Wire codes for telephone,military,electrical etc. Usually do not use the alpha characters I,O,Q,U,V,W,Z. Why?, I could be a 1;O,Q look the same as well as U,V .
W is a M upside down,and Z can be a 2. The phone company uses the vowels for
the dial.
agnus
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, agnus, glad to have you with us.
When you start a new thread, it’s helpful to others if you provide a link to the column you’re commenting on. Keeps us all on the same page, saves time searching, etc. No biggie, you’ll know for next time. In this case: Why is there no Q on the telephone dial?"
It’s obviously an old column, and might be updated someday to “Why do we still call it a ‘dial’?”