Yes. That’s why I suggested it.
Your proposal does have a certain amount* of merit though.
[* = hardly any]
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I’m surprised that Gnome 8 Aisle Djibouti Djibouti has not joined in yet.
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Sometimes when having trouble getting my callsign across I change to America Denmark Denmark, which usually is copied first time. I would use those phonetics all the time, but some people react to non-standard phonetics as if somebody has spat in their beer!
The thing about the NATO phonetics is that they are not as simple as they look - operators require training in the correct pronunciation of them, which in many cases is not quite the same as the way the man in the street would read them out.
By the way, its Gather eight absolutely dead ducks!
(It used to be “almost dead ducks” but I’ve grown older!)
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If people said the NATO phonetics correctly there would less problem.
my 0.02p worth
Merrygoround Mormon Nought Fungible Manacles Fornication stroke Queezy Rancid Periwinkle
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Richard I haven’t had a belly laugh for ages good one. The wife came in my shack wondering what I was laughing at .
She didn’t get it of course.
Ian vk5cz…
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So do you think Iian should use / P or portable after his call. I don’t use it and some of my cw chasers try to add it on when they work me and usually stuff up the dar dit dit dar dit bit every time before they get to dit dar dar dit.
Ian vk5cz …
Yes. Otherwise he’s just another MM6 signal calling CQ.
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The old M1EYP:
Mainly one educated young people.
The current M1EYP.
Mostly one entertains you public.
Agree, then he will maybe get a few more replies. There is still a few of the older call signs out there that won’t talk to “younger” call signs.
A few years ago while activating a summit on Cowal I called called my wee heart out on 2m trying to get that final contact. Two and a half hours it took for 4 contacts.
While driving home a few hours later I was earwigging on two amateurs from Kilmarnock and one of them, a GM4, was complaining about some 2M0 portable guy calling CQ on the calling channel from a hill somewhere and was annoying him!
Eventually after 20 or so minutes when I was close enough to break in with a nice 9+ signal I introduced myself and said I was the one that had been the irritating dude on a freezing cold hill enjoying the same hobby that he enjoys. Carefully adding in snippets of his previous conversation.
I did point out that if he had answered my calls away at the beginning then I may well have left the hill an hour or so earlier and therefore not causing him more QRM than he was willing to accept. He laughed and agreed that that might have been a good solution.
So yes, using /P is often a good thing.
73 Neil
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Which brings me onto another (I think) linked subject. I think some people may be put off responding to a “CQ SOTA” because they don’t do SOTA (much as I sometimes steer clear of “CQ contest”!).
If I’m having a dry spell of CQ calls I start omitting the “SOTA” to try and encourage a response. I’m always happy to natter if there isn’t a pile up.
Interesting point - I have had one or two calls over the years, where the calling station asked if I minded them calling me.
The more common “CQ DX” means that we only want replies from DX stations. On the same basis some might assume that “CQ SOTA” means we only want calls from SOTA participants.
I generally call “CQ” nowadays, just adding a “SOTA” from time to time.
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I maybe take it to the extreme but I have developed the habit (originating I think in early recommendations for 60m operating procedure) of announcing I’m “/portable on such and such a hill, reference so-and-so for SOTA, listening for any call”. A bit long winded perhaps but I’ve never been an adherent of the machine gun style of CQ with such brief gaps between that you need microsecond timing to break in…
73 de Paul G4MD
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If you were on 2m FM or 2m SSB calling frequencies on a summit that I hear readily just calling CQ without /P and without saying that you were on a SOTA summit then I may not take any notice - in part because I have never heard you so do not know that you might be on a SOTA.
Adding /P as part of your CQ call and I am more likely to take some notice and perhaps answer after you have called at least twice, say CQ SOTA and I am more likely to answer first time that I hear you.
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Thanx
Il defo try the suggestions posted
- Add /P and
- Say stroke portable
- Call for any calls
- Add summit ref and listening for any calls and
- Call cq without sota,
Thank you. Iain
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I’ve hesitated using the “portable” or /P suffix while activating in the UK as it’s a bit of a mouthful with my call sign combo that some already find confusing I.e MM/W6PNG but I did try the mouthful yesterday on GM/SS-183, as in MM/W6PNG/P and did probably drum up an extra one or two customers on HF.
However on FM, I’m not getting the traction I’d like as the similarity of my combo call to presumably a messed up UK call sign possibly puts people off. MM/W6PNG versus MM6PNG.
Paul M/W6PNG
I tried calling you yesterday, and yes, Mary Mary stroke whiskey 6… gets LONG!!!
de DL/N6JFD (for 36 more hours)