What Happened to the Phonetic Alphabet?

kc0jez writes...


"I spent some time working in the shack and did a LOT of listening to the bands the last couple weeks. Just wondering....when did we throw out the phonetic alphabet?


My gosh, I listened to some contesting this past weekend and a large percentage of operators were using...well...just plain stupid phonetics. I mean really, if you're in..say...Iowa and your call contains the leters R and I should you say "Radio Italy" in your CQ? I don't think so.


I note many hams using names of states, countries or other geographical names as their phonetics that have nothing to do with where they are.



I mean really...should I CQ as "Kilo Charlie Zero Japan Ecuador Zimbabwe while I'm sitting here in Minnesota?"

 

There are some times when deviation from the normal phonetic alphabet are necessary. Since I have been using "Ontario" instead of " Oscar" for the letter "O" I have had to do very few call corrections. When using "oscar" with my New England accent people always heard "Alpha" instead. There then followed several rounds of trying to correct the call with much confusion. I'll take the blame for my accent but since I began using a non standard phonetic I have had to correct very few calls. Sometimes you have to make allowances. That does not make us bad operators. After all we want to accurately and quickly exchange information with each other.

73 MURPH

 

By habit I use "Whisky Alfa Seven Kilo Papa Kilo" when I want to make sure my call is understood. Informally I'll use "Kittens, Puppies and Kids" or something similar but if I did that in a pileup I'd probably deserve to get passed over.

Sounds like just another facet of good amateur practice that doesn't seem to be done nowadays. In the grand scheme of things it might not be as important as not overmodulating or listening before you transmit, but the question is, how do you get the word out that people should do this?

Ideally, new hams should be taught these things by their Elmers. If they don't have Elmers, well, that could be part of the problem.

73, Creede

 

Well, there are thre basic phonetic alphabets:

APCO-ADAM, BAKER, CHARLIE, DAVID, EDWARD......

ICAO-ALPHA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, DELTA, ECHO.......

OLD ARMY-ABLE, BAKER, CHARLIE, DOG, EASY......

and the there are all sorts of cutsie ones made up on the fly.

The police one and the ICAO are probably the
most wide spread.

I don't usually chase DX, but mainly do traffic
and ARES stuff. I prefer that hams use one of
the three I listed above and be consistant.
That is don't send part of message with one
alphabet and then change to another as it confuses
my brain as I may be listening to something else and copying on auto pilot.

Happy Holidaze!

73 de Ronnie

 

I guess they went the same way as phonics in school....

Of course, there never was an "official" phonetic alphabet so you could always use your own variation--especially common for callsign suffixes (de-Big Goofy Ham).

I also remember some friction a number of years ago between the old "apple-baker-charly-dog" crowd and those of us in the "alpha-bravo-charlie-delta" generation.

It might not be as clear as if there were an official phonetic alphabet, rather than a recomended one, but I don't think it is worth much worry when compared to other declining operating practices. I am usually happy just to hear that someone on 10 has a callsign!

I am also a bit more concerned about misuse of Q signals and declining manners in general.

My 2 cents worth (refunds available on request),

Dave Smith
KE6BGH

 

I have noticed that myself since I have gotten back on the air.
OK, I am spoiled (or trained as such). As an ex radio operator and instructor for the US Army I learned the military version which stays with me.
Some poeple out there think that they have to be cute and in some cases really make it hard for others to understand them on the other end of the transmission. They simply do not realize that phonetics were standardized so that they were easily understood by all.

73's W7WV Ken

 

As a fellow Minnesotan, I'd answer YES. All those places are MUCH more intersting then here.

As a newbie to this wonderful hobby, I've noticed that many DX stations, particularly where Spanish or Italian is the native language, often use a mixture of country names and the "old" words as phonetics/ My call, AB0SI, usually comes as back as something like: Alpha Brasil Zero Sugar Italy.

Perhaps North Americanspick up this as an affactation to sound "cool."

As an aside, I have notived that when the sending station (in tough conditions) gives his call in two DIFFERENT phonetic alphabets, it is much more helpful then merely repeating the call in the same words.

Paul AB0SI

 

First of all, this "phonetic" business was already hashed out on here a few weeks ago.

Second, I use whatever comes to mind. Yes, I know there are "purists" out there that insist you follow the standards, but the "standard" isn't even standard.

I have been chastised by the self-appointed radio police several times for not using proper phonetics because foreign operators don't understand them. Well, ever since I heard a Russian ham using "Four Wheel Drive", I use what I want. If somebody doesn't like it, they can just have me arrested by the phonetics police. Besides, where do people get off telling other people what to say?

Anyway, I'll continue to use Kilowatt 8 Texas Mexico Kilowatt. When you get 343 confirmed like me, we'll carry on with this discussion.

 

I have always been amazed by the improper use of phonetics. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS were adopted to make understanding EASIER. Thank God that airline pilots (flying over our heads) got the message! Take the phonetic "Kilo": Is a "Kilowatt four" a KW4xxx station or is he running 4 KW? He sure is using the wrong phonetic and it drives me nuts. It's as bad as using "Xerox" as a phonetic for an "X"! Good luck on finding good operators.

 

Please see Article #119 which was posted, back on Oct 2 on this very issue.

There are 90 comments in there, explaining why different phonetics are used.

 

The I in ICAO pretty much sums it up. The ICAO alphabet (alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, etc.) was created using words that pretty much sounded the same when used by folks speaking different languages. Standardizing on one alphabet reduces the number of choices that are possible when trying to copy in poor conditions. Only 26 different words are expected, thus reducing chances for error. Organizations with missions where lives depend on understanding radio traffic in an international setting (e.g., air traffic control and the military) require the use of the ICAO alphabet. One would think it would be good for DX as well, but I suppose it depends on how badly you want to be understood (and how well trained the op on the other end may be).



Tom, KC5UN

 

What has happened to the above subject? I have spent many moments learing the phonetic alphabet and hear all sorts of other terms. Since when did "Z" become "zed"? I learned it was zulu. Also, when did "R" become red instead of Romero?? Just my two cents worth! K4WGT

 

Zed is how you say the letter Z on the radio.

W 4 X Y Zed

Zulu is the ICAO phonetic for the letter Z.
Whiskey 4 Xray Yankee Zulu

Just sayin' Z can be confused with other
similar sounding leters.

HAPPY HOLIDAZE!

73 de Ronnie

 

well..i look at it this way we have to learn the phonetics the real way so i say we should say it like we learned it....its much easier for everyone including our ham bros an sis's in our other countries...but then thats where ham radio is going to the dogs...the old timers do one thing an want the rest of the ham society to do another....whew i mean you know theyre better than the no coders an the slow coders....well thats my 2 cents worth....

 

I rarely hear people vary from standard usage. When they do, its typically on nets. I'm not sure this is a big enough problem to give it much attention.