“Control” prowords are used to control the message flow between the two operators. They can be used to:

  • Begin a message

  • End a message

  • Separate parts of the message

  • Control the pace

  • Request repeats

The control prowords are:

MESSAGE NUMBER

  • Indicates the start of a message

ROGER

  • Acknowledged, i.e. “I heard and understood” (does NOT mean “yes”)

BREAK

  • Interrupt

STAND BY

  • Wait

CONTINUE or GO

  • Used by the receiver to tell the sender to continue with the next set of five words/groups

NEWLINE

  • Skip to a new line; paragraph break

MESSAGE ENDS or END OF MESSAGE

  • Indicates the end of the message content

SAY AGAIN or SPELL [PHONETICALLY]

  • Used by the receiver to request a repeat.

  • Usually followed by one of the following qualifiers:

    • "WORD AFTER ..."
      • "Say again word after ..."
      • Respond with group or part requested
    • "WORD BEFORE ..."
      • "Say again word before ..."
      • Respond with group or part requested
    • "BETWEEN ... AND ..."
      • "Say again between ... and ..."
      • Respond with group(s) between blanks, observing limits
    • "ALL AFTER ..."
      • "Say again all after ..."
      • Respond with all groups after the one specified to the end of the message, observing limits
    • "ALL BEFORE ..."
      • "Say again all before ..."
      • Response with all groups in the message to the group specified, observing limits
  • If not followed by a qualifier, applies to the entire previous transmission