What do you understand by
the word 'phonetics' in amateur radio communication?
If we listen to a two-way
amateur wireless conversation for the first time in our life, we would come across certain
words, which perhaps we never heard before! There is every possibility that we mistake
those words to be some kind of secret codes! These words in fact are internationally used
to do plain language (conversation in secret code language is not allowed in amateur radio
communication) conversation and known as phonetics (the list is given below).
A ham radio operator has to face different types of hurdles during an ongoing
communication. There may be static noise, signal fading, interference from other station
operating at close frequencies, local noises in the radio room, unusual voice accents of
the other operator, improper pronunciation of words. During these and many other
difficulties, it has been found that use of phonetics improves the intelligibility in
communication. For example, the letter 'D' in represented by the word 'Delta' in phonetics
while the letter 'B' is represented by 'Bravo'. To distinguish 'M' from 'N', hams use the
words 'Mike' and 'Nancy' respectively.
Phonetic alphabet is useful when calling distant station or when the band is crowded, or when for any reason the station called is expected to have difficulty in copying voice signals. For example, the word 'Solstice' can be spelt using phonetic alphabet as Sierra Oscar Lima Sierra Tango India Charlie Echo. A person conversant in listening to such phonetics gets habituated in spontaneously writing down the exact word out of these phonetics! He feels more comfortable at writing down a message spelt out in phonetics rather than simple mentioning of each letters.
So phonetics are to avoid confusion and not to create confusion! Many letters of the alphabet sound similar unless very clearly heard. B may be heard as G or D or V. The word 'bed' may be heard as 'bet' or 'pet'. So, if we spell it out with phonetics like Bravo Echo Delta, the confusion easily gets eliminated!