CW QSO Template...

 CW QSO Template

cq cq cq cq de abc abc abc k

if no response

cq cq cq de abc abc k

abc de xyz xyz k

xyz de abc gm rst rst 599 599. name name john john. qth qth maryland maryland. xyz de abc k

abc de xyz gm john rst rst 579 579. name name jill jill. qth qth france france. abc de xyz k

optional: bail out here or anytime with "73 73 xyz de abc sk"

r r r fb jill. rig rig knwd 999. pwr 100 w. ant ant dipole. xyz de abc k

r r r fb john. rig rig yaesu 5432. pwr 1000 w. ant ant g4rv. abc de xyz k

r wx wx cold es rainy. temp 35 f. age age 52 52. been ham 30 yrs. xyz de abc k

r wx wx cold and snowy. age age 71 71. been ham 50 yrs. abc de xyz k

r fb. tnx es 73 73 xyz de abc sk

r 73 73 abc de xyz sk dit dit

dit dit


Glossary:
cq - calling any station
k - over (your turn to transmit)
sk - out (I am finished with this contact and do not intend to transmit anymore.)
de - from
qso - a contact, or conversation between two hams
rst - readability, strength, tone. Format for a signal report.
qth - location is
pwr - power
ant - ant
rig - radio
qrs - please slow down
agn - please repeat (e.g. agn name?)
73 - best regards
tnx - thank you
es - and
fer - for
BT - break between sentences and thoughts. Also means "=". Often takes the place of a period. Period is also acceptable and widely understood.
gm/ga/ge - good morning / good afternoon / good evening
r r r - received / roger. I heard what you sent and understood it.
solid copy - I really understand you.
fb - fine business. Way of expressing happiness.
gud - good
comma, period, slash, question mark - useful punctuation marks
dit dit - two dits sent to the tune of "shave and a haircut". You can send the whole tune too.
om / yl - old man / young lady. term of affection for any ham or if you forget their name.
dr - dear
chow - food is ready I must leave.
abt - about. Use sparingly.
qsb - signal is fading
qrm - man-made interference. Usually other stations too close.
pse - please
bk - over without call signs.

Glossary of terms of questionable value that confuse newcomers:
op - operator, or name. Use name because it is clearer and easier to key.
bcnu - be seeing you
btu - back to you
hpe cuagn sn - hope to see you again soon. Usually sent at a hurried rate as a slur of one giant letter.
hw? and hw cpi? - pointless. Weird ham obsession with copying. If I send "R" assume I can copy you.
ar - end of message. Also pointless. It has some cool history from the days of military and commercial morse traffic but not really needed for a simple ham qso. Still better than hw?
kn - over to you only. Unnecessary. No one is going to disrupt your qso if you use k and if they do it is probably for a good reason.

Random thoughts:
It is best to speak in cave man english. Instead of "my name hr is", say "name name". This is a habit I have picked up from some experienced ops who are super easy to understand.

Use punctuation, with periods or BT between thoughts. Don't rush, and be concise. Leave spaces between words and sentences. Keep exchanges to three thoughts maximum.

Some ops put the sk before the final call sign.

Once you have established that you both understand each other's call sign, you can skip repeating it at the beginning of every transmission.

The order of the first three elements name/rst/qth changes all the time.

Don't be quick to end a qso when you run out of boilerplate. Keep going and you can learn more.