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This article is from the Shortwave radio FAQ, by Ralph Brandi rbrandi@lucent.com with numerous contributions by others.

08 What is SINPO/SIO? (Shortwave radio)

The SINPO code is a way of quantifying reception conditions in a five-digit
code, especially for use in reception reports to broadcasters. The code
covers Signal strength, Interference (from other stations), Noise (from
atmospheric conditions), Propagation disturbance (or Fading, in the SINFO
code), and Overall. The code is as follows:

(S)ignal       (I)nterference   (N)oise        (P)ropagation   (O)verall
 5 excellent    5 none           5 none         5 none          5 excellent
 4 good         4 slight         4 slight       4 slight        4 good
 3 fair         3 moderate       3 moderate     3 moderate      3 fair
 2 poor         2 severe         2 severe       2 severe        2 poor
 1 barely aud.  1 extreme        1 extreme      1 extreme       1 unusable

In recent years, many broadcasters have tried to steer listeners away from the
SINPO code and toward the simpler SIO code. SIO deletes the extremes (1 and
5) and the noise and propagation categories, which were confusing to too many
people to be useful. In sending reports to stations other than large
international broadcasters who are likely to understand the codes, it is
better to simply describe reception conditions in words.

Radio Netherlands provides an excellent explanation of SINPO and SIO, as well
as a broader explanation of reception reports, in their free booklet "Writing
Useful Reception Reports", also available online from their web site at
http://www.rnw.nl/rnw/.

 

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