TWO EIGHT ONE NORTH HOWLAND CALL KHAQQ BEYOND NORTH DON'T HOLD WITH US MUCH LONGER ABOVE WATER SHUT OFFAgain, the upthread responses are intriguing
For the purpose of my little 'at home Morse Code exercise', I'll continue to see what comes up. I hadn't considered "phoenix". I had considered lat and long which brings up some questions.
First, I'd like to clarify (as I tried to do earlier) that this is merely me saying 'what if'- I'm not trying to disavow professionalism or effort from 1937 (or anyone's experience in this matter).
The consesus here seems to be '281' is received as it was transmitted. So, for the purpose of discussion, why '281'? Why not 280 or 285? Would the celestial navigation have been so precise as to transmit '281 N'? And if '281' was indeed transmitted, where is the word 'equator'? Was it not received or was it transposed into something else in the message? Or is it implied in '281 N'?
How about the words 'beyond' and 'water'? And the whole phrase 'don't hold with us much longer'?
I truly am curious as to what folks think about these other phrases.
Also, since this thread is "The Most Perplexing Issues", I'd like to say that one of the most perplexing issues to me is who was or wasn't hurt during the landing.
An injured Fred changes the dynamic of future transmissions. Amelia would likely have been getting location information from written notes. Or, if she was getting info from an injured Fred, she would have had no idea of its accuracy. For instance, a person with a head injury can have lucid moments- but may not have accurate recollections during those lucid moments.
An uninjured Fred changes the directions of the post loss messages. Accuracy and location details would be present (from Fred's navigational skills). I would think extraneous details would be minimal. Even though its been stated that neither were proficient in Morse Code- Fred would have a familiarity with it due to his maritime experience.
If neither were injured or both were injured- that again changes the dynamic.
Either way, the '281' transmission happened a few days after the landing. Food and water may have been scarce. Injuries would have been getting more serious. Infections may have been setting in. The message could have been long and complicated or short and repetitive or a combination of both.
Many factors would dictate the contents of this message. Even the smaller details of 'writing' a message in Morse code to prepare it for transmission would be a factor. Details such as length of time to prepare such a message. Is there paper, pencils, a Morse Code chart for translation? Did everything get wet during the landing? How 'readable' were the charts, maps, etc...
I could go on and on. The '281' message is definitely perplexing.
Thanks everyone, for the fascinating discussion
LTM~ Who's looking for a pencil,
Stacy