CW abbreviation · Greetings & sign-off
GE in Morse code
Standard CW greeting for evening hours.
Morse rendering
--. .
Sent letter-by-letter with standard inter-letter gaps.
What it saves you on the air
This is the whole reason CW abbreviations exist. Sending GE instead of spelling out “Good evening” cuts 88% of the airtime — 92 dot-units of keying saved every time you send it.
| Speed | GE | “Good evening” | Saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 WPM | 1.2s | 9.7s | 8.5s |
| 20 WPM | 0.8s | 6.3s | 5.5s |
| 25 WPM | 0.6s | 5.0s | 4.4s |
Timed with standard spacing: dit 1 unit, dah 3, letter gap 3, word gap 7. Work out any other speed on the timing calculator.
Meaning
GE — Good evening
When this is used
Used roughly between sunset and about 10 pm local. The most common greeting on amateur HF because evenings are peak operating hours.
Examples
| On the air | Plain English |
|---|---|
| GE NAME HR JIM | Good evening, my name is Jim. |
| GE OM HW CPY? | Good evening sir, how is your copy? |
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