The pause we take after sending a radiogram preamble is the only introduction the address needs. We don’t say, “Going to,” we just say the first name of the addressee. If the first name is unusual or could be spelled in more than one way (e.g. Jon and John or Chris and Kris), we follow the name with the words, “I spell,” and then spell it phonetically. If there’s a middle initial, we say, “initial,” and then the initial phonetically. Then we say the last name. It is best practice to always spell the last name, even common last names, so we again say, “I spell” and the spell the name phonetically. If there is a call sign after the name, we say, “amateur call” and then the call sign phonetically. Here’s how “Chris B. Johnson W9XAB” should sound: “Chris, I spell, Charlie hotel, Romeo, India, Sierra, initial bravo, Johnson, I spell, Juliet, Oscar, hotel, November, Sierra, Oscar, November, amateur call whiskey nine x-ray alpha bravo.” Next week: Addresses.
(This is the ninth in a series of short traffic-handling columns I submitted to the Kosciusko County ARES newsletter.)
