San Diego REMCOM

Amateur Radio/Emergency Medical Communications

Volunteer Disaster Radio and Digital Communications

Basic Message Handling Tutorial

Sending the message - The Basics

Efficient traffic handling means getting the message relayed with 100% accuracy in the least practical
amount of time. 100% accuracy is especially important if you do not understand the content of the
message. If it makes no sense to you, it MAY be appropriate to get an explanation before you put it on
the air. This is a judgment call. If you are handling medical traffic, it is helpful but not necessary to
understand what you communicating. But if you are communicating information you do not
understand, accuracy is all the more critical. Send the message ONCE (right the first time). There are
many elements of technique that contribute to getting it "right the first time". The most important is,
you SEND a message, you DON'T READ it.

When you are sending the message, the person receiving it must write it down. Most people can't write
as fast as we talk. Therefore, you must slow your delivery to allow the receiving station to comfortably
(and legibly) write the message down. If you are too fast, and have to repeat many times, the end result
is that it takes longer. It's better to slow your delivery so that the receiving station gets it the first time
than to repeat all or parts of the message. You might try composing a message and sending it to a tape
recorder. Then play the tape back and see if you are comfortable writing it down at that speed. You will
probably be surprised. Another method is to write out the message as you are sending it.

When sending a message, speak slowly, distinctly, clearly, and do not let your
voice trail off at the end of words or sentences. Give each and every word equal force. Follow standard
procedures as much as possible, and try to do things consistently. That way people receiving traffic
from you will be used to your delivery and it won't be a guessing game about what you are going to do
next. If you are getting many fill requests, you are going too fast. If you don't get any, you are probably going
too slowly.

Procedural Words:
Sending technique involves the use of certain procedural words and phrases, which help the receiving
station, anticipate what is coming ... phrases such as "figures" or "I spell", etc. When first encountered,
these procedures sometimes seem a bit artificial and unnecessary. However, these have proven over a
long period of time to be useful. When you make them habitual in your message sending, they fall in
automatically and become natural. The primary function of these words and phrases is to define the
parts of the message, and to alert the receiving station about what is to follow.

The phrase MESSAGE FOLLOWS is used to alert the receiving operator that the message is about to
start. The next thing the receiving operator hears must be written down.

The word BREAK is used at the end of the address and again at the end of the text, along with
releasing the microphone. This procedure separates the parts of the message as well as giving the
receiving operator an opportunity to ask for a fill or other clarification. If the receiving station requires
a fill, he or she should say, "BREAK" in return, and wait for an acknowledgement from the sending
station before asking for a fill.

END indicates the end of the message, and is usually accompanied by an
indication of whether there are more messages to follow:

END ... MORE, OVER indicates end of message and two or more to follow.
When receiving traffic make sure you have it right before you acknowledge the message. Train
yourself to always use OVER when you finish a transmission and want another station to reply. In the
process of sending the message, there are various introductory words and phrases that alert the
receiving station about what is to follow.

EMAIL .... indicates that an email address will follow. I.E. kg6r@sd-remcom.org would be stated as

KILO GOLF SIX ROMEO AT SIERRA DELTA DASH ROMEO ECHO MIKE CHARLIE OSCAR MIKE PERIOD OSCAR

ROMEO GOLF

FIGURE OR FIGURES introduces a number or group of numbers. For example, if the number 528
appears in the message, the sending operator would say: "FIGURES FIVE TWO EIGHT" Note that
the individual digits are always given ... "FIVE TWO EIGHT", not "FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY
EIGHT".

INITIAL introduces a single letter. It is often an initial in a person's name. INITIAL is used any time there is a single letter. Always use phonetics when saying the letter. So if a person's middle initial is "I", it is sent as "INITIAL INDIA".

PERIOD - Always use Plain Language. If you mean to say Period, say Period. Do not say "XRAY"

I SPELL is used to alert the receiving operator that the next thing that will be sent will be a series of
letters the form a word or name. It is a judgment call when to spell out words.

If the word may sound like another word, is not in common usage (IE a medication), is a person's last name,
or is difficult to spell, then you should SPELL IT OUT,

If the word or group to be spelled is a pronounceable word, say the word followed by I SPELL
followed by the spelling, then say the word again. So if the city name Bethesda appears in a message,
it would be sent BETHESDA ... I SPELL ... BRAVO ECHO TANGO HOTEL ECHO SIERRA DELTA ALFA, BETHESDA.

Phonetics may or may not be used. Whether or not to use phonetics becomes a judgment call on the
part of the sending operator, and depends on the quality of communications. If the radio conditions are
poor, phonetics generally work better. If we're working on 2-meter FM and both stations are full
quieting to each other, phonetics often are not necessary and can actually slow the process down. If
spelling without phonetics, deliver the letters slowly and distinctly. If you do use phonetics, learn
and use only the standard NATO phonetic alphabet:

ALFA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, DELTA, ECHO, FOXTROT, GOLF, HOTEL, INDIA, JULIET, KILO,
LIMA, MIKE , NOVEMBER , OSCAR, PAPA, QUEBEC, ROMEO, SIERRA, TANGO, UNIFORM,
VICTOR, WHISKEY, XRAY, YANKEE, ZULU

I SAY AGAIN indicates that you are going to repeat the previous word, group or phrase. It is important
that the receiving operator knows that what is coming is a repeat, to avoid incorporating duplicate
wording or information into the message.

Questions are indicated with the word "QUERY". If the meaning of the message is
dependent on a comma or other punctuation, spell the name of the punctuation out as a word, such as
COMMA or PERIOD. Decimal points in numbers are indicated by the word DECIMAL.

MESSAGE NUMBER FIGURES ONE SIX DATE [FIGURES] ONE FOUR ... JULY ... TIME [FIGURES] ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO
PACIFIC ...TO RADIO OFFICER ... SAN DIEGO [I SPELL] S-A-N D-I-E-G-O ... COUNTY [BREAK] FROM SAM JONES
[I SPELL] J-O-N-E-S, JONES POSITION: IC MESSAGE TEXT FOLLOWS SHIROV [I SPELL] S-H-I-R-O-V... SHIROV
[LETTER GROUP] LIMA ALPHA TANG0 ... [FIGURES] TWO SIX SEVEN ZERO ... [FIGURES] EIGHT DECIMAL
ZERO ... PERIOD ... [BREAK] GELFAND [I SPELL] G-E-L-F-A-N-D ... GELFAND [I SPELL] BRAVO LIMA ROMEO ...
[ FIGURES] TWO SIX NINER ZERO ... [FIGURES] SEVEN DECIMAL FIVE PERIOD ... [BREAK] GUREVICH [I SPELL]
GOLF UNIFORM ROMEO ECHO VICTOR INDIA CHARLIE HOTEL ... [I SPELL] BRAVO ECHO LIMA ... [FIGURES]
TWO SIX ONE ZERO ...

[FIGURES] SEVEN DECIMAL ZERO PERIOD... [BREAK] ADAMS [I SPELL] A-D-A-M-S ... [I SPELL] ECHO
NOVEMBER GOLF... [FIGURES] TWO SIX THREE ZERO ... [FIGURES] SIX DECIMAL FIVE ... [BREAK] [I SPELL]
PAPA SIERRA MIKE INDIA TANGO HOTEL [END NO MORE ... OVER]

As a receiving operator, you may have missed a word or phrase.
You can get the fill you need by specifying: SAY AGAIN WORD (BEFORE ...)(AFTER ...)
SAY AGAIN ALL AFTER ... SAY AGAIN ALL BEFORE ...
SAY AGAIN ALL BETWEEN ... AND ...

There are some additional procedural phrases that you may encounter. LETTER GROUP introduces a
group of two or more letters that generally do not form a common word. For example, REMCOM is a letter
group and would be sent "LETTER GROUP ROMEO ECHO MIKE CHARLIE OSCAR MIKE".

MIXED GROUP introduces a group that is a combination of letters and numbers. For example, Z4758RSK.
This would be sent MIXED GROUP ZULU FOUR SEVEN FIVE EIGHT ROMEO SIERRA KILO Again, always say
the individual numbers and use phonetics for the letters.

Using I SPELL before the "letter group" and "mixed group" accomplishes the same thing. The term
AMATEUR CALL is sometimes used to introduce an amateur callsign. So if a message were addressed to
K6XO, it would be stated AMATEUR CALL KILO SIX XRAY OSCAR Amateur callsigns should always be
given phonetically.

DO NOT US ARRL RADIOGRAM FORMS...

THEY ARE NOT ACCEPTED UNDER ICS

ONLY USE ICS FORMS. Keep a supply in your "go kit" at ALL times!