[SOC] AR or K or KN was Re: Open FOC QSO Party

[Quikhooligan]

On 9/14/2013 10:06 PM, w7dra at juno.com wrote:
> ill never forget...............there was once a qst (cq?) column called
> the novice accent and they would rant and rave about sending ARK, since
> they mean the same, at least to the guy writing the column....
> 
> mike w7dra


I've always been confused on whether to use AR or K. (But certainly not
both at the same time!)

AR means "End of Transmission"
K means "Go Ahead/Over"

I've been told that you use AR when you don't expect a reply.
And you use K when you do expect a reply.
Simple.

But after seeing some examples of the proper(?) usage, I've seen where
AR was used at the end of your text message and then when you ID and
turn it over to the other ham, you send K.
Simple.

So you are really using AR to mean "End of Text". I believe the
transmission ends after you ID, So you should send AR.  But if you are
expecting a reply, then you must also send K. Hence, you are sending AR
K , which is frowned upon by those who have figured all this out
differently than I.

So does AR mean "End of text" or does it mean "End of Transmission"?
If it truly means "End of Transmission", perhaps it could be sent after
the K?  No, that's wrong according to the folks who really know about
these things.

I think I'll just stick to:
"I've been told that you use AR when you don't expect a reply.
And you use K when you do expect a reply.
Simple."

But what about KN?

KN means "Go Ahead/Over" but no breaking stations are invited.

During my xtal controlled novice days, we were told to just forget KN
because you will never use it.  How could you break into a CW QSO if the
stations probably weren't on the same frequency (remember, xtal control)
and the other operator was also inexperienced and possibly could barely
copy one station, let alone two stations.

Nowadays, with transceivers and less restrictive licensing, more
operators (usually the newer ones) are using KN. Do they really think
there are other operators on frequency waiting to break-in to their QSO
and disrupt it by doing so?  And if someone did break-in, why wouldn't
they be able to handle the confusion?

I don't use KN.  I believe using it suggests unfriendliness and
exclusivity. Certainly this is not in the spirit of Amateur Radio.

AR K