Tuning In: May 2002

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Playing by the rules and staying within the lines isn’t a challenge for everyone, but then again the more I keep hearing about renegade CBers from many hams, the more I listen to my fellow licensed amateurs — on the air. It sort of reminds me of the Clinton years; how many Lily White folks were seemingly always out to get him. When they finally did, it wasn’t long before we learned that many of the same DC elite also had skeletons (or women) in their closets, too. So much for integrity, honesty, and finger pointing. Anyway, when it comes to lessons, many hams would like to be the teacher, especially when it comes to how other operators in other services — licensed and otherwise — should behave.

Seems the older I get the more confused I become. I remember learning the Phonetic Alphabet in school. It’s a lot easier than Morse Code, and if properly used, is certainly an obvious timesaver and helps everyone understand everyone else. Today, it’s known as ITU Recommended Phonetics. It’s really very easy.

The FCC doesn’t require hams to use the standard phonetics, but recommends its use as an aid to station identification and helping others understand what we’re spelling over the air, including call letters. Now, any good doctor will tell you that the ears are the first thing to go, but I can tell you from personal experience my wife’s ears are fine. Problem is what I’m hearing. The strangeness I’m experiencing isn’t really new, but since I’m hearing all kinds of newfangled pronunciation for common, old words-February with that “r” in the middle isn’t pronounced Feb-you-airy, and Jaguar (like the powerful cat and expensive car) isn’t Jag-you-are, either — I thought perhaps I was being kept out of the hip loop. Now, trust me, I’m far from perfect, but then again I’m not a network broadcaster. I’m just trying to pronounce things like I learned in first grade — and remember where I put the morning paper.

So, I suppose what I’m hearing today on the bands is also just part of an accepted trend in doing our own thing. You’re supposed to comprehend the speak, so to speak. The other day on 20 meters, I heard a fellow, K6 --, repeating his call over and over to a DX station in Europe. Each time the other op — in his broken English — would miss the call. Finally another operator chimed in saying, “S, Sierra.” By now the Italian ham was totally confused. Meanwhile the original U.S. op continued using “S, Sugar” to identify part of his call. The poor, confused Italian ham just went away leaving the two U.S. ops to have a conversation and good laugh. So much for using the correct phonetics.

At first I thought this was perhaps an isolated incident — a simple case of some ham sitting there with the window open catching a good California ocean breeze, but once again I was mistaken. So, over the past few weeks I’ve compiled a completely revised set of phonetics that I’d like to share with you, because if you’re a CBer, freebander, GMRS operator, or even FRS radio user, you’ll quickly find that doing things the right way has its rewards. Or, you too can sound like a doofus, like the fellow in Texas (no, not George Bush with a ham radio!) spelling his hometown which included the letter “G” for Garfield. That’s right, Garfield, as in the cat.

No, I don’t hear many ITU phonetics on 11 meters or the so-called “freeband,” but then again I don’t expect to, either.

Last night I saw the latest animal humankind has cloned — a cute little cat they’ve named “Copy Cat.” I just hope they stick with cloning cats, sheep, and little farm animals.

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