From: pjf@
          VNET.IBM.COM
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 98 16:26:08 EDT
Subject: Phonetic Alphabets

Hello Robert. I noticed your web page on phonetic alphabets and thought
you might be interested in this. I started working at IBM in 1978, but
even before then (i.e. 1971 at our friendly "360" installation at York
University here in Toronto), the customer engineers had a phonetic alphabet
which ran like: able, baker, charlie. dog, easy, fox, ...india, .. nancy,
peter, queen, roger, sugar, tare, uncle, victor, whisky, x-ray, yankee, ?
The ABCDEF's were important, since we used these characters to represent
10..15 in the hexadecimal number system (for program dumps etc.). The others
were used when identifying electrical pins on sockets etc. I always wondered
where these came from (not the ICAO phonetics I learned as a Ham radio
operator). Anyway... from the 1931 Radio Amateur's Handbook Eighth Edition,
American Radio Relay League, West Hartford, CN, p.190:

Word List for Accurate Transmission (CW or morse, apparently):

A - ABLE *   N - NAN-
B - BOY  -   O - OBOE-
C - CAST -   P - PUP-
D - DOG  *   Q - QUACK-
E - EASY *   R - ROT-
F - FOX  *   S - SAIL-
G - GEORGE   T - TARE*
H - HAVE -   U - UNIT-
I - ITEM -   V - VICE-
J - JIG  -   W - WATCH-
K - KING *   X - X-RAY*
L - LOVE *   Y - YOKE-
M - MIKE *   Z - ZED-

And - Here also is the Western Union Work-Lisd (also, apparently for CW):

A - ADAMS    N - NEW YORK*
B - BOSTON * O - OCEAN*
C - CHICAGO  P - PETER*
D - DENVER   Q - QUEEN*
E - EDWARD   R - ROBERT*
F - FRANK  * S - SUGAR*
G - GEORGE * T - THOMAS-
H - HENRY  * U - UNION-
I - IDA   -  V - VICTOR*
J - JOHN  *  W - WILLIAM*
K - KING  *  X - X-RAY*
L - LINCOLN -Y - YOUNG-
M - MARY -   Z - ZERO-

Under "Phone Procedure" ... For spelling call signals, service abbreviatons
and words, the following internationally well-known names are specified and
should be used." (p. 191):

A - AMSTERDAM-  N - NEUCHATEL-
B - BALTIMORE*  O - ONTARIO*
C - CANADA   *  P - PORTUGAL*
D - DENMARK  *  Q - QUEBEC*
E - EDDYSTONE-  R - RIVOLI-
F - FRANCISCO-  S - SANTIAGO*
G - GIBRALTER-  T - TOKIO*
H - HANOVER  -  U - URUGUAY*
I - ITALY    *  V - VICTORIA*
J - JERUSALEM-  W - WASHINGTON*
K - KIMBERLEY-  X - XANATIPE-
L - LIVERPOOL-  Y - YOKOHAMA*
M - MADAGASCAR- Z - ZULULAND-

FYI, I have flagged all the above with (*=Heard on the air, or "-"=never
heard on the air), as a HAM radio operator over the last 5 years. My sense
is that there was a "selective use" of these various phonetics until the ICAO
alphabet was adopted (1959?). So we hear continued "selective" use even
today. Cheers..and best regards...

Patrick Finnigan VA3 ZIM
Instruments & Information
8 Bellemeade Lane
Willowdale,ON, Canada M2H 1Y9
finnigan@
         ca.ibm.com  416-492-8587