Disagree on the "First Responder" comment. We (Amateur radio) are not first responders. Law and Fire dispatchers aren't even first responders. The trained person in the field first showing up is a first responder. No ham radio operator is a first responder, and our hobby/vocation/volunteer comms teams, etal need to quite pretending we are or advertizing that we are to the public. Vaulable asset? Yes. Dedicated emergency communications providers? Some, yes. First Responder? No, not even close, and let's not try to pretend our way into quarters where people risk their lives as legitimate first responders.
S I tend to be not so hard on folks who volunteer their time to help out in emergencies. Spent a good part of my life many times working alongside volunteers in the fire and EMS service who were dedicated individuals and they filled an important need. As with any endeavor, there will always be a percentage of individuals who are not much more than legends in their own mind.
Apparently you like to misunderstand and/or twist other people's comments. What I have said is there is: If there are 170 something countries in the world and even more languages and the _world_ organizations like International Telecomunications Union and International Amateur Radio Union recommend something that will be passed on to hams by their national amateur unions then why are you so keen to be different? Default to "NATO" and if it doesn't work, then try something else at least when you are doing dx calls. That is so simple and what OP has said and all I see is Americans complain.
First 30 years you HAD TO use a standard, next 7 years you HAD TO use a standard, and now that you don't HAVE TO, you choose not to. Seems to me you're the kind of person that would drive on the left if right was not the law just because you can.
Very well put! That seems to be the gist of all the arguments here against using NATO. We have standards for a reason! And if everybody adheres to the same standard, there's no need to deviate, even in bad conditions. Knowing NATO from the top of your head has the same effect of somebody calling you by your name. Your brain "locks in" to the sound of that word, no matter how strong the interference is. Using different that standard words requires you to think about what you hear or what you think you hear. Just like learning Morse code: you don't hear dits and dahs anymore if you're experienced. And as long as people won't put in some effort in memorizing NATO because there's no legal requirement, we keep having this problem because its those people who won't learn it, who require others to use something else than NATO.
Not according to these references, https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/pronunciation/american/papa even this Brit, who agrees with Bonnie's point on Q too (fast forward to 1:25) but this source leaves it open to both ways and nationality, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/papa and I'm from the USA SO I use them interchangeably; both have about equal error rate, and sometimes individuals will get stuck on both, causing me to radically shift to Peter, Pacific or Portugal.
A NATO phonetic has an error rate? Heresy! They are perfect in every situation with every radio operator!
Could be quite understandable if the station making the error once operated under the former WARSAW PACT ? Russian phonetic alphabet Russian military voice communications spell words and encrypted messages using the following phonetic alphabet. For most part, it uses given names, with "tsaplya", "chelovek", "shchuka", "znak", "yery", and "ekho" being exceptions. Letter Phonetic Transliteration А [A] Анна Anna Б Борис Boris В [V] Василий Vasily Г [G] Григорий Grigory Д [D] Дмитрий Dmitry Е [Ye] or [E] Елена Yelena Ж [Zh] Женя Zhenya З [Z] Зинаида Zinaida И Иван Ivan Й [Y] or Иван краткий Ivan kratky К [K] Константин Konstatin Л [L] Леонид Leonid М [M] Михаил Mikhail Н [N] Николай Nikolai О [O] Ольга Olga П [P] Павел Pavel Р [R] Роман Roman С Семён Semyon Т [T] Татьяна Tatiana У Ульяна Ulyana Ф [F] Фёдор Fyodor Х [Kh] Харитон Khariton Ц [Ts] Цапля Tsaplya Ч [Ch] Человек Chelovek Ш [Sh] Шура Shura Щ [Shch] Щука Shchuka Ъ ["] or [#] Знак (твёрдый знак) Znak (tverdyi znak) Ы [Y] Еры Yery Ь ['] Знак (мягкий знак) Znak (myagky znak) Э [E] Эхо Ekho Ю [Yu] Юрий Yuri Я [Ya] Яков Yakov
The argument that one alphabet is not perfect is completely beside the point. It really does not matter. It only matters that it is recommended for use all arround the world for amateur use and it taught as such. If I hear ...&%$#...America Portugal..)/&#%.. i can't tell if a guy from portugal wants to reach America or a guy from Pakistan is giving his call sign. If I hear .../&$#%... Sugar Baker...&#%$... I can't tell if someone is reading their grandma's recipe or it's a guy (or a girl) from Sweden. But the Americans think it's hilarious and play the rest of the world. But all this has already been said.
Surely every contester from back in the days must remember W6 Always Kissing Females.....W5 Home Grown Tomatoes..... and the best ever, Willie Billy 5 Willy Billy Willie portable Willie Billie 5 !! Don, Koshihik Zero Pterodactyl Vladivostok
Congratulations John! You have somehow managed to use "FCC"," common sense" and "rules" in the same sentence. The very definition of an oxymoron Rules, Regulations, Law etc of any sort are only as viable as the enforcement of violation. Enforcement is generally dependent upon flagrant violations, ability and willingness to levy monetary and even punitive consequences. I do not believe that many, including the FCC are concerned with phonetics. I have taken many FCC proctored examinations both amateur and commercial, and I am not able to recall any questions referring to phonetics. I don't know why this thread is so long, but I do enjoy the frequent levity and sarcasm. However, I am only on page 23 of 36 and my finals are starting to turn blue. So.....as us old timers USED to say, "It's time to pull the big switch and go modulate the pillow." 73, and 33 to Bonnie Don, K0PV
Nor that amateurs are professionals. Experimenters that take pride in their craft, but professionals?
As a new HAM I'm just curious as to what is going on in the bigger world outside my immediate and direct contacts. I've seen some rather pointed arguments as to how important it is to be consistent when operating. I've been berated for using phonetics on a local repeater, in spite of the fact that doing so sometimes has made the QSO better under poor conditions. It seems there are some grumpy purists out there holding the attitude that one must abide by their operating standards or else. As I've heard lots of operators using non-NATO phonetics I just wondered if, perhaps in other countries something had changed in operating protocols. I admit that I've been timid about straying away from the standard phonetics I leaned in my course. However I also get the point that in some places, especially with non-English speaking operators, certain non-standard words may be easier to say or understand. I'm cool with being flexible, I just didn't want to sound like a boob on the air. Thanks for the constructive feedback.
