[CW] How Old is the Closing "Dit Dit" on closing ham radio contacts?
BURNS MARTIN JR
w4foa at comcast.net
Sat Aug 14 16:04:18 EDT 2021
Seems like I knew that but I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer - nor was I ever, hi
73
Tony W4FOA
> On 08/14/2021 3:55 PM Chris R. NW6V <chrisrut7 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Didit-dit is the American Morse "C" ="clear"
>
> On Sat, Aug 14, 2021, 12:03 PM BURNS MARTIN JR <w4foa at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > I don't really know but it was commonplace in 1954 when I got my Novice
> > license. At that time also, instead of QRL? QRL? many ole timers simply
> > uses ie ie I like that better than the longer QRL? But then, all of that
> > is personal preferences, I guess.
> > 73
> > Tony W4FOA
> > > On 08/14/2021 11:17 AM Steve WD8DAS via CW <cw at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Somewhere I recently read that some German government/military
> > radiotelegraph operators during WWII did the dit-dit as well.
> > >
> > >
> > > Steve WD8DAS
> > >
> > > sbjohnston at aol.com
> > > http://www.wd8das.net/http://af4k-crystals.com
> > > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > Radio is your best entertainment value.
> > > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: D.J.J. Ring, Jr. <n1ea at arrl.net>
> > > To: CW Reflector <cw at mailman.qth.net>
> > > Sent: Fri, Aug 13, 2021 11:46 pm
> > > Subject: [CW] How Old is the Closing "Dit Dit" on closing ham radio
> > contacts?
> > >
> > > How old is the "dit dit" you hear on ham radio when stations sign with
> > each other?
> > > Some say the "dit dit" came from "shave and a hair cut" but it didn't
> > the roots of this went way back in radio history.
> > > The "dit dit" was in commercial radiotelegraphy usage in the 1930s
> > according to my friend Bob Shrader, W6BNB who worked for "Dollar Lines"
> > passenger liners in the 1930s and later taught radio at U.S. Merchant
> > Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY. I had asked him when this started and
> > he said it was common as a handing off when signaling for a frequency shift
> > after calling on 600 meters.
> > >
> > > Such an exchange would be like this - going back to stations that were
> > active in the 1940s.
> > >
> > > WSL WSL WSL DE WIEA WIEA WIEA K (Steamship "Manhattan/WIEA" is
> > calling Amagansett, Long Island, NY Radio (Mackay Radio) on 500 kc/s (kHz)
> > (600 meters).
> > > WIEA DE WSL R UP 640/633 K (Mackay Radio Amagansett,
> > Long Island answers telling Manhattan to shift UP in wave to 640 meters and
> > listen for WSL on 633 meters.)
> > > Then WIEA (SS MANHATTAN) would send:
> > > R UP = (SS
> > Manhattan says "Received, UP"
> > > WSL (Amagansett Radio) would send:
> > > =
> > > WIEA would acknowledge WSL's sending (BT) by sending the two E's or 'dit
> > dit'.
> > > dit dit
> > > WSL would acknowedge this with a simple singular dit.
> > >
> > > This was back when WSL was on 633 meters - or 474 kc/s (now kHz).
> > > Coast Stations were assigned working frequencies.
> > >
> > > WSL was assigned 633 meters / 474 kc/s.
> > >
> > > Here are the assigned frequencies for the East Atlantic USA Coast.
> > >
> > > Callsign Frequency (Wavelength) Location Operating
> > Company
> > > =============================================================
> > > WAG 418 (718) Thomaston, Maine Mackay
> > Radio
> > > WBF 436 (690) Hingham, Mass.
> > Tropical Radio
> > > WIM 406 (740) Chatham, Mass.
> > R.M.C.A. (Radio Marine Corporation of America - RCA)
> > > WSL 474 (633) Amagansett, L.I., NY
> > Mackay Radio
> > > WNY 442 (680) Brooklyn, NY
> > R.M.C.A
> > > WSC 462 (650) Tuckerton, NJ
> > R.M.C.A
> > > WMH 478 (628) Baltimore, Maryland
> > R.M.C.A.
> > > NAM 464 (647) Norfolk, Virginia
> > U.S. Navy
> > > WSV 408 (735) Savannah, Georgia R.M.C.A
> > > WNW 438 (685) Phila, PA
> > Tidewater Wireless Telegraph Company
> > > WMR 418 (718) Jupiter, Fla
> > Mackay Radio
> > > WOE 394 (761) Lake Worth, Fla
> > R.M.C.A
> > > WAX 484 (620) Hialeah, Fla.
> > Tropical Radio
> > > NAR 464 (647) Key West, Fla.
> > U.S. Navy
> > > WPD 438 (685) Tampa, Fla.
> > Privately Owned
> > > WNU 448 (670) New Orleans, La.
> > Tropical Radio
> > >
> > > In the 1980s to 1990s the situation would be much the same, but instead
> > of giving wavelengths, we now used frequency, but with one interesting
> > quirk.
> > >
> > > In the 1930s when Amagansett Radio / WSL told SS Manhattan to shift
> > wavelength from 600 meters, he said to SS Manhattan/WIEA transmit on 640m
> > and listen for WSL on 633m. - they sent UP because they shifted UP in
> > wavelength.
> > >
> > > At some point, stations started using frequency in kilocycles per second
> > instead of wavelength.
> > >
> > > So, let's give an example of one time I worked WSL Amagansett Long
> > Island, NY radio from WILLIAMSBURGH;/WGOA - let's see how it was different
> > and the same.
> > >
> > > The ship working frequencies (for sending message traffic) in 1920s were
> > in kc/s (kHz) with meters in parenthesis.
> > >
> > > 400 (750), 410 (730), 425 (705), 454 (660), 468 (640), and ship and
> > shore calling where both ships and shore stations kept a watch 500 kc/s
> > (600m)
> > >
> > > So the calling frequency, 500 kc/s was the lowest wave that ships could
> > use on that group of frequencies, so any other frequency was ALWAYS higher
> > in wavelength, so it was always UP.
> > >
> > > Here's what happened in 1980:
> > >
> > > WSL WSL WSL DE WGOA WGOA WGOA K (Steamship "Williamsburgh/WGOA" is
> > calling Amagansett, Long Island, NY Radio (Mackay Radio) on 500 kc/s (kHz)
> > (600 meters).
> > > WGOA DE WSL R UP 425/418 K (Mackay Radio Amagansett,
> > Long Island answers telling Williamsburgh to shift UP to 425 kHz and listen
> > for WSL on 418 kHz.) WSL's Frequency had changed over the years to 418 kHz.
> > > Then WGOA (Williamsburgh) would send:
> > > R UP =
> > (Williamsburgh says "Received, UP"
> > > WSL (Amagansett Radio) would send:
> > > =
> > > WGOA would acknowledge WSL's sending (BT) by sending the two E's or 'dit
> > dit'.
> > > dit dit
> > >
> > > WSL would acknowledge this with a simple singular dit.
> > >
> > > This Morse "dance" of <BT> which is = then acknowledged by - then by a
> > dit dit then a single dit carried on for nearly 80 years when Morse finally
> > ended in 1999.
> > >
> > > The funniest thing is that stations continued to send UP when they told
> > the other station to shift to their working frequency!
> > >
> > > 73
> > > DR
> > > N1EA______________________________________________________________
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