so ive been licensed for about 4 months now and i notice everyone on HF uses the nato phonetic alphabet like alpha bravo charlie etc when they're giving their callsign or spelling something out. my question is is this actually required or is it just like a convention people follow? i asked my elmer and he kind of gave me a wishy washy answer about it being standard practice but didnt really say if the FCC requires it or whatever

also i've heard some old timers use completely different words sometimes like they'll say something other than the standard ones and i cant always tell what they're saying. is there a reason for that or are they just doing their own thing

im using a baofeng on 2m mostly right now but i want to get into HF so trying to learn the right habits before i do

not required by the FCC no, at least not for amateur radio. the NATO phonetics are just what basically everyone settled on because they work well — each word is chosen to sound distinct from the others even through a lot of noise or distortion. you'll hear romeo and it doesn't sound like anything else on the list, that's kind of the point.

the old timers using different words are probably using older phonetic alphabets, there were a few different ones floating around before NATO standardized everything in the 50s. some guys just never switched or they learned from someone who hadn't. you'll hear things like sugar for S or baker for B from that era. it's not wrong exactly, just... old. in an emergency or a contest when things get hectic the NATO ones are way better because everyone knows them and they cut through better.

honestly just drill the NATO ones until they're automatic. when you're trying to copy a callsign in a pileup you dont want to be thinking, you want it to just come out right.

yeah what he said but also on 2m simplex and repeaters people are way more casual about it and half the time they dont bother at all if conditions are decent. HF is where you really need it especially on the lower bands when propagation gets weird and signals start sounding like they're coming through a tin can full of gravel lol

i messed up a callsign exchange in a contest once because the other op used some random phonetic i didn't recognize and wrote down the wrong letter. cost me a dupe check issue. just use the standard ones and life gets easier for everyone