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Subject:Re: Pan and urgent messages From:Grant Hogarth <GRANT -at- ONYXGFX -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 29 Apr 1996 10:03:35 +8
The correct usage I was taught is "Pan, Pan, Pan... This is vessel XXXX".
Pan is 1 level down from a Mayday, and indicates a vessel that is in
trouble, but that there is no immediate threat to life or limb.
(ran out of gas, etc.)
I believe (but do not *know*) it was chosen because of "Pan" = all
(as in "All Stations"), and because it was short and distinctive.
Further enlightenment is welcome.
Grant
--- in reply to: ---
> Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 02:16:20 -0400
> From: Vincent Reh <rehvince -at- TOGETHER -dot- NET>
> Subject: Pan and urgent messages
> While looking through a government radio operations manual, I ran
> across a term that was unfamiliar to me, "pan." According to the
> manual, pan is to be used to indicate that a message is urgent. The
> manual also discusses the proper use of the term "mayday," which is
> probably familiar to most of us.
> Has anyone heard of "pan" being used anywhere? Where did it come
> from? I understand that "mayday" comes from the French "m'aide'"
> which means "help me." I'm baffled by pan.
> Vince Reh
> rehvince -at- together -dot- net
=====================================
Grant Hogarth, Information Developer, Onyx Graphics Corp. Midvale, UT
grant -at- onyxgfx -dot- com WWW:http://www.onyxgfx.com FTP:ftp://ftp.onyxgfx.com
#include <std_disclaim>
Learning the value of silence is learning to listen to,
instead of screaming at, reality: opening your mind enough to find
what the end of someone else's sentence sounds like, or listening
to a dog until you discover what is needed instead of imposing
yourself in the name of training.
-- Brother Thomas Dobush, _The Art of Raising a Puppy_
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