On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 01:13:15 GMT, "Marty B."
wrote:

Well to me 73`sss and "HANDLE" reminds me of CB`ers, on the ham bands
and I hate hearing it.

Wrong again. Hams have always said 73s. I have been hearing it on the
ham bands myself since 1963 when I started as an SWL, and you can read
it in the CQ and QST magazines from the 1940s and 50s so I don't know
when you strange campaigners got into this absurd obsession but you
are sadly mistaken.

The CBers say "Seventy-thirds" which is REALLY stupid.

They also say "personal" and some otjher idiotic things,
but hey, why let it ruin your day? If they sound stupid to you, fine.

I often say 73s deliberately just to irk some of you
pedantic Johnny-come-latelys (grin!)

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 01:44:32 GMT, "Dick, AA5VU"
wrote:

It's just 73 and on CW is is

Is is? Is that like 73s ? LOL!

As Bill Clinton said. The meaning of the word "IS" is debatable! LOL!

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 08:14:26 -0800, "Keyboard In The Wilderness"
wrote:

It then becomes apparent that it is 73 NOT 73's, but many say 73's and
everyone knows what is meant.

No apostrophe in 73s, guy!

THat would be possessive.

"The property of the 73" just makes, no sense.

Please use 73s

NOT 73's - it annoys me when people use an un-necessary apostrophe!

How is THAT for pedantry, guys?

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 13:31:24 GMT,
(K5DH) wrote:

The correct term is "73", from ARRL numbered radiogram
"Seventy-Three", which means "Best Regards." Saying 73s
would be like saying "Best Regardses."

Again this old saw has already been sawn about 50 times in this thread
so you are not bringing and new idea!

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 13:31:24 GMT,
(K5DH) wrote:

Funny how this is only a debate for 'phone ops. CW ops
just send "73", never "73s".

Yes, for brevity.

The tradition on phone is and has been to say "73s" whether
you like it or not.

I am not offended if someone else says "73" instead though - grin!

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 06:59:38 -0700, Dave Hollander
wrote:

My name is Dave and my handle is aluminum or "aluminium" for the VE's
and G stations

Dave - I use dto work a station up in Chattanooga on 40m AM back
around 1967 or so, and he had an old K4XXX call BEFORE they had vanity
calls to fake others off that you are an O.T.

His handle was "Catfish" and he was a great guy. I never found out
what his real name was, but he was just a great old-time AM op from
way back. None of us had come from the CB ranks back then.
We didn't try to recruit CBers until the ham manufacturers
thought they should persuade ARRL to pursue it so they could sell
more radios. That's when the contentiousness increased I think!

YMMV

wot massage??
wot thread?
wot iz amarture radio about?

"AF Four Kilo" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 19:33:33 GMT, "ergo" wrote:

It is seventy-thirds
70/3
Because 23.333333333333333333333333 is the value of pi times the square
root
of the ohms plus the amps.

my handle is my wifes business not yours

Ha ha ha ha! GREAT response, and makes as much sense as
the message that STARTED this thread!

LOL!

Bry
Chill
Cheers


"AF Four Kilo" wrote in message
...
blah blah

It's all pretty simple when you look at the words. 73 is a CW
abbreviation for Best Regards. As no doubt hundreds before me have
pointed out, there is already an "s" at the end of regard. If you
write out 73's, it becomes Best Regards's. If you write that for a
while, instead of 73's, you will come to see how much it butchers the
English language. Regards is already a plural word. To add ('s) to
the end of regards is to pluralize a plural. My high school English
teacher would have a heart attack.

I don't know where this all started. If I look at my QSL cards from
the 50's I don't see anyone using 73's. I suspect it was born from
the "10-4 Good Buddy" crowd. It is a hopeless argument anyway, as a
good percentage of today's high school graduates can't read or write
properly. The rest of us just have to roll our eyes and accept the
inevitable.

73, Dick - W6CCD

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 22:04:30 -0800, Bill Turner
wrote:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 01:02:27 GMT, AF Four Kilo
wrote:

No apostrophe in 73s, guy!

____________________

Huh-uh! Apostrophes are allowed to pluralize non-standard words,
including acronyms. Thus QSL's is ok as a plural and so is 73's.

Actually Dick, I saw in one of the latest QST magazines a letter from
someone involved in the ARRL back in 1918 or so, having written "73s", plus
reading old CQ magazines from 1950, I have seen the use of "handle". Not to
say I like it or use these that way.

Chuck WG2A

"Dick" wrote in message
...
It's all pretty simple when you look at the words. 73 is a CW
abbreviation for Best Regards. As no doubt hundreds before me have
pointed out, there is already an "s" at the end of regard. If you
write out 73's, it becomes Best Regards's. If you write that for a
while, instead of 73's, you will come to see how much it butchers the
English language. Regards is already a plural word. To add ('s) to
the end of regards is to pluralize a plural. My high school English
teacher would have a heart attack.

I don't know where this all started. If I look at my QSL cards from
the 50's I don't see anyone using 73's. I suspect it was born from
the "10-4 Good Buddy" crowd. It is a hopeless argument anyway, as a
good percentage of today's high school graduates can't read or write
properly. The rest of us just have to roll our eyes and accept the
inevitable.

73, Dick - W6CCD

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 22:04:30 -0800, Bill Turner
wrote:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 01:02:27 GMT, AF Four Kilo
wrote:

No apostrophe in 73s, guy!

____________________

Huh-uh! Apostrophes are allowed to pluralize non-standard words,
including acronyms. Thus QSL's is ok as a plural and so is 73's.