I think the main reason for abbreviations of that type was that most comms in the day
were done in morse, where abbreviation cuts transmission time and is more easily
remembered as a rhythmical sequence of dot / dashes.
Never became radio amateur, but the morse test was a requirement up until only
a few years ago, iirc...
Last edited by syseng68k; 12th February 2013 at 15:27.