After spending some time on G/SP-004 working the Olympic NoV today, I’m conviced OFCOM could have come up with something better than the tongue twisting “O” that they’ve dreamt up, especially with the zero prefixes.
Ah well, I suppose it’s only for six or seven weeks
Convinced you say but make no suggestions. It can’t have been too hard for either you or your QSO partners or you would have stopped using it early in the activation.
So which of the 25 letters available both conveys “Olympic” and is a better choice?
Convinced you say but make no suggestions. It can’t have been too hard
for either you or your QSO partners or you would have stopped using
early in the activation.
Yesterday, using MO6MMM, I worked over 220 VHF/UHF contacts from G/SP-004. My “O” was “read back” as a zero on umpteen occasions. Therefore, it would seem to me the “O” is somewhat confusing.
Clearly, up there in GM land where no-one uses the VHF band (my last two activations up there producing just seven contacts on FM), this problem would never arise.
So which of the 25 letters available both conveys “Olympic”
and is a better choice?
I’m not paid to choose anything, Andy. I’m merely highlighting the problem with sticking an “O” into a UK call sign.
Being an IT geek, I cross my zeros in the log so it hasn’t been an issue for me, but can certainly see how confusion could arise - at least among less intelligent amateurs
Anyway, less of that. Good to work again yesterday Mike and thanks for the points… surprised you’re not up there again today!
Is amateur radio really that different in the UK? I used the callsign DO7MM several years without any problems. DO is the prefix for the German license class E and therefore quite common.
What is so tongue twisting saying “Mike Oscar Six Mike Mike Mike”?
In my personal opinion callsigns with a digit in the prefix like E7 or your 2E are much more confusing.
What is so tongue twisting saying “Mike Oscar Six Mike Mike Mike”?
Nothing. It’s a non-issue. It if was a real problem Mike would have stoped using the optional additional ‘O’ in the callsign and used his normal call. He didn’t ergo no problem.
Is amateur radio really that different in the UK? I used the callsign
DO7MM several years without any problems. DO is the prefix for the
German license class E and therefore quite common.
What is so tongue twisting saying “Mike Oscar Six Mike Mike
Mike”?
Hi Michael,
Not everyone is lucky enough to have such a flowing callsign as “Mike Oscar Six Many Many Mikes”
The problem arises, because so many “M” and “G” calls are followed by a Zero. Inserting an “O” between the first letter and number of these callsigns, can be a little confusing. Looking on the bright side, in six or seven weeks, everyone will be used to their special call. But of course, the special call ends in seven weeks
In my personal opinion callsigns with a digit in the prefix like E7 or
your 2E are much more confusing.
Agreed Michael. The 2E0 call can be a nightmare on HF.
‘Rag, Tag and Bobtail’ … I remember them well! But you have to be
of a certain age to remember ‘Muffin The Mule’!
Ah yes I remember it well
And the first commercials - they were more memorable than the programs.
Both watched on a colour set - green or blue - depending on which government surplus
CRTube my grandad used in the latest tv he’d built
The WSPR site is showing very poor conditions on 30m right now. No-one
is hearing my beacon at all which is unusual.
After failing to find a a single contact on 40m yesterday, I considered resorting to the kite antenna, Richard. However, there wasn’t even enough wind on Shining Tor of all places, to launch it. That and the fact that I’d left it in the car and didn’t really fancy the walk back down to the Cat and Fiddle, to retrieve it
And the first commercials - they were more memorable than the programs.
Indeed. Do you remember on a Monday morning at 10 am they used to run all the new commercials that would be used in the coming week? It was called “Monday’s Newcomers”. I used to watch it every Monday morning during the school holidays.