from the IEEE: SOS does not stand for "Save our Ship"

[Phil]

I hate to take issue with the mighty IEEE, but SOS never did stand for "Save Our Ship" since it was not confined to marine disasters; it stood for "Save Our Souls."

Or not.

Jack Phillips repeated transmitted both CQD and SOS from the Titanic, since both were in use at the time and no official body had decided on which was preferred.

Phil M1GWZ



On 28 Jan 2013, at 22:42, Richard Spargur wrote:

> I had learned that S-O-S was chosen simply because it was so easy to recognize and distinguish from other signaling.
>  
>      V/R
>  
>      Richard K. Spargur
>     K3UI
>      -  .  -       .  .  .  -  -       .  .  -       .  .
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> From: tacos-bounces+k3ui=comcast.net at amrad.org [mailto:tacos-bounces+k3ui=comcast.net at amrad.org] On Behalf Of Andre Kesteloot
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 4:53 PM
> To: Tacos
> Subject: from the IEEE: SOS does not stand for "Save our Ship"
>  
> MORSE CODE ‘SOS’
> The “SOS” in Morse code does not, as is popularly believed, stand for “save our ship.” The letters S-O-S were chosen in 1910 as the distress call to replace the previously used C-Q-D because the pattern of three short, three long, three short letters was more easily distinguishable against background noise. CQ originated from the “sécu” in the French word “sécurité” (security) followed by D, which signaled distress.
> TITANIC'S DISTRESS CALLS
> The sinking ship’s distress calls were not received by ham radio operators in the United States, as is commonly believed, because the Titanic’s transmitter range did not extend that far. What ham radio operators did pick up was the radio traffic relayed from ship to ship, and from ship-to-shore stations.
> 
> The ship’s state-of-the-art transmitter had an 800-kilometer range during the day, extending to 4800 km at night when the reflective character of the atmosphere changed. But that range constantly varied with the location of the ship, along with the atmospheric conditions. Although a ham radio with a good receiver and antenna could have heard Titanic’s distress calls on the East Coast of the United States, there is no confirmed report that happened. The only amateur radio operator to receive a signal directly was Welsh wireless operator Artie Moore.
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