[CW] Meaning of di-di-di-dah-di

[Darrel]

I've seen queries about the prosign <VE>  (or equally <SN>) come up from 
time to time.  Now, in the ITU definition of Morse and elsewhere,  <VE> 
means in all contexts "Understood", but it wasn't always that way 
everywhere.  Very occasionally, an old timer can be heard lapsing into 
an earlier usage.  See "Obsolete Morse Code Prosigns" on 
https://wiki2.org/en/Prosigns_for_Morse_code#cite_note-:4-25 There's a 
reference to "1937 Royal Navy Signal Card". *"VE General call . . . _ . 
Code re-used for "Message verified" or "Message understood" (see SN 
above). "*

I recently acquired an original, if  battered,  "Signal Card" document 
from the Royal Navy, dated 1944.

The front cover has: "R.B.232" and "SIGNAL CARD 1944".  The back cover 
has "H.M.S. STATIONERY OFFICE   PRICE 9P NET".  I believe it was 
primarily for the British Navy.  The first 3 plates, which are all about 
flags, include the words "NAVAL SIGNALLING" .

Plates V and VI in the document show Morse code.  On Plate VI it 
includes, under "PROSIGNS":



or "...-.  ...-.  <VE> GENERAL CALL" .

A similar card was used at the time by the Royal Canadian Navy.

I grew up using Morse in the UK as G3SYS, in the early 1960s.  I suspect 
there were many ex-Royal Navy (and ex British Army) operators on the ham 
bands, who used the prosigns they had been taught. Hence, I grew up with 
<VE> meaning "General Call". I, and many others in the UK at that 
vintage, would often send <VE> [or equivalently <SN>] as a prelude to 
calling CQ.

  I don't think either the Royal Navy or the Royal Canadian Navy felt 
particularly bound at the time by any commercial handbook or agreed 
international definition. I also found a reference to <VE> meaning 
"General Call" in an old British Boy Scouts manual. I'm just guessing 
that may date from Baden Powell and the Boer War. As the Wiki page says, 
these are "Obsolete Morse Code Prosigns", even though they were in 
common usage on one side of the Atlantic at one time.  I do try to 
resist using them now, although not always successfully.

Cheers,
     Darrel,  G3SYS & AA7FV




On 4/13/2022 03:17, Chris, G5VZ wrote:
> On 13/04/2022 08:13, je1trv at a1lab.jp wrote:
>> Hello
>> As you know well, in case of International Morsecode,
>> the code of 8 dits ........ or di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di
>> is the code for "correction".
>>
>> On the other hand, in case of Japanese Morsecode (WABUN),
>> the code ...-. or di-di-di-dah-di
>> means "correction".
>
> I was taught that the SN prosign should/could be sent at the start of 
> a transmission to indicate that the previous incoming message had been 
> correctly copied.  "All correct," in fact.  I do often use it, in 
> fact, as in "SN 2E0LUL DE G5VZ RR... etc"
>
> If I am wrong, I will be pleased to be corrected!
>
> 73
>
> Chris
>
>
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