Sorry, John. Information here needs to jive better with the history. ICAO developed a phonetic alphabet in the mid-to late 1940's to help the budding field of international aviation. They came up with an alphabet designed to be spoken (and mangled) by people of any mother tongue and be well understood by all others, even on less than wonderful channels.
It works so well that ITU, maritime folks, generally, and many other well recognized organizations (including the US military) have seen fit to adopt it. When everyone uses the same alphabet, understanding is even better. See attachment for a recommendation, including the ITU recommended pronunciation guide. Seems to work just fine. I hope this helps. GL & 73, art..... W4ART Arlington VA On 10-Apr-2011, at 11:26 AM, Glen Zook wrote: > The question of "proper" phonetics comes up several times a month in threads > on QRZ.com. Unfortunately, the ICAO phonetics (alpha, bravo, etc.) present > problems when regional accents in the United States are present and even more > so when the person involved does not have English as their primary language. > > ICAO phonetics were adopted for use on radio circuits that are usually free > of QRM, QSB, etc., by trained operators. Unfortunately, amateur radio > operations are often not QRM, QSB, etc., free and the vast number of amateur > radio operators are not professionally trained. > > The ICAO phonetics were adopted by the military decades ago and generally > work well for military communications. However, military operators are very > well trained. > > Those operators who are involved in "DX chasing" and contest operations often > use geographic names instead of the ICAO phonetics. This procedure works > very well when QRM and QSB are present as well as with operators who do not > have English as their primary language. > > When working stations that have English as their primary language I do use > the ICAO phonetics for my call: Kilo Nine Sierra Tango Hotel. However, when > working DX my call is very often not fully understood. Under those > circumstances I use: Kilowatt Nine Spain Texas Honolulu and my call is > understood the first time 99.99% of the time. > > Then there is the case of a local YL operator who's call ends in the letter > "i". She was working a DX station who just could not get the last letter in > her call. She tried the ICAO "India" and that did not work. She tried the > geographical name "Italy" and that did not work. Therefore she tried all > sorts of words starting with the letter "i" and they did not work. Finally, > in frustration she called out "idiot"! The DX station got her last letter > that time! > > Basically, the ICAO phonetics are the standard for general amateur radio > operations. Geographic names are the pseudo standard for working DX. But, > as the local YL found out, you use anything that works! > > Glen, K9STH > Head moderator QRZ.com > > Website: http://k9sth.com > > > --- On Sat, 4/9/11, John Papay <j...@papays.com> wrote: > > Kevin, KF7MYK, provides a great example of what happens when operators do not > use phonetics. You may think you are saving time by not using them, but the > fact is that unless someone is familiar with your callsign, they may copy it > incorrectly. You want everyone on the bird to have your callsign correct so > they can call you with the right call rather than having to ask for it again > in phonetics, or worse yet, getting it wrong. > > _______________________________________________ > 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 http://afeller.us Gimme 3? I'm riding my 3rd event with Team-In-Training because cancer doesn't take a holiday! On 5-June-2011, I'm pedaling the Fletcher Flyer Century, a 100-mile bike ride near Asheville, NC. Please, make a tax deductible donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today. Thanks for your support! Read the story at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/fletcher11/afeller PLEASE, support us! _______________________________________________ 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
