CALLING ANOTHER STATION IN RADIO TELEPHONY

A call may be given to another station either in voice or using the Morse code. But before giving a call, it is the duty of the ham to check whether the frequency he is going to use is already in use by other ham/s or not. Even though a particular frequency seems to be idle, it may not be so. Because, there may still be a ham sending his message whose signals are in skip with us (see questions & answers related to radio wave propagation) and another ham at a different location is listening to him. Giving a transmission in the same frequency in such a situation will interfere with the ongoing communication. So, prior to our transmission, it should be ascertained by sending the message-"Is the frequency in use?". This should be repeated two more times and if no reply has been received, then we can occupy the frequency. After occupying a frequency, we can give a 'General Call' or a 'Directional Call'. A 'General Call' is a call given to all the stations. This means that you will reply to anybody from any part of the world. The message sounds like -"CQ CQ CQ this is Victor Uniform Two…. (your callsign siffix in phonetics) calling CQ on 20 metre and standing by". The 'CQ' message may be repeated for three time before giving the 'standing by' message. As you 'stand by', listen carefully for any possible reply. If no reply is received, you can continue giving your CQ call. There is also a 'Directional Call' which is directed to a particular country or a particular station. A call directed to a particular country is like-"CQ Japan CQ Japan CQ Japan this is Victor Uniform Two …….". This means that you will reply to stations from Japan only. A call may directed to a particular station also. In this case, in place of the country name, the 'call-sign' of the station is put. A person with the true ham spirit does not adhere strictly to his directional call, and as such should not deny reply to a ham from another country replying to his directional call (in the above example) until and unless he is in real emergency. Too much of formalities should be avoided as it may dishearten another fellow ham, also it is against the code devised by Paul M. Segal!

After establishing contact and offering the initial greetings, a signal report should be given to the other station. Your name (Handle) and location (QTH) should then be spelled out clearly in phonetics. If the other ham finds difficulty in copying your voice signal due to poor propagation condition or due to the difference in pronunciation, you should not loose patience and the message should be repeated if requested. You can also give the weather report (WX report) with mentioning of the temperature in degrees Centigrade. After this, discussion regarding the antenna system and equipment (called-"Working condition") begins. Before closing the conversation with a particular station, 73 message (meaning 'Best of Regards') should be conveyed to the ham and his family and indication should be given whether you are closing down (going QRT) your station, you are changing your frequency (QSYing) or you are still occupying the frequency. This will help other stations to follow you in case they want to make a contact with you. If the conversation takes long time, both the stations should mention their call-sign at ten minutes interval.

SIGNAL REPORT IN RADIO TELEPHONY

When on-the-air contact between amateur radio stations is established, both the stations exchange signal reports. This gives the idea about how strongly the ham radio stations are receiving each other. For telephony (voice), Readability and Signal strength scale is devised.

Readability Scale		Signal Strength Scale
Q1	Hardly perceptible; unreadable	R1	Unintelligible; barely perceptible
Q2	Weak; readable now and then	R2	Weak signals; barely readable
Q3	Fairly good; readable but with difficulty	R3	Weak signals; but can be copied
Q4	Good; readable	R4	Fair signals
Q5	Very good; perfectly readable	R5	Fairly good signals
		R6	Good signals
		R7	Moderately strong signals
		R8	Strong signals
O	O	R9	Extremely strong signals

A 59 (5 and 9) report is the best report in radio telephony. You should be honest in giving a signal report. Don't give a good report just to please your friend! There may be some problem in the antenna system of your friend's station due to which you are receiving him poorly. Under such a situation, giving a false report will misguide your friend and your friend may not be able to detect/rectify the fault in his system.