qrl?

[bill.lumnitzer at paonline.com]

 Wz> If, as K3ZO says, that "QRL?" wasn't asked years ago, why is it a
 Wz> Q-signal? 

 Wz> Larry
 Wz> wz4f at iquest.com

QRL and all the other "Q" signals come from CW traffic handling, the
precedent of contesting. "QRL?" means: "Are YOU busy?" (handling traffic)
and was directed to a SPECIFIC station. Somehow, it has been transformed
(incorrectly) over the last couple of decades to mean "Is this FREQUENCY
busy?".  About half the time, if you send QRL? in a contest, a passerby
will respond R and start CQing!

73 Bill
N6CQ at paonline.com