Atc Communication Help?

[TurningFinals]

Their callsign, your callsign, message. Just get exactly what the message part is in your head before pressing tx!

[thing]

Thing.
Im guessing that you are talking about an airport named after a county that no loger exists, near a river estuary with a suspension bridge.

How did you guess?!! As you say, decent enough guys but I have a theory they think we are all mode s equipped and can just punch the code in as they read it out.

[Helicopterdriverguy]

I called said frequency the other Day, on a CAVOK day, with every bob and dog on frequency, forgetting they did that. Oh, after manically remembering how to write, did i eventually program their squawk. Next time i shall remember to tell them to standby!

[tmmorris]

Maybe I'm in danger of starting to feel I know what I'm doing... but 'Squawk XXXX and pass your message' has never bothered me. I do exactly that i.e. dial in the squawk (short pause therefore while I do so, though modern transponders do make that easier) then pass the message which, after all, I was expecting to do so I have already thought through.

I do think the 'pass your message' spiel gets a lot easier with time. It used to worry me a lot. So the message to the OP is keep at it, like everything else in flying it gets easier with time.*

*apart from landing which seems to go in waves.

[thing]

dial in the squawk (short pause therefore while I do so

It's the short pause that's the problem. How many times have you been twiddling the transponder knobs and in that pause some other cheery soul comes blurting in with 'G-**** for basic service'. then you get 'Standby G-****' and on it goes. It just doesn't sound sharp either. I like to be quick and punchy on the radio, gaps to me are a sign of someone who hasn't thought about what they are going to say.

It should be 'G**** for basic service (or whatever)

'G-**** squawk 1234'

Squawk 1234 G-****'

Short pause...

'G-**** identified, pass your message.'

Far more civilised.

[Mach Jump]

...but I have a theory they think we are all mode s equipped and can just punch the code in as they read it out.

Nope. They have been doing this since well before mode S was invented. I think it's an imperfect copy of a military way of doing things similar to your last post.


MJ

[TurningFinals]

With experience comes capacity. Once you have a few hours under your belt you'll realise what you once thought were big issues are actually fairly insignificant because now they're second nature.