73 — What It Means in Ham Radio

73 — Best wishes, have a good one.

The standard sign-off, left over from telegraph shorthand. Say "seventy-three," singular — you will hear people say "seventy-threes" and it is technically wrong, though nobody will correct you.

How you would hear it

"Seventy-three, and thanks for the contact."

Look this up in Pocket Elmer, along with 100 more

Related words

• Final — Concluding transmission.
• Kerchunk — Keying up a repeater without saying anything.
• Relay — Pass a message along.
• Roger — Got it, understood.
• Elmer — A ham radio mentor.
• Step on — Talk over somebody.
• Monitor — Listen.
• Break — I need to join this conversation.