Not to belabor my previous post, but to buttress it . . . From "The Radio Amateur's Operating Manual, 3rd Edition, Copyright 1972 by ARRL" (with thanks to Mike, AB3AP):
Pages 8 and 9: /K is the procedure signal which means "go ahead." It always has this meaning when used by itself at the end of a transmission or during exchanges of brief transmissions using break-in. It is always used after a CQ but it is not used when answering a CQ or calling any station with which contact has not already been established. K is not usually preceded by any other prosign. KN is used during a QSO to invite the station being worked, and that station alone, to transmit. It indicates that other stations are not desired in that QSO and is frequently used by DX stations to avoid calls from other stations. KN should always be honored. It is a serious breach of on-the-air etiquette to call despite a KN. KN is properly sent as a single character, as the bar over the letters indicates, and not as two separate letters. KN is not used after a CQ, unless the CQ is directional or informative. "CQ CQ CQ DE W6QMO KN" is self-defeating and contradictory. After a directional CQ however, it emphasizes that answers are desired only from the place specified: "CQ NYC CQ NYC CQ NYC DE WBSLX KN."/ 73, Kent Trimble, K9ZTV Jefferson City, MIssouri ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html