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THE RST SYSTEM

The RST System of Signal Reporting has been used for years (circa 1934)as a shorthand method of reporting Readibility, Signal Strength and for CW, Tone (i.e., quality of the CW tone). For voice contacts only the R and S are used. The S component is usually not the same as your S-Meter reading as most S-Meters aren't calibrated to track the RST System. The RST is also reported on QSL Cards and must be filled in correctly -- e.g., a 569 report for a Voice Contact is invalid. Note that many DX operations and contest stations merely report 59(9) as a convenience to avoid having to log each of the real reports. A questionable practice but a fact of DXing/Contesting

READABILTY

  1. Unreadable
  2. Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable
  3. Readable with considerable difficulty
  4. Readable with practically no difficulty
  5. Perfectly readable

SIGNAL STRENGTH

  1. Faint signals, barely perceptible
  2. Very weak signals
  3. Weak signals
  4. Fair signals
  5. Fairly good signals
  6. Good signals
  7. Moderately strong signals
  8. Strong signals
  9. Extremely strong signals

TONE

  1. Sixty cycle a.c. or less, very rough and broad
  2. Very rough a.c. , very harsh and broad
  3. Rough a.c. tone, rectified but not filtered
  4. Rough note,some trace of filtering
  5. Filtered rectified a.c.but strongly ripple-modulated
  6. Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation
  7. Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation
  8. Near perfect tone, slight trace of modulation
  9. Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind

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