"LRod" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 08:15:24 -0700, "Caveat Lector"
wrote:

Ah phonetics

Sorry to tag on this post out of sequence.

The bottom line is communications. While it is true that by using a
*standard* alphabet one maximizes the probability of being understood,
in truth and in real practice, there are times when deviation may be
necessary.


I agree with that. There's been times when I've had to shift to some other
phonetic. But I always tried the standard first. Then if that failed, went
to one of the other frequently used phonetics such as "sugar" for "sierra".

First my qualifications: I was an air traffic controller for 30 years
and a pilot for some years before that, thus I have been intimately
familiar with the ICAO alphabet for nearly 40 years; using it on a
daily basis for most of that time. When everyone is on the same page
by official fiat, it is unusual to find the need for other than the
standard words.


That's the very reason for using the standard.

However, in all the years I was DXing (on the way to Honor Roll), I
found that my particular callsign (N9AKE at the time) had a couple of
shortcomings in real world, difficult conditions. The "K" spoken as
"kilo" was often and easily lost in QSB or QRN. However, whenever I
used "kilowatt" there was a almost always complete understanding by
the other party, and I was able to successfully conclude my QSO.


I have heard plenty of mixups on HF when kilowatt was used. Between talking
too fast and/or various foreign or dialectal accents and/or the fact that
there are plenty of older hams who may be somewhat hard of hearing, kilowatt
isn't a good choice as an alternate.

The key here, however, is that "kilowatt" is almost universally
understood by hams, being a part of the argot of the pasttime. I doubt
I would have had more than a 50% success rate had I tried it at work.

Similarly, it is unlikely that substitutions others might try would
have as good a success rate unless they, too, were related to amateur
radio. If one were to try to use xenophobic, for example, most hams
(or other people) would choke on the word itself, since few are likely
to have even heard of it.

The argument made by someone that "kilowatt" could be confused for
"kilo" "watt" is specious, since in real communications, the use of
"kilowatt" is clearly a single word. If one were to use "kilo" and
"watt" as phonetics for discrete letters, they would be spoken clearly
and separately, whereas "kilowatt" is spoken almost as one syllable.


See my comment above. Many people, for a variety of reasons, don't speak
clearly enough to make sure that there is a distinction.

Context and common sense are somewhat of a determinant in successful
communications using phonetics. That is one reason why many DXers are
very successful using America, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England,
France, Guatemala, etc., as phonetics. Hardly a DXer exists who
doesn't immediately recognize those words.


Agreed. I'll use some of these if the standard isn't getting through but I
always try the standard first.

Finally we are not a commercial service, and public service aside, we
have no particular external requirement to get our communications
completed. There is no "officially sanctioned" alphabet that we are
required to use. Although, my skin crawls when I hear Bob say, "Broken
Old Bottle," the fact remains he is perfectly legal in doing so. In
amateur radio, success in communications is the only motive. If
"Boston London" (remember him?) gets it done regularly and reliably,
it's a good combination. If you don't want to have think one up, stick
with the ICAO (NATO) alphabet. For the vast majority of cases it's a
proven winner.



And that's why it should be used first and a switch made when necessary.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE