QNH, QNE, QNF Altimeter Settings

[Richie]

I understand the definitions of:

QNH — The barometric pressure as reported by a particular station (local altimeter setting)

QNE — Pressure Altitude (29.92 or 1013.2 mb/hPa)

QFE — Altimeter setting referenced to airport field elevation (where field elevation equals zero feet)

BUT…

What do the actual letters stand for and where did they come from?

That is:

Q = ?

N = ?

H = ?

F = ?

E = ?

Thanks

 

[FL000]

I poked around on Yahoo! and found the following:

"The three letter Q-codes are remnants of an extensive coding system from the days of wireless-telegraphy. There were some 200 three letter Q-codes each representing a sentence, a phrase or a question, for instance QRM "I am being interfered with". Some 30 or so of the Q-codes are still used by amateur radio / morse code enthusiasts"

Also, a link to another site which had a more extensive explanation:

Q-codes

If you run a search on "Q codes", you will get a lot of info on their use and history.