[Elecraft] Prosign confusion (was: Anticipating Morse)

[n2ey at aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net>
To: Darwin, Keith <Keith.Darwin at goodrich.com>; Elecraft Discussion List <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 07:49:34 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Prosign confusion (was: Anticipating Morse)



>As for BK, that is two letters, but like many other ham Morse customs, it really 
>has *NO* place or value in Morse communication.  The prosign K is much more to 
>the point!

I disagree!
The prosign "K" is meant for use at the end of a transmission, after the formal exchange of callsigns:
"CQ CQ CQ CQ DE N2EY N2EY N2EY K"
"....ES PSE QSL KK5F DE N2EY K"
meaning "go ahead any station"
But "BK" is used in rapid-fire exchanges *without* the formal callsign exchange:
".....FB MOJO OM BT IS UR RIG A K2 or K1? BK
BK RIG HR K2 K2 SN 2084 2084 BK
BK R R DOING FB....."
Of course with the fine QSK of Elecraft rigs, even the BK can become superfluous. But if
the other op doesn't have QSK, BK is useful to indicate that you're turning it over for a quick reply.
--
There was a time when ARRL sponsored a "copying bee", in which a message of unknown length and content
 was sent. This grew into the Code Proficiency program. One feature of the Copying Bee was the
inclusion of intentional misspellings, to see if the receiving op would copy "as sent" or "as expected".
Caused more than a few to miss the perfect copy certificate.
73 (old Phillips Code abbreviation) ES (old Morse &) ZUT (old "Z code" abbreviation - unofficial)
DE (prosign - sent as two letters) N2EY