"It's just a hobby" until the internet and cell towers fail and you're desperately trying to get emergency services to understand the cute phonetics you learned on TikTok.
I was doing POTA and had a guy say something like "naked ninja heart breaker" I could have done a few other people before shifting gears and unpacking that. I also work with skywarn and encomm this would be a problem there too. The goal when doing this for fun or other wise is to be heard and understood.
Another big reason. Not everyone on HF is entirely fluent in English, but they're usually familiar with NATO/ITU phonetics despite regional accents and pronunciations...
I just recently started listening to HF and I was blown away with the amount of improper phonetics on 40meters. I have been using the correct phonetics for many years and I'm currently studying to get my license here in Canada and the test actually has questions about what the different letters are in the proper phonetics alphabet. The proper alphabet is necessary, how is someone from another country supposed to understand your call sign if you use "Sugar" instead of Sierra for an example. 🤦
Try being net control typing call signs in a log as quick as possible. Throwing us curveballs with random phonetics we aren't expecting and can only hear half the last syllable. You're _really_ not helping from under that pile of weeds Richard, just holding things up for everyone else... Same goes for those thoughtless lids out there tailgating on top of people because they're too impatient to wait their turn like a civilized adult, I remember learning about that when I was 5.
Something that bothers me is how most police departments have become "militarized" in the United States yet they don't hold nearly the standards that the military have. I have heard so many different made up phonetic alphabets from police it makes me cringe every time I hear it.
All phonetic alphabets are made up, and the military used Able Baker long before it used Alfa Bravo. I've yet to have someone actually even understand Foxtrot, so um, that one's a big fail in my book. Let's be clear, spoken words to communicate spelling is just a poor use of bandwidth.
You sound fun. It’s just a hobby, man. Keep ignoring those that ham differently than you and go about your day. It’s literally just that easy. If you heard how I use a radio at work, your head would likely explode!
"Keep ignoring those that ham differently than you and go about your day." That is exactly what I do for normal conversations but not such a good thing on a "net".
I don't look at it as criticizing, I call it educating. The purpose of using the phonetic alphabet is to facilitate communication, using “cute” phonetic for comedic effect can defeat that purpose.
"we need to be welcoming new hams" Indeed. The place to instruct on phonetics is RIGHT HERE, also club meetings. Alternatively, if I am having some difficulty, I might repeat the callsign using correct phonetics as a gentle reminder to learn them and use them if it is a situation where it could be important such as an ARES net.
The same psychological force that creates random phonetics also uses "ur" for "your" (presumably). Also, what is or is not a big deal to one person may well be the opposite for another. Public service nets benefit from regular phonetics.
"It's just a hobby" until the internet and cell towers fail and you're desperately trying to get emergency services to understand the cute phonetics you learned on TikTok.
'M' as in 'Mancy' 🤣
Didn't even know this was an emerging trend until this video showed up. But yes, thank you for making this video
Good video! Thank you for making it.
I was doing POTA and had a guy say something like "naked ninja heart breaker" I could have done a few other people before shifting gears and unpacking that. I also work with skywarn and encomm this would be a problem there too. The goal when doing this for fun or other wise is to be heard and understood.
"Zed" No. Just no.
Another big reason. Not everyone on HF is entirely fluent in English, but they're usually familiar with NATO/ITU phonetics despite regional accents and pronunciations...
Exactly
I just recently started listening to HF and I was blown away with the amount of improper phonetics on 40meters. I have been using the correct phonetics for many years and I'm currently studying to get my license here in Canada and the test actually has questions about what the different letters are in the proper phonetics alphabet. The proper alphabet is necessary, how is someone from another country supposed to understand your call sign if you use "Sugar" instead of Sierra for an example. 🤦
The problem is made worse by using names of cities or countries as phonetic. Perhaps you meant "Mexico" the country not "m" the letter.
So crazy I never ever considered using incorrect Phoenix letters/numbers.
Try being net control typing call signs in a log as quick as possible. Throwing us curveballs with random phonetics we aren't expecting and can only hear half the last syllable. You're _really_ not helping from under that pile of weeds Richard, just holding things up for everyone else... Same goes for those thoughtless lids out there tailgating on top of people because they're too impatient to wait their turn like a civilized adult, I remember learning about that when I was 5.
Something that bothers me is how most police departments have become "militarized" in the United States yet they don't hold nearly the standards that the military have. I have heard so many different made up phonetic alphabets from police it makes me cringe every time I hear it.
All phonetic alphabets are made up, and the military used Able Baker long before it used Alfa Bravo. I've yet to have someone actually even understand Foxtrot, so um, that one's a big fail in my book.
Let's be clear, spoken words to communicate spelling is just a poor use of bandwidth.
100% correct, 73! Lu2aoq
You sound fun.
It’s just a hobby, man. Keep ignoring those that ham differently than you and go about your day. It’s literally just that easy.
If you heard how I use a radio at work, your head would likely explode!
"Keep ignoring those that ham differently than you and go about your day."
That is exactly what I do for normal conversations but not such a good thing on a "net".
Seriously, we need to be welcoming new hams. Not criticising them. It's their loss if they're not understood. It's a hobby.
It's not new hams that are the biggest problem with this. They want to learn how to do it correctly.
I don't look at it as criticizing, I call it educating. The purpose of using the phonetic alphabet is to facilitate communication, using “cute” phonetic for comedic effect can defeat that purpose.
"we need to be welcoming new hams"
Indeed. The place to instruct on phonetics is RIGHT HERE, also club meetings. Alternatively, if I am having some difficulty, I might repeat the callsign using correct phonetics as a gentle reminder to learn them and use them if it is a situation where it could be important such as an ARES net.
Maybe the tow guys know each other stop ur crying its no big deal stop ur crying
Huh?
The same psychological force that creates random phonetics also uses "ur" for "your" (presumably). Also, what is or is not a big deal to one person may well be the opposite for another. Public service nets benefit from regular phonetics.