“Breaker 1-9: I want to start a transmission, Over and Out: I’m done talking, What’s your handle: What’s your nickname?, Got your ears on Are you on air and listening?, What’s your 20: Where are you?”. These are all familiar phrases/sayings which we have all heard over the years. Some from friends and many from movies, but how and why did all this communication come about? Since the development of the walkie talkie in 1937 by Canadian inventor Donald Hings, Alfred J Gross and engineering teams at Motorola, not only has the device itself evolved into something spectacular the language has also followed suit. Charles Hopper, a communications director from Illinois State Police set about creating a language to assist with walkie talkie transmissions during the same year; they noticed the first few syllables of words were being misunderstood or cut off – step forward “Ten”.
To allow for standardisation and brevity each message was preceded with “ten”, some of the original equipment needed to “warm up” so could be very slow, in order to improve communications the word “ten” prior to anything else removed human error and improved the likelihood that the listener would understand the important part of any message. In 1974 the codes were expanded by the Association of Public Safety Communications (APCO), these codes were adopted by law enforcement agencies and civilian CB radio users.
So, what are the Ten Codes and what do they mean, here we take a look and explain. Governments, Police, and other agencies communicate using ten codes which allow them to speak effectively. But why Ten? This indicates the next number, or numbers, is code. There are actually various ways to use “Ten” and they differ from general purpose to the codes which APCO originally set out, so we will give the top twenty examples of the standard set by APCO.
APCO Top Twenty Ten Codes
- 10-0: Use Caution
- 10-1: Signal Weak
- 10-2: Signal Good
- 10-3: Stop Transmitting
- 10-4: Affirmative (OK)
- 10-5: Relay To/From
- 10-6: Busy
- 10-7: Out of Service
- 10-8: In Service
- 10-9: Say Again
- 10-10: Negative
- 10-11: On Duty (Employee Number)
- 10-12: Stand By (Stop)
- 10-13: Weather Conditions
- 10-14: Message/Information
- 10-15: Message Delivered
- 10-16: Reply to Message
- 10-17: Enroute
- 10-18: Urgent
- 10-19: In Contact
- 10-20: Location
As you can see from the list above the codes used for Walkie Talkie transmission were clear, concise and useful, however, over time various agencies and jurisdictions began applying different meanings to the code rendering the standardised system pretty much useless, this was apparent in the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in fact, the miscommunication was so bad that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Association) recommended banning Ten Codes altogether! In today’s world APCO encourages radio users to use plain speech as well as Ten Codes and certainly, during times where public safety is at risk, the ten codes come in very useful.
As we have moved through the years two way radio language has certainly moved on, in 1941 to 1956 the military adopted Morse code which was used during the days of the telegraph where the letter R (dot-dash-dot) was sometimes used to indicate that the message was received/understood, once voice communications had completely replaced telegraphs the Phonetic Alphabet was born and R became “Roger” which actually means “last transmission received/understood” and not “last transmission received/understood, I will comply”.
Emergency Language
In 1923 Frederick Stanley Mockford who was a senior radio officer at London’s Croydon airport was asked to provide a unique code word for emergency situations. As the majority of the air traffic during that time was coming or going to Le Bourget, Paris. Frederick chose Mayday because of the similarities to the French word m’aider (“come help me”), due to the nature of the emergency signal, there are many rules governing the word “Mayday”. A mayday call can only be made during times of imminent danger; death or destruction. Similar to the misuse of 999 or 112, a fake mayday call is considered a serious crime where large fines and jail time are applied. To use mayday properly, it is always used three times in a row. Thus to ensure the receiver understands there is an actual emergency and not mistaken for a similar phrase; “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday.”
The Phonetic Alphabet
We all know the familiar sound of A: Alpha, L: Lima, which is known as the phonetic alphabet. I am also sure that many of us use it while talking on our phones. Many letters sound the same whether that be on a mobile phone or a hand held Walkie Talkie so the phonetic alphabet serves a great purpose which could even prevent a world disaster! Codes are assigned to each letter of the alphabet. Just like all communication language before the PA (Phonetic Alphabet), this too has evolved. But, today we commonly use the spelling alphabet which was developed by IATA (International Air Transport Association), ICAO (International Civil Aviation), IMO (International Maritime Organisation), FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), ARRL (American Radio Relay League) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).
2016 Phonetic Alphabet
Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-Ray, Yankee, Zulu.
So, as you can see the language has moved on since 1923 and although we use many of the standardised codes, common sense also has to be applied, in situations where Public Safety is at risk then Ten Codes come in very handy so people are not frightened but on the same token if the person receiving your message doesn’t know your Ten Codes you could cause a serious issue as the transmission is not received loud and clear and the wrong action could be taken, it is certainly an interesting topic and one which is steeped in history!.
