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.

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.

  • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
    2·
    2 months ago

    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

    • ruckblack@sh.itjust.works
      5·
      2 months ago

      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.

      • BenDoubleUOP
        6·
        2 months 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@lemmy.zip
        21·
        2 months ago

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