so ive been listening a lot on HF lately before i got my ticket and now that i have it im noticing some guys use the full NATO phonetic alphabet every single time they give their callsign and others just say it normally like they would on the phone. is there a rule about when you're supposed to use them or is it just personal preference? i was always taught in like every study guide that you use alpha bravo charlie etc but on the air it seems like people do whatever they feel like. also heard one guy use some completely different words that werent the standard ones at all, like he said something other than november for N, dont remember what it was. just trying to figure out what the actual norm is before i embarrass myself on air

yeah theres no hard rule that says you HAVE to use NATO phonetics every transmission, its more of a best practice especially when band conditions are rough or theres QRM. the idea is that if someone is struggling to copy your callsign, phonetics make each letter unambiguous — like you cant really confuse Foxtrot with anything else but the letter F on its own can sound like S or X when the signal is weak.

the guy you heard using non-standard words was probably just an old timer with his own habits. before NATO standardized everything people used all kinds of regional phonetics and some of those old guys never switched. not wrong exactly, just potentially confusing if the other station isnt familiar with them. on something like a local 2m repeater where everyone knows each other nobody cares much, but on DX or contest work youll hear proper NATO almost exclusively because clarity matters a lot more when youre working someone in a pile up

honestly i struggled with this too when i first got on air. what helped me was just listening to more HF and noticing that most experienced operators drop into phonetics automatically when theyre not getting a clean copy — like if someone says "say again your call" then the next time they spell it out with phonetics. i still catch myself forgetting mid-QSO and just saying my call letters normally out of habit. nobody has ever said anything about it but i do get asked to repeat myself more on those occasions so that probably answers the question lol