While "ten codes" were intended to be a terse, concise, and standardized system, the proliferation of different meanings has rendered it useless for situations where people from different agencies and jurisdictions need to communicate. For this reason its use is expressly forbidden in the Incident Command System .
Some organizations and municipalities also use other codes in addition to the ten-codes. An example is the California Highway Patrol 's use of Eleven-code s, The New York/New Jersey Port Authority Police Department uses eight codes as part of their communication.
It is also worth noting that Amateur Radio 'hams' do not use ten-codes, but have their own Q Code s, derived from Morse code brevity. 10-codes are therefore highly discouraged in amateur use, though they are sometimes used by Freebanders and novice operators.
Ten-codes were developed in the 1940s at a time when police radio channels were limited, to reduce use of speech on the radio.
In the fall of 2005, responding to inter-organizational communication problems during the rescue operations after Hurricane Katrina , the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) discouraged the use of ten-codes and other codes due to their high variability in meaning (see the November 2005 articles in External Links , below). The Department Of Homeland Security reportedly has plans to do away with 10-codes as well, in favor of "Plain English".
The following list, given in ascending order and grouped by decade, illustrates the current usage of various ten-codes. Only a handful of them are standardized. Some are fairly consistent, while others (such as 10-40) can have completely different meanings, many of which are not listed here.
Presentation:
- Multiple meanings for the same code are in a bulleted list
- The first definition is the current APCO specification.
- Popular alternate meanings follow in .
- Less common meanings are in regular typeface
- Meanings specific to CB radio are set in ''italics''.
During the 1970s, some truck drivers and CB radio hobbyists responded to the increased use of ten-codes by the general public by inventing parodies of the ten-code with strictly humorous meanings. The best known were the 13-code [ 13-Code and the 18-code.][ 18-Code .]
- 17-wheeler: Juggernaut with a puncture
- 18-wheeler: Juggernaut
- 4: 10-4
- 4-10: emphatic 10-4
- 40-footer: Juggernaut]
- 40 roger: Message received
- 44s: Love and kisses
- 5-2: Uncertain, maybe
- 5 and 9: Clear strong radio signal
- 5-finger discount: Stolen goods
- 73: Best wishes (ham radio)
- 807: Beer
- 8s: Best wishes
- 88s: Love and kisses (ham radio)
- Double 18: Two juggernauts side by side
- Double 88s: Love and kisses
- Double 7: No, no contact
- Have a 36-24-36 tonight: Have a good evening
- Meeting 20: Meeting place
- On the 70: Driving at 70 km/h
- Pair of 7s: No answer, negative contact
- Roger: 10-4; Message received
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