Yes, that is indeed what it means. And, since it was established by the ARRL, it's no surprise Hams in other countries don't know it.
Since so little CW is used for distress communications these days, it's no wonder few current American Hams know it. That's what prompted my question. Originally it was QRR, established by the ARRL in the 1930's to avoid any confusion with a maritime distress call. (The third R was added sometime in the post WWII years, probably to make it stand out.) Remember, ships used the "short waves" too, and there was great concern that some vessel at sea not go on alert by accident should one tune across a Ham signal asking for emergency assistance ashore. It may surprise many Hams today to know that emergency communications was the raison d'être for Amateur Radio for many decades (before contesting took over ;-) Traffic handling - mostly on CW of course - was a huge undertaking involving a great many Hams, at least all over the USA, who kept daily nets and schedules simply to move traffic. Message handling was training for emergency service. Awards were given for those handling the most traffic most efficiently, much like recognition is given to contest winners today. Indeed, our current "DX windows" at the lower 25 kHz of the bands were originally set aside for emergency communications. When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declared an emergency, they were off limits to all US Amateurs except stations engaged in actual emergency traffic handling. The entire 160 meter band was completely shut down to all but emergency communications when an emergency was declared by the FCC. Now we 'shut down' whole bands for a contest by sheer QRM if not by rule ;-) How times change, but emergencies still happen and there are many Hams for whom emergency communications is their first interest. They drop everything to support their fellow Hams following earthquakes, storms, and other disasters. Like the maritime services today, they generally use voice rather than Morse, but otherwise not much has changed. Ships use satellite phones or VHF radios when they are in range and working, just like Hams often turn to VHF radios and repeaters when they are in range and working. But the mainstay, the always dependable workhorse of emergency communications for both ships at sea and Hams ashore, remains point-to-point communications on the HF "short waves" by any mode that works. That need for flexible emergency communications on HF is the primary reason we Hams have permission to share the commercial SSB frequencies around 60 meters today. Ron AC7AC (maritime radiotelegraph operator and GMDSS system maintainer and operator). -----Original Message----- From a Google search "QRRR Official ARRL land distress call" Never heard of such nonsense, if indeed that is what it means. If someone really is in distress they should call SOS at least everyone who can read CW will understand that. 73 Dave, G4AON (ex marine radio officer) />Would someone explain what "QRRR" is????73 de Ed N7EDK/ _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
