How to send a Radio Report on CB Radio

An important part of most QSOs is knowing how well you are being received and often the best way to do this is to ask for a radio report from another station.

The standard signal reporting method for amateur radio is the RST (Readability-Signal Strength-Tone) system.  The best signal report for CW (morse code) operation is RST 599. With voice, we don't use the reading for Tone and just give a RS report, a perfect signal on voice is RS 59 or just “five nine.” You’ll typically hear something like : “your signal report is five nine in North London.”

If you are good copy, you will usually get a “Five” for Readability. The Signal Strength is usually what the operator is reading on the Signal Meter of his receiver. Of course, with both CW and SSB, the S-Meter will be bouncing around a bit, so some interpretation is required.

More importantly, there is considerable variation in S-Meter calibration, so signal reports can vary from radio to radio. (S9 is commonly defined as 50 µV at the receiver input, with each S unit representing a 6 dB change in signal strength.) A 55 or 57 report indicates that the signal is very readable but the signal strength is not as strong as a 59 signal.



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