‘H’ represents an h pronounced with the middle front of your tongue
firmly against the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth and the L
is quite a “liquid” L.
That describes a plausible anglicisation of the sound, but not a true Welsh ll. The actual sound is a pure ɬ] - a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative. The best exposition I have seen on how to produce this sound, written by a professional phonetician who speaks Welsh, is here:
It is extremely difficult for an English speaker to keep the sound pure. (I make no claim to be able do to so consistently, but I know I should!)
Cripes! I just followed that link - talk about gobbledegook! I probably need to put in a weeks study just to find out what the heck he is on about, and I am fairly sure that my computer is not reproducing his symbols as intended!
Hi, Geoff, not so much of a struggle here, my father was Welsh and my mother half Welsh, I had lots of relatives in Glamorgan when I was a kid so my pronounciations are probably in a South Wales accent. On the whole I find Gaelic more difficult, I swear that some of them make up the pronounciations as they go along, how else to explain my favourite malt of the moment, An Cnoc, being pronounced as “An Crock”? I must look into Ukrainian.
The problems will be with the QSL Bureau who will not know which
regional sub-manager to send a GR card to.
I’m also wondering whether the ARRL will be prepared to issue more
than one certificate for the same callsign for LoTW. A certificate
has the DXCC entity bound into it. It’s quite likely that I would need
one for both England and Wales.
In reply to M1MAJ:
Extra LOTW certificates are a breeze with LOTW - I have four already: One for my previous callsign DK1ROB, one for activations in Italy, I5/DK1ROB, one for the present call DM1CM and another for I5/DM1CM. Simply fire up the TQSLCert program (which will be on your machine if you have already registered with LOTW), click the menu option File=>New Certificate Request, enter the new callsign (MW1MAJ for instance) and the correct DX Entity, go through a couple more pages in the dialog; then, under “Sign Request”, choose your original certificate (or indeed, any other active LOTW certificate you may possess and which appears in the list provided) with which to sign/verify the request, then “Finish”. A new .TQ5 file will have been created which can then simply be uploaded in LOTW (“Upload File” after you have logged in). You’ll get an email within a day or sooner with your new certificate. Start up TQSLCert again, and load the new certificate file from the email. Simples!
Extra LOTW certificates are a breeze with LOTW - I have four already:
Yes, I know how to get extra certificates; I also have several. They understand the UK prefix rules, so I can get, for example, MW1MAJ/P on the strength of my M1MAJ certificate.
The question is whether they understand that MR1MAJ/P might be in several different DXCC entities. Will they issue me two certificates for the SAME callsign, one for England and one for Wales?
Ahh, I see your problem now! I don’t think LOTW would have any idea that you would be operating from different DXCC entities unless the callsigns are unique for each entity: perfectly correct behaviour on the part of LOTW. I think the problem here is that all your QSO information goes into one single LOTW database table, so the only way of distinguishing the various entities from which you have operated is by means of unique callsigns/prefix combinations.
It would seem that Ofcom has made a major boo-boo here in allotting ONE single prefix type “MRnxxx” for operators in SEVERAL DXCC entities since, under Ofcom’s own rules (IARU/CEPT rules), an operator must normally sign with the prefix appropriate to the entity from which they are transmitting. How about getting back to Ofcom ASAP to enquire why one is not required to sign something like MRW1MAJ/P or MRM1MAJ/P? Either that, or they should issue temporary callsigns - maybe like GRnxxx - for the event along the lines of the GBnxxx series, which you can then load into LOTW. Just my 2c worth…
It would seem that Ofcom has made a major boo-boo here in allotting
ONE single prefix type “MRnxxx” for operators in SEVERAL
DXCC entities since, under Ofcom’s own rules (IARU/CEPT rules), an
operator must normally sign with the prefix appropriate to the entity
from which they are transmitting. How about getting back to Ofcom
ASAP to enquire why one is not required to sign something like
MRW1MAJ/P or MRM1MAJ/P? Either that, or they should issue temporary
callsigns - maybe like GRnxxx - for the event along the lines of the
GBnxxx series, which you can then load into LOTW. Just my 2c worth…
This is nothing new in the UK! For over 50 years, the “GB” prefix has been allocated to Special Event stations in any of the six DXCC entities in the United Kingdom. I know of only one exception … in 1958, the callsign “GBM2KR” was allocated in error to an exhibition in Kilmarnock, Scotland. It was a mistake, and it has never been repeated!
In reply to M1MAJ:
I gather that at the moment the LOTW certificate system gives an error if you try and set up a GR one for a GM/GW etc call, but will be fine with a G. They are looking into sorting out the problem.
Personally I am steering well clear of these GR calls, just like I am doing with the celebrations themselves.
Ahh, I see your problem now! I don’t think LOTW would have any idea that you would be operating from different DXCC entities unless the callsigns are unique for each entity: perfectly correct behaviour on the part of LOTW. I think the problem here is that all your QSO information goes into one single LOTW database table, so the only way of distinguishing the various entities from which you have operated is by means of unique callsigns/prefix combinations.
It would seem that Ofcom has made a major boo-boo here in allotting ONE single prefix type “MRnxxx” for operators in SEVERAL DXCC entities since, under Ofcom’s own rules (IARU/CEPT rules), an operator must normally sign with the prefix appropriate to the entity from which they are transmitting. How about getting back to Ofcom ASAP to enquire why one is not required to sign something like MRW1MAJ/P or MRM1MAJ/P? Either that, or they should issue temporary callsigns - maybe like GRnxxx - for the event along the lines of the GBnxxx series, which you can then load into LOTW. Just my 2c worth…
Perhaps we should do what the big American DX-peditions do nowadays…
take orders for QSLs via PayPal at $5 a time!
My, this thread’s a-wandering.
Presumably the five-buck QSL cards are priced thus to help pay for the DX-pedition. I wonder how much is left after PayPal have taken their cut, and the card’s been printed and posted, though.
73 Rick M0LEP
( To QSL or not to QSL? … tip-toes out and quietly shuts the door )
The situation already exists with GB calls doesn’t it?
Tom - yes, I wasn’t quite sure about this, never having been licensed in G-Land. But at least with a temporary GRnxxx call, one could get around the LOTW problem/issue ;-). It still seems strange to me that Ofcom have decided to issue NOVs rather than special, temporary, callsigns - probably cheaper to go the NOV route.
The solution is very, very simple. Just do what I do… don’t QSL.
