GPO Radio Officers Handbook and the use of DDD SOS DDD

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Hello Group,

A new group member wrote me to tell me that his 1960s vintage GPO Radio Officers Handbook doesn't have anything about DDD SOS DDD like that in the DAN recording I sent recently.

R/O Don Edmondson sent me two scans of later editions which are in my treasure trove archive at http://tiny.cc/n1ea/

I find it on page 99

Note - even though the link says "1975", it's the 1961 edition - my error when I put it up on the Archive.

Transmission of a Distress Message by a Station not Itself in Distress

122. A mobile station, or a coast station, which learns that a mobile station is in distress, shall transmit a distress message in any of the following cases

(a) when the station in distress is not itself in a position to transmit the distress message;

(b) when the master or person responsible for the ship or aircraft not in distress, or the person responsible for the coast station, considers that further help is necessary;

(c) when, although not in a position to render assistance, it has heard a distress message which has not been acknowledged.

In order that direction-finding stations shall not be misled or confused in locating a mobile station in distress, any distress message transmitted by a station which is not itself in distress, must always be preceded by the following call:

—the word DE; —the call sign of the transmitting station, sent three times.

This call shall be preceded by the alarm signal, followed by a two minute interval when necessary.

When a distress message is transmitted under the conditions of (c) above, the station making the transmission shall take all necessary steps to notify the authorities who may be able to render assistance.

[spud roscoe]

I have two of those books, the 1968 and 1975 editions and can find no mention of DDD in either of them.

73 de Spud VE1BC

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From: radio-o...@googlegroups.com <radio-o...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of D.J.J. Ring, Jr. <n1...@arrl.net>
Sent: October 30, 2023 1:22 PM
To: Radio Officers Google Group <radio-o...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Radio Officers, &c] GPO Radio Officers Handbook and the use of DDD SOS DDD

 

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[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Spud, 

It's under Section 122.

In the Handbook for Radio Operators, Rg 67, 1961 Edition, (volume 1.0) (blue cover) it's on page 99.

Section 122, page 99

In order that direction-finding stations shall not be misled or
confused in locating a mobile station in distress, any distress
message transmitted by a station which is not itself in distress, must
always be preceded by the following call:

—the signal DDD SOS SOS SOS DDD;

—the word DE;
—the call sign of the transmitting station, sent three times.
This call shall be preceded by the alarm signal, followed by a
two minute interval when necessary.

In the Handbook for Radio Operators, Rg 67, 1975 Edition, (5th impression, 1982) ISBN 0 11 880462 6 (blue cover) it's in Section 129 on page 102-103.  This edition is blue cover but the date isn't on the cover.

Transmission of a Distress Message by a Station not Itself in Distress

129. A mobile station, or a coast station, which learns that a mobile station is in distress, shall transmit a distress message in any of the following cases

(a) when the station in distress is not itself in a position to transmit the distress message;

(b) when the master or person responsible for the ship or aircraft not in distress, or the person responsible for the coast station, considers that further help is necessary;

(c) when, although not in a position to render assistance, it has heard a_ distress message which has _ not been acknowledged.

In order that direction-finding stations shall not be misled or confused in locating a mobile station in distress, any distress message transmitted by a station which is not itself in distress, must always be preceded by the following call: —the signal DDD SOS SOS SOS DDD; —the word DE; —the call sign of the transmitting station, sent three times.

This call shall be preceded by the alarm signal, followed by a two minute interval when necessary.

When a distress message is transmitted under the conditions of (c) above, the station making the transmission shall take all necessary steps to notify the authorities who may be able to render assistance.

A ship station should not acknowledge receipt of a distress message transmitted by a coast station under the conditions mentioned above until the master or person responsible has confirmed that the ship station concerned is in a position to render assistance.

I thought I had the ORANGE cover version also but I cannot find it.

It's in there, Spud, you just never read it, I don't know when DDD SOS DDD came into use, but it was a very valuable use, it meant "DO NOT DIRECTION FIND MY SIGNAL, I AM NOT IN DISTRESS, I AM RELAYING THE SOS."

I can see how that could be very useful, you didn't want a ship at sea in distress to have the rescue ships heading for the coast station relaying the SOS - or heaven forbid another ship helping out.

73

DR

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radio-officers/BL0PR02MB3810035BE0D02C949D05FFF49FA1A%40BL0PR02MB3810.namprd02.prod.outlook.com.

[spud roscoe]

Yes, there it is in section 129. Sorry

Spud

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From: radio-o...@googlegroups.com <radio-o...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of D.J.J. Ring, Jr. <n1...@arrl.net>

Sent: October 30, 2023 5:35 PM
To: radio-o...@googlegroups.com <radio-o...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Radio Officers, &c] GPO Radio Officers Handbook and the use of DDD SOS DDD

 

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