BoS Radio Fundamentals and Phonetic Alphabet
- Think before you transmit, know what you intend to say prior to transmitting. Focus on delivery and try not to trip on your own words or repeat the message. Clarity is the goal.
- Use the call sign of the person or location you are calling first. This will inform the intended recipient that you are trying to message them.
- Introduce yourself with your callsign, do not use your real name. This is done for security purposes.
- Speak slowly, especially if the recipient is required to write something down. Give extra pause between concepts. Clarity in transmission will get your point across more than a loud, panicked voice.
- Use “Over” when you are done speaking or “Out” when you are done speaking and leaving the radio. It notifies the recipient that you are done with your portion of the conversation and are waiting for a response or ending the transmission.
- When you have understood the transmitted information, acknowledge the receipt with the words “Copy“ or “Roger”. This will inform the transmitting party that the transmission was received and you understood it. Aye, Aye (Understood and will comply) or WILCO can be used to inform the transmitting party that you both understood and will comply in the case of an order or task assigned via the communication.
- Use “Break, break” whenever you have a priority message that needs to get through and there is other radio traffic ongoing at the time your emergency message needs to transmit.
- If you receive a message and do not understand it, say “Say Again” in order to inform the transmitter that their attempt at communication has failed.
- Whenever a word must be spelled use the Phonetic Alphabet code words for each letter in the word. These are all listed in the scrolls database, but if you cannot remember it’s okay to use a different word as long as the intended communication gets through. Please study these on your own time however, the more Uniform November India Foxtrot Oscar Romeo Mike we are the better off we will be able to understand each other.
- When you have to transmit a number, use simple individual numbers. For instance, twenty five would be transmitted as two-five. Do not combine numbers.
PHONETIC ALPHABET
A - Alpha (Al-fuh)
B- Bravo (Brah-vo)
C- Charlie (Char-lee)
D- Delta (dell-tuh)
E- Echo (eck-oh)
F- Foxtrot (foks-trot)
G- Golf (golf)
H- Hotel (ho-tell)
I- India (in-dee-uh)
J- Juliet (joo-lee-et)
K- Kilo (kee-loh)
L- Lima (lee-muh)
M- Mike (myk)
N- November (noh-vim-ber)
O-Oscar (os-ker)
P-Papa (pah-Pah)
Q-Quebec (kee-bek)
R- Romeo (roh-mee-oh)
S- Sierra (see-air-uh)
T- Tango (tang-oh)
U- Uniform (yoo-nee-form)
V- Victor (vik-ter)
W- Whiskey (wiss-kee)
Y- Yankee (yayn-kee)
X- X-ray (ecks-ray)
Z- Zulu (zoo-loo)