[CQ-Contest] SSB Phonetics

[David Gilbert]

I totally agree with Jim, which is why I disagree with W3LPL. There are 
some horrible phonetics in the common international listing.  Hard 
consonants beat soft ones, short multi-syllable words are better than 
single syllable words, long vowel sounds are better than short ones, and 
commonly known words with unique sounds are best.  Here are a few of my 
hangups on the list:

Canada is better than Charlie

Golf is terrible ... probably the worst one on the list.  Guatemala is 
better but admittedly long.  Germany is maybe a better compromise.  Too 
bad more people wouldn't recognize gator

Italy is better than India

Japan beats Juliet hands down

Radio should be better than Romeo

Sierra is weak ... Santiago is better

United is much better than Uniform

Aside from that, I'm always amazed at how many people when asked for a 
repeat will keep giving the exact same phonetic over and over again when 
it is obvious that they are down in the mud and probably have an 
inflection or intonation that makes that particular word hard to 
understand.  If somebody is having trouble with Alpha Bravo Seven Echo 
I'll switch to America Boston Seven Equador or Able Baker Seven England 
or anything else that might help the other guy out.

73,
Dave AB7E



On 3/23/2020 5:24 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> Another VERY important element of phonetics under tough conditions is 
> that a hard consonant can be better than a softer one. That's why 
> "Canada" sometimes works better than "Charlie," for example.