing a crucial link between those in affected areas and the outside world.

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[–] shortwavesurfer 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Um, hold up for a second. Did the author seriously at the very end of the article say 73 SK? I'm sorry, but those two things do not go well together. ROFL

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Doesn't 73 mean "best regards" and SK just mean "end of contact"? I see that SK can also colloquially mean that an operator is deceased, though. Genuinely curious, not familiar with the hobby.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

It's both. SK, Stop Keying, is used in CW (morse) whenever a station is done transmitting. SK is also Silent Key, but you'll rarely hear the abbreviation over voice or CW.

[–] shortwavesurfer 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't know anybody who uses SK as end of contact. I've always heard it referred to as the operator being deceased.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's a common prosign in CW at the end of a qso

[–] shortwavesurfer 1 points 3 weeks ago

Ah, okay, that might explain it. I was a voice in data-only person. I can't hear CW. Like, I suck at the patterns.