I agree that particular phonetics are appropriate for certain situations. "Funny phonetics" are best left for FM repeater operations and other certain contacts where everyone knows each other.
In the world of DXing geographical names have become the defacto standard because the ICAO phonetics just don't work in many situations. For most, but not all, satellite communications I definitely believe that the ICAO phonetics are fine and should be used. However, when one of the stations does not have English as their primary language then geographical names usually do work better. Now coming up with alternates that are supposedly funny, or that are not readily recognizable, is a completely different matter. The purpose of having a phonetic alphabet is to get the information through in the most efficient manner and doing so involves use of words that have, at least try to have, a universal recognition. As I said before, this topic comes up for discussion on QRZ.com on a regular basis. There are those who absolutely insist that only the ICAO phonetics are to be used even when they don't work. There are even a few who insist that using the ICAO phonetics is a matter of FCC regulation. Then there are a very few who say "anything goes". Virtually all of those who work DX and contests on a regular basis go with the geographical names. With the exception of the person who posts the original comment, virtually all of the comments are exactly the same, posted by the same individuals, that have been posted numerous times before. Sometimes I wish that the individual comments were numbered and the person could just post that number and not take up bandwidth! :>) Again, I have no objections to the ICAO phonetics and use them the majority of the time. But, when the situation is changed (like working DX) I usually resort to geographical names because they convey the information much faster when the person on the other end does not speak English as their primary language. Glen, K9STH Website: http://k9sth.com --- On Sun, 4/10/11, Clint Bradford <clintbradf...@mac.com> wrote: I respect most everyone here's opinions, Glen. But I think we have to agree that if could at least get folks to RECOGNIZE that there are "formal" phonetics that should be used while working the satellites - and the use of them - if preferable to me announcing, for example, that I am working from "Dandy Michelle Zip Three." _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
