| APRS | Automatic Position Reporting System – provides position reporting using GPS and TNC |
| ARES ® | Amateur Radio Emergency Service ®, sponsored by ARRL |
| ARRL | American Radio Relay League |
| channel | The pair of input and output frequencies used by a repeater |
| closed | A repeater with access limited to a select group (see open repeater) |
| coverage | The geographic area within which the repeater provides communications |
| CTCSS | Continuous Tone-controlled Squelch System – a series of subaudible tones that some repeaters use to restrict access |
| digipeater | a packet radio (digital) repeater |
| DTMF | Dual-tone Multifrequency – a series of tones generated from a keypad on a ham radio transceiver |
| duplex | An operating mode where the transmit and receive frequencies are different |
| FM | Frequency Modulation – Encoding information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave |
| GPS | Global Positioning System – a satellite network that provides precise location information |
| ham | An informal name for an amateur radio operator or enthusiast |
| hamfest | A meeting often combining trade show, exhibits, forums, fleamarkets, and other activities of interest to amateur radio enthusiasts |
| hand-held | A small, lightweight portable transceiver small enough to be carried easily |
| HF | High Frequency – Radio signals between 3 and 30 MHz (1.9 MHz is normally also included) |
| Hz | Hertz – a measure of cycles per second |
| NCS | net control station |
| net | network of stations |
| NWS | National Weather Service |
| offset | The difference between transmit and receive frequencies (see split) |
| open | A repeater with access that is not limited (see closed repeater) |
| PL | Private Line – a tone used for filtering radio transmissions |
| simplex | An operating mode where the transmit and receive frequency is the same |
| Skywarn | A network of NWS-trained volunteer storm spotters |
| split | The difference (in kHz) between a repeater’s transmitter and receiver frequencies; also called separation |
| TNC | Terminal Node Controller – a modem for data communication |
| VHF | Very High Frequency – Radio signals between 30 and 300 MHz |
| UHF | Ultra High Frequency – Radio signals between 300 and 3,000 MHz |
| VARC | Vicksburg Amateur Radio Club |
| VE | Volunteer Examiner – Licensed, accredited amateur radio volunteers who prepare and administer amateur service operator license examinations |
For a comprehensive glossary of amateur radio terms see the ARRL Ham Radio Glossary.