Whre does roger come from?

[vancouv]

Someone asked me today why the term 'Roger' is used in R/T - where does it originate?

I'm sure someone here must know.

[StrateandLevel]

Roger was one of the original phonetics for the letter "R"

An R sent in morse ._. signified that a message had been received!

This probably dates from the days of railway telegraph code.

[J.A.F.O.]

Can't disagree with S&L - Received begat .-. who begat Roger. What I want to know is why, whenever I asked after him, he was always out.

"Roger, out.", "Roger, out." Never once did I find him at home.

[BEagle]

Roger Waitout has been serving on every one of HM's War Canoes since time began.

Couldn't resist it once when bugling up HMS Indecipherable, Inexcusable, Inexplicable or whatever it was called....."Ahhh, Roger, Waitout" came the not entirely unexpected response

"Hello, Roger, mate. Long time no speak. How's the wife and kids?"

One pissed off matelot didn't find it very funny!

[Floppy Link]

In the frontline against the IRA INLA various splinter groups, loyalist factions and assorted nutters, up on the ops room wall at a certain UDR base (Yellow 453), a big sign in front of the radio op...

If in doubt - "Roger, Out"

[DubTrub]

A lot of GA pilots use the expression "Roger That" :yuk: .

What are they suggesting we Roger?

Or do they just watch too many US cop shows?

["Copy That" is another useless expression finding its way into UK GA airwaves. :yuk: ]

[Snigs]

And how people "get off" by "Roger the Traffic" I'll never understand. :uhoh: :yuk:

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

And pilots still mis-use 'Roger'. As I heard a controller say to an errant PPL once:

"Is your Roger an affirm??"

SSD

[SQUAWKIDENT]

At least I haven't heard anyone say "TEN FOUR (10-4)"

YET...

[englishal]

I believe the Ozzies use "Romeo"....which used to make me laugh when I worked on an Australian crewed ship a couple of years ago.The fat <expletivedeleted> of a first mate didn't find it funny when I broke out into shakespeare when talking to him on the VHF "...romeo, where for art thou"....No sense of humour some people:D

[vancouv]

Reminds me of something I heard:

ATC: Cleared to taxi, caution grass-cutter to your left.

Aircraft: Roger the grass-cutter.

ATC: You can try, but he might not like it.

[Penguina]

You may not believe this, but my (24-year-old, mind!) sister asked, while watching a ladz flick of some sort: 'Why are ALL pilots called Roger?'

:D

Much to the speechless incredulity of the boys around her.

It clearly doesn't run in the family.....

[redsnail]

Australian pilots use "roger". "Romeo" is possibly an Australian Navy term.

[MightyGem]

"Is your Roger an affirm??"

I've lost count of the number of times(in my military career) that I've asked a question over the radio, that required a "yes" or "no" answer, and received "Roger!" in reply.

[big.al]

"Roger & Out" is the name of a beer, brewed and sold in only one pub in Sheffield I believe. They serve it in 1/3 pint glasses because it's so strong (something like 11% ABV).

I once had a glass - very strong - a bit like a cross between barley wine and caustic soda (or was it sulphuric acid? - not sure).

[Sir George Cayley]

I've heard more than one Foreign Johnny use the above instead of Roger.

Can't find it in any docs, but it wasn't queried by ATC

Is this an acceptable reply in some parts of the world?

Sir George Cayley

[Dop]

big.al - is that pub called something like the Frog and Parrot? Sounds familiar, though it's ages since I've been in Sheffield.

I believe they gave you a special certificate for drinking three thirds.

[Four Seven Eleven]

Sir George

I believe 'Charlie Charlie' stands for 'correct'. It is/was properly used to indicate that a read-back was correct. For example:

ATC: Blah Blah blah
A/c: Roger blah blah blah (optional: "confirm?")
ATC: Charlie charlie

[big.al]

Dop - yes it is the Frog and Parrot (still, I believe). I think they do issue a certificate, although after three thirds of Roger & Out they could be giving you a cycling proficiency certificate and you wouldn't know the difference....

[CPilotUK]

Could someone explain what 'Coming Down' means? It seems to be used a lot by commercial pilots.

[StrateandLevel]

In the days of traditional radio operators dialing up a frequency, was often referred to as "xyz coming up" or "coming up on XYZ"

"Coming down" is probably a derivative of this practice as the transponder is sending the signal back down to the ground station.

[PILOTGAL]

Sorry redsnail you got it perfectly backwards.

Australian pilots use "Romeo" NOT Rodger :ok:

[maxmegger]

There seems to be a bit of confusion re Roger in Australia. Romeo is used for the letter R in the phonetic alphabet, Roger is used to say yes, although affirm is more common.
The story I heard about the origin of Roger was that the first radio controlled airport in the US of A used to get pilots to acknowledge transmissions with their name. Roger used was a very busy pilot at that airport and so visiting pilots would hear his name more that others. Eventually they all started using his name.

Steve

[Human Factor]

4-7-11,

Charlie Charlie is still used on HF.

Just noticed the co-incidence!! :p

HF

[maxmegger]

Just got this from my brother who is in the Oz navy;

I spoke to James who was a Communicator and is now a Seaman Officer. The
Navy uses the word ROGER, the only time it would use ROMEO is when using
flags. (ie. Flag Romeo) Sydney Harbour Control and Coastwatch use the word
ROMEO.

Steve

[compressor stall]

Um Pilotgal....in Oz, ROMEO is only used in the phonetic alphabet to signify the letter R. Nothing else.

ROGER is used to signify "message understood".

In 8 years of flying in just about every cornor of Oz, I have yet to hear anything different.

[QNH 1013]

Quote: In OZ........ ROGER is used to signify "message understood"

Thats interesting because in the UK "Roger" simply means that you have received ALL of the last transmission. It has nothing to do with comprehension, agreement or complying. In other words you may not have understood any of it, but the reply is still "Roger". This is obviously an extreme example, but nevertherless correct.
However, only a fool would not then ask questions to clarify any uncertainty.
In the UK, "yes" is spoken as "affirm" and "true, or accurate" is spoken as "correct" on the RT.

All in CAP 413

[BEagle]

"There seems to be a bit of confusion re Roger in Australia."

Not in the minds of a few million sheep, I would venture....:E

'Roger' means, quite literally, "I heard you".







Unless it involves sheep, of course...

[englishal]

that made me chuckle :} :} :}