Voice Procedure (RATEL)
DRAFT ONLY
This page adapts WICEN WA’s archived Radiotelephone (RATEL) Procedure for Operators in WICEN (about 2002) for the current plan. It has not yet been formally adopted — see Committee Discussion §11. The original scanned manual is available on the Members page (PDF).
Where this fits in the plan
The PACE ladders on the Domain Summary say which system to use. This page says how to talk once you’re on a voice system. It applies to every voice tier in every domain:
- Activation & Alerting — the HF alert net (Emergency tier)
- Strategic Coordination — amateur radio voice nets (Alternate) and the voice relay network (Emergency)
- Local/Tactical Field Comms — VHF/UHF voice (Primary) and HF voice (Contingency)
- Cross-State Coordination — HF voice liaison (Contingency)
RATEL’s stated aim was “maximum compatibility with Emergency Services”, which is still the reason to use it: served-agency radio operators use the same family of procedure.
Spelling, numbers and punctuation
- Use the standard phonetic alphabet. Spell difficult words with I SPELL, saying the word before and after if you can pronounce it: “Catenary — I SPELL Charlie Alpha … — Catenary.”
- Numbers are sent digit by digit, except exact hundreds and thousands. Use FIGURES before numbers that could be mistaken for words.
| Number | Spoken as |
|---|---|
| 44 | Fo-wer Fo-wer |
| 90 | Niner Zero |
| 136 | Wun Thuh-ree Six |
| 500 | Fi-yiv Hundred |
| 1478 | Wun Fo-wer Seven Ate |
| 16000 | Wun Six Thousand |
- Write zero as Ø on message forms. A decimal point is spoken DAY-SEE-MAL.
- Mixed groups use both prowords: 31AB7 is “FIGURES Three One — I SPELL Alpha Bravo — FIGURES Seven.”
- Punctuation is spoken: COMMA, FULL STOP, OPEN BRACKETS / CLOSE BRACKETS, SLANT (/), HYPHEN.
Calls and answers
A call is: their call sign — THIS IS — your call sign — text — ending.
- “VK6XX, THIS IS VK6YY, are you ready to move, OVER.” — an answer is needed.
- “VK6XX, THIS IS VK6YY, move now, OUT.” — no answer needed.
Ending words:
| Proword | Meaning |
|---|---|
| OVER | My transmission is finished; reply. |
| OUT | My transmission is finished; no reply. Never say “over and out”. |
| WAIT | I must pause for up to 5 seconds. No one else transmits. |
| WAIT OUT | I must pause for longer. Others may transmit; I will call you back. |
| OUT TO YOU | Finished with you; I’m calling another station straight away. No one else transmits. |
Signal reports
Good strength and readability is assumed unless you say otherwise. Ask with RADIO CHECK; answer briefly, combining terms as needed:
| Proword | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ROGER / LOUD AND CLEAR | Loud and clear |
| READABLE | Satisfactory |
| WEAK / VERY WEAK | Readable with difficulty |
| WITH INTERFERENCE / DISTORTED / FADING | Say what the problem is |
| UNREADABLE | Can’t be read |
“VK6XX, THIS IS VK6YY, RADIO CHECK, OVER.” — “VK6YY, WEAK BUT READABLE, OVER.” — “READABLE, OUT.”
Abbreviated and full procedure
- Abbreviated procedure is normal: after the first call and answer, drop the other station’s call sign and any proword that isn’t needed.
- Full procedure is used when conditions are poor enough that shortcuts are causing repeats. Call signs and prowords that were optional become mandatory. Net Control orders it with USE FULL PROCEDURE, and back again with USE ABBREVIATED PROCEDURE.
- If conditions get worse still, use WORDS TWICE: send every call sign, word and phrase twice.
These are the steps within a voice tier before the channel is abandoned — the first rungs of the tier triggers the plan still needs (see the Domain Summary methodology check).
Call-sign identification. Whatever procedure is in use, stations must still identify as required by their licence conditions — see Message Handling. [CHECK: confirm how abbreviated procedure sits with the ACMA identification rule for a series of transmissions.] During exercises, say “exercise only” before your call sign every time.
Passing messages
- Offer a message before sending when it must be written down, when conditions are poor, or on a directed net: “VK6AA, THIS IS VK6BB, MESSAGE, OVER.” — “SEND, OVER.”
- LONG MESSAGE — anything taking more than about 30 seconds. Send in 30-second sections, each ending MORE TO FOLLOW. The receiver acknowledges each section. Pause a few seconds so urgent traffic can get in, then continue with ALL AFTER and the last word sent.
- Corrections: CORRECTION then the last correct word, and carry on. If the mistake is found later, identify it: “CORRECTION, WORD BEFORE street, Blue.”
- Repeats: SAY AGAIN, alone or with ALL AFTER, ALL BEFORE, WORD AFTER, WORD BEFORE, or FROM … TO. Reply with I SAY AGAIN.
- READ BACK — when accuracy matters or conditions are poor, the receiver reads the whole message back; the sender answers CORRECT or WRONG.
- VERIFY — ask the originator to check a message; the reply starts I VERIFY.
- SPEAK SLOWER — you’re going too fast to write down.
- DISREGARD THIS TRANSMISSION — cancels a transmission before OVER or OUT. A message already sent can only be cancelled by another message (CANCEL).
- ACKNOWLEDGE — the addressee (not just the operator) confirms receipt.
- FETCH — ask for a specific person to come to the radio: “FETCH Ambulance Officer.” They answer “Ambulance Officer SPEAKING.”
Formal message layout and serial numbers are on Message Handling.
Relay
When two stations can’t hear each other, a third station that can hear both relays. This is how the voice relay network — Strategic Coordination’s Emergency tier on Operational Comms — actually works.
- RELAY TO — “please pass this to …”
- THROUGH ME — “I can reach them; send it through me.”
- RELAY THROUGH — “send your message through (call sign).”
VK6BB can’t raise VK6AA, but VK6XX can hear both:
VK6XX, THIS IS VK6BB, RELAY TO VK6AA, move now, OVER. VK6BB, WAIT, OUT TO YOU. VK6AA, THIS IS VK6XX, FROM VK6BB, move now, OVER. VK6XX, ROGER, OUT. VK6BB, THIS IS VK6XX, FROM VK6AA, ROGER, OVER. ROGER, OUT.
The relay station always reports back that the message was delivered. Relay introduces errors, so use READ BACK for anything important.
Running a net
Net Control Station duties are listed on Radio Frequencies. The prowords:
| Proword | Meaning |
|---|---|
| THIS IS A DIRECTED NET | From now, stations call Net Control, not each other, unless given permission |
| THIS IS A FREE NET | Stations may call each other directly |
| REPORTING INTO NET | A station joining a working net: “(NCS), THIS IS VK6AA, REPORTING INTO NET, OVER.” |
| ASSUME CONTROL | Net Control hands the net to another station, e.g. the Alternate NCS |
| I AM ASSUMING CONTROL | The new Net Control announces it has taken over |
| NOTHING HEARD | No reply from the station called |
| UNKNOWN STATION | A caller whose call sign was lost: “UNKNOWN STATION, THIS IS VK6AA, SAY AGAIN CALLSIGN, OVER.” |
| REQUEST TIME CHECK / TIME CHECK AT | Synchronise clocks — useful at the start of any log |
| CLOSE DOWN / CLOSING DOWN | Stations called close when told / this station is closing |
Changing frequency
A frequency change has two parts: an order, then a separate command to go. Nobody moves on the order alone.
NCS: ALL STATIONS, THIS IS VK6BB, CHANGE TO 7.090, OVER. (each station acknowledges: “change to 7.090, OVER”) NCS: CHANGE NOW, OUT.
The HF Propagation Plan’s frequency change procedure follows this.
Position, grid and time
- LOCSTAT — a location report. Ask with “SEND LOCSTAT”, or give one unprompted: “LOCSTAT, turn-off to Canning Dam.”
- GRID — before any grid reference: “LOCSTAT, GRID 123456.”
- TIME — before any time: “returning at TIME one four hundred hours.”
Quick proword list
The abbreviated list from the original manual. The full list, with alternative meanings, is in Annex C of the PDF.
| Proword | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ACKNOWLEDGE | Confirm you’ve received this message |
| ALL AFTER / ALL BEFORE | The part of the message after / before … |
| CANCEL | Cancel a message or part of one |
| CLOSE DOWN / CLOSING DOWN | Stations called close when told / I am closing |
| CORRECT | What you sent is correct |
| CORRECTION | I made an error; the correct version follows |
| FETCH | Bring (person) to the radio |
| FIGURES | Numbers follow, digit by digit (not used for call signs, grids, times) |
| GRID | A grid reference follows |
| I SPELL | I’ll spell the next word phonetically |
| LOCSTAT | Location report |
| MESSAGE / LONG MESSAGE | A message to be written down follows |
| MORE TO FOLLOW | More of this long message comes next |
| NOTHING HEARD | No reply from the station called |
| OUT / OUT TO YOU | Finished, no reply / finished with you, calling another |
| OVER | Finished; reply |
| RADIO CHECK | How do you hear me? |
| READ BACK | Repeat the message back to me exactly |
| RELAY TO | Pass this message to … |
| ROGER | Received satisfactorily |
| SAY AGAIN / I SAY AGAIN | Repeat / I am repeating |
| SEND | Ready to receive your message |
| VERIFY | Check with the originator and send the correct version |
| WAIT / WAIT OUT | Pause up to 5 seconds / pause longer, others may transmit |
| WILCO | Received, understood, will comply (never with ROGER) |
| WORD AFTER / WORD BEFORE | Identifies part of a message |
| WORDS TWICE | Conditions are poor; send everything twice |
| WRONG | That’s wrong; the correct version is … |
What changed from the original
- Gender-neutral wording, and small errors corrected (duplicate paragraph numbers, “7075 MHz” for 7.075 MHz, READBACK / READ BACK).
- Military teletype and security-classification fields left out.
- Precedence is covered on Message Handling, where the original’s ROUTINE / PRIORITY / IMMEDIATE is proposed for adoption.
- Linked to the PACE domains and to the call-sign identification rule, neither of which existed when the manual was written.