Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
from
Bill Gerhold, K2WH
on
October 25, 2004
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
By Bill Gerhold, K2WH
When you received your operator's license, you were issued a group of letters and a single number. Calls are still issued this way. The number denoted your general location in the United States. W1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, & 0. Those numbers meant you were on the East Coast, West Coast, somewhere South, somewhere North etc. If you were in another call area, you had to sign "Portable x" with x indicating your current location in a call area different from your home QTH. I assume this was to allow the FCC to keep track of your movements.
Then, the FCC in its infinite wisdom decided that call letters no longer needed to denote your location either at home or portable so you can have a "6" call and live in New Jersey which historically was or is the "2" area of the country. It is also no longer necessary to change your call when you move to a new call area either. This was at one time the rule. Today, with the vanity call system, almost any combination of letters with a lottery number is possible. Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina are rapidly becoming a new secondary "2" call area with lots of "6's" judging from what I hear in NJ.
The entire country is a mix of calls with numbers that are rapidly becoming meaningless for ham operators when trying to fix in your mind the location of the station you are working. I snicker when DX stations in the U.K. on 75 meters call for "6" stations only and sure enough a "6" station does call but he just happens to be in Florida, North Carolina or somewhere other than California.
My question is this and I pose it to the eHam community: If the number in your call no longer actually denotes your general location, and the FCC decreed such, then why are calls still issued containing a number? Why not allow vanity calls without numbers with a maximum of (5) letters and a minimum of (3) such as "Bill" working "Chuck". Charlie Hotel Uniform Charlie Kilo" this is Bravo India Lima Lima, back to you.
K2WH -- still in New Jersey
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by LNXAUTHOR on October 25, 2004
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- good question... perhaps the same reason i couldn't get a vanity [amateur radio] plate for my vehicle here in '4' land (FL) when first registering in state... DMV pulled one off the shelf first, and said i had to apply for the plate later... (dunno if they were blowing me smoke or not)...
- your example of calling for a specific call area is good, although some DX ops do it to manage pileups? i have heard most now calling for specific geographic locations, such as "Left Coast Only, Please," instead of call area...
- the ULS has gotten better though; it was a simple matter to go in and change/update my address; the first time i tried to correct a mistake in my address when i got my first ticket was a nightmare (and it wasn't that long ago; thankfully i won't have to take any more exams!)...
- the vanity call system does seem to cause some gnashing of teeth, especially with the restrictions on certain call letters/groups, and paucity of vanity calls for certain call areas; most friends have simply gone for a vanity call out of district due to this...
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AE6IP on October 25, 2004
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Call signs are divided up among all the world's license granting authorities. This divy depends on the prefix/number combination to insure that two countrys' licensing authority don't both grant the same call sign to different operators.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W9GRN on October 25, 2004
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Why stop at a minimum or maximum of letters? Looking at some of the rejected requests on Vanity HQ, people come up with some interesting ones.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W4TYU on October 25, 2004
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LNXAUTHOR did not realize that Ham Call auto license plates are made to order and are not off the shelf items.
AA6IP is correct when he says that the overall call sign assignments for all types of stations are under the overall control of the International Telecommunications Union. They DO prescribe the format for Amateur Radio call signs in that they must consist of one or two letters designating the country followed by one or two numerals then by the prefix. The assignment of a specific call is from the licensing authority of each country.
Bill does have a good point but I overcome that by maintaining a callbook database on my computor. Just takes a moment to check when ever needed.
Ole man JEAN
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KG4RUL on October 25, 2004
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In all states, the DMV computer scans Vanity Plate requests for potential Amateur Radio Calls and summarily rejects any that start with A, N, K or W and have a numeric digit. If you pull out the numeric digit, you may find that the alpha characters left are already taken by someone else.
Personally, I like my Call Sign Plate which, by the way, is the ONLY one like it in the U.S! Besides, in SC it only costs $2 more than a regular plate (cheaper than a vanity plate ).
If if ain't broke, don't fix it!
Dennis / KG4RUL
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KD7KMG on October 25, 2004
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KG4RUL,
I live in Florida. They apparently do not scan apps for A K N W. The guy next door has a K9PWR opn his plate. He is NOT a ham, he owns 4 or 5 dogs.
go figure
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N3TSN on October 25, 2004
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I am in GTMO Cuba with the call KG4MF everyone asks where in Virginia I live when I tell them GTMO they scratch thier head and ask again about the KG4 which is supposed to be GTMO
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KT0DD on October 25, 2004
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Another attempt by someone to control Amateur Radio by someone who wants to or thinks they own all of Amateur Radio. 73.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AB8TM on October 25, 2004
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Well, for me personally, I think this will end up being one of our famous 'gentleman's agreements type things.
If I move my permanent residence, and am still an active ham, I would seriously consider either getting a vanity call with the proper district number or obtaining a new randomly assigned call. I just see this as courteous.
However, I do understand that some want to hold out-of-district calls because of sentimental purposes. I respect that decision too. After all, as was pointed out, the FCC does not mandate that your district number actually represent your district.
To each their own, I guess, as long as regulation allows it. There are bigger things in amateur radio to get our blood pressure up.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W1XZ on October 25, 2004
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"The call is Broken Old Bottle and the first personal is Broken Old Bottle! Hi Hi."
Ah, I could hear it now.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KT8K on October 25, 2004
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First of all, I think the frequent referring to hams at swaps as unshaven and/or smelly is a big exaggeration. I go to a fair number of swaps and find them no worse than the local shopping mall, so ... it isn't just the hams. I do expect hams to be representative of the general population for the most part, at least in the matter of hygiene.
Secondly, if I am in Florida with my eight call and a DX station says "CQ8", my common sense tells me he or she is looking for WV, OH, or MI, and I don't answer. That just makes sense. On the other hand, if they are working through a pileup and say "eights only" I MAY answer, since they are just subdividing the pileup by callsign and not looking for a contact in that specific region. I hope most hams are smart enough (and responsible enough) to understand these things, but I know it isn't necessarily so.
Common sense surely isn't common.
73 & best dx de kt8k - Tim
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KA4KOE on October 25, 2004
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I prefer the old 3 by 4 or 4 by 4 system which is no longer used. My old callsign was
KMG-5443
Wildcat
Har har....lighten up before your faces turn red!
Feeleeeep
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K5CUR on October 25, 2004
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The semi-related question I have is: is the current breakup of states into call districts still valid? In other words, are the relative population densities of various states the same as they were a hundred years ago, or whenever the numeric districts were first created?
Perhaps a population imbalance between districts is the reason the vanity calls are depleted in some districts as opposed to others.
If the relationship between geography and number is to be retained, maybe the boundaries should be adjusted to reflect current state ham populations.
Wayne
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KF7CG on October 25, 2004
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Back to removing the number from Amateur calls, that is what separates our calls from those of the broadcasters. Most of the usable three and four letter calls without numbers already belong to commercial broadcasting stations.
The vanity tag situation in Florida came because for a while the tag bureau in Florida only believed that W4, WA4, and WB4 were valid calls for Florida and they didn't change their set up when the FCC changed the rules.
For a while Florida had a large chunk of Amateur calls reserved for use with their "University Pride" series of vanity tags. These were the same format as Amateur calls and were blocked to legitimate Amateurs until the state was call on it.
David
KF7CG/4
former WB4 and former Floridian
(no thats not a vanity call - its systematic)
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N4KZ on October 25, 2004
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ITU rules stipulate the format for amateur radio callsigns. Calls with all letters and no number are not allocated to amateurs.
At present, all amateur callsigns internationally must fall into a 1x2, 2x1, 2x2 or 2x3 format. However, at the July 2003 WARC, the rules governing amateur callsigns were changed to permit 4-letter suffixes in the future. The 4-letter suffixes will be permitted to contain a number but the suffix will have to end with a letter.
The request for this change was initiated by the U.S.
By the way, special event 1x1 calls in the U.S. and the 1x1 contest calls assigned in some nations are not legal, strictly speaking. But as we all know, international law is difficult to enforce and often ignored.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N4ZOU on October 25, 2004
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Look up the Allocation of International Call Sign list and you find that the United States of America can be allocated up to 3 by 3 Call Signs. I will save you the trouble!
AAA-ALZ
KAA-KZZ
NAA-NZZ
WAA-WZZ
The numbering system is also not limited to just a single number. You could easily add a second (or more) number between the 3 X 3 groups of letters. Using this system you could give everyone in this country a license, and allow that assigned call to be held by that person past his death and never reassign it to any one else. The amount of numbers added might get ignorant in several centuries! Personally, I think vanity calls should be used exclusively with 3 X 3 calls with a second number denoting there geographical area if it is different than the one currently being held. The second number could be changed by a simple license change request to the ULS system. Same thing with an Amateur radio operator that has moved to a new geographical area. If you don't want to change your base call all you would need to do is request a change to add the second number denoting your new geographical area. Allow all current vanity calls to be grandfathered but they should add the second number if the first is in a different geographical area.
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Call letters change approved for 2005
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by KB7LYM on October 25, 2004
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It is in the making folks !
There will be a change in the structure of Amateur Radio Licensing. The Old Callsignes will be replaced by
the choice of the Operator. Country, State and location will be displayed. New signs are in the making and I, myself received , just yesterday, my New Ham plate !
On the address below you will see the Licence that will be displayed on my vehicle starting 01-01-2005
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pakrats329/detail?.dir=/717b&.dnm=6019.jpg&.src=ph
If for any reason you can not be connected send an E-Mail to me at
DRAGONFLIES329@JUNO.COM
and I will send you the picture
Frank KB7LYM ( Soon to be changed )
73
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N8AUC on October 25, 2004
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All states do not scan for possible ham calls, rejecting those beginning in A, K, N, or W. Although, maybe they should.
Here in Ohio, it is possible to have a ham call on a regular vanity plate. It costs a lot more than an amateur radio plate, but you can do it. Also, standard non commercial truck plates routinely begin with N8. This has caused some confusion with a few of our county sheriffs departments, and municipal police departments. Although the Ohio Highway Patrol (State Troopers) never seems to make this mistake.
Several years ago, a friend of mine who held an N8 call sign had amateur radio plates on his S-10 pickup. Note that under Ohio law this is perfectly legal - you don't have to have truck plates on a pickup truck. He got pulled over one night on his way home from work by a Wayne County Sheriff's deputy and written up for having fraudulent (counterfeit) truck plates on his vehicle. Upon being presented with the vehicle registration papers, the officer insisted that those were bogus, too. The vehicle was impounded and towed, and the my friend was arrested. After booking, he was released on bail. His next call was to a lawyer. The trial was actually funny. Once the Deputy Registrar and the State BMV got done with that poor deputy sheriff - and his dispatcher who had run the plate incorrectly to begin with, I doubt they ever made THAT mistake again.
I know of three other instances where the same thing has happened with different municipal police departments. The outcomes were also similar. It helps if the officers trying to enforce the laws, actually know what they are.
73 de N8AUC
Eric
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RE: Call letters change approved for 2005
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by KC8VWM on October 25, 2004
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New callsigns issued reflecting the persons location should be reassigned when a person makes a change of address with the FCC.
After all, I can't drive my car with an "out of state" license plate on it for the remainder of my license term, so why should my callsign be any different?
73
Charles - KC8VWM
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AL2I on October 25, 2004
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Out of state callsigns are a fraudulent bummer, but the number of them increases every day.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KI4CYB on October 25, 2004
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I got my KI4CYB Amateur Rradio tag here in FL with no problems at all...
I had to show my Ham license and paid for it... And waited for it to arrive several weeks later..
73 - KI4CYB
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KI6LO on October 25, 2004
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I, for one, never saw a need to apply for a vanity callsign as I found the one issued to be satisfactory. But if someone wants a vanity call, I would suppose my personal likes and dislikes should not have a bearing on theirs.
However, I am totally against the newer ruling of allowing any call area number to be used anywhere in the country as it is confusing as all get out when listening to HF. I also feel that signing portable, even though not required, is a really polite method. I sign portable and mobile when in those modes.
When I was just a pup starting out in ham radio, you could almost guesstimate where someone was by the callsign and accent on phone. Nowadays who knows where anyone is at unless they tell you.
As far as callsign plates go for CA, you have to first get a standard plate and then apply for a callsign plate. It can be done at the same time at the DMV.
Gene KI6LO
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA9SVD on October 25, 2004
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by N4KZ on October 25, 2004 ITU rules stipulate the format for amateur radio callsigns. Calls with all letters and no number are not allocated to amateurs.
At present, all amateur callsigns internationally must fall into a 1x2, 2x1, 2x2 or 2x3 format. However, at the July 2003 WARC, the rules governing amateur callsigns were changed to permit 4-letter suffixes in the future. The 4-letter suffixes will be permitted to contain a number but the suffix will have to end with a letter.
=======================================
That's NOT quite true. Other countries have been issuing calls starting with a number (e.g. 6D2VHF in Mexico) for several years now, which don't fir the 1x2, 2x1, 2x2,2x3 format.
Also, IMHO, most DX stations DO look for a specific geographical region when they "call by the numbers." If they call for "sixes," and I answer WA9SVD, I'll most likely get ignored (or worse.) If I reply WA9SVD/6, I'm much more likely to get a reply. It often means they have an antenna pointed in a specific direction; a 9 call in sic land might be working off the side of a DXer's beam if they wait for theit number to be called. YES, it is confusing to have the numbers not represent the location, but that was the decision made by the FCC, for good or ill, and I doubt we will ever be able to change things back.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4RAF on October 25, 2004
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"In all states, the DMV computer scans Vanity Plate requests for potential Amateur Radio Calls and summarily rejects any that start with A, N, K or W and have a numeric digit."
They all scan for "offensive" applications, ham callsigns are not 'reserved' from the general pool of vanity plates here in Virginia, since they have a subset notation. I called DMV recently for this reason as I considered dropping the "radio" notation because of choosing a custom background & decreasing radio theft potential. Our VA call plates have "amateur radio" on them but if I wanted to pay the standard vanity fee, they are glad to take it for a vanity style plate (with ~75 optional backgrounds) without the AR notation. Amateur plates are only available as blue on white.
The first time I got my plates, they summarily rejected my $10 application fee because ham plates are free (normal DMV renewal fee per year), as long as you have "permenantly mounted equipment" in your vehicle & provide a copy of your license (not required for vanity however).
Form VSA-10 is available in PDF format from VA DMV online. Plates are usually made in 2-3 weeks. I have never been hassled for having callplates.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WB2WIK on October 25, 2004
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Like trying to get a cool screenname from an ISP, the good ones would go pretty quickly.
73 from STEVE12345
previously WB2WIK/6
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KX8N on October 25, 2004
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"W9GRN - Why stop at a minimum or maximum of letters? Looking at some of the rejected requests on Vanity HQ, people come up with some interesting ones."
Guys, no kidding, go over to www.vanityhq.com, and check out some of the rejected callsigns that people actually apply for. Here's an example from today:
MW7SST
UT3Z
BWCAP
KCGB3
KTAB
KLAZY
These are calls actually applied for through the vanity system. UT3Z was applied for by an EXTRA.
I know this is just vaguely related to the topic we are talking about, but that section is a good place to visit to get some laughs. When I was looking to get rid of AB8JZ, I spent some time there, and I was just floored by the rejected calls. I mean, proper callsigns are covered in the Tech study guides, and some of these people are EXTRAS trying to get these crazy calls.
Myself, I'd like to see the calls stay as they are, and if any changes are made, go back to the mandatory districts - at least for vanity calls. If you MOVE to a different district, I could see you wanting to keep your call. KX8N is now a part of me, and I wouldn't want to lose it just because I move to a different district. But I don't think I would apply for, say, K3DC (just an example) because it contained my initials.
To the original poster, good topic. It's refreshing!
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KX8N on October 25, 2004
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"If the number in your call no longer actually denotes your general location, and the FCC decreed such, then why are calls still issued containing a number? "
Before I finish, let me reply to that quote too. I think the structure of our call signs, including the numbers, helps identify us as hams. I mean, commercial radio and TV do not have numbers, emergency services such as police have multiple letters AND numbers. We have multiple letters and ONE number, starting with either N, W, or K, and only certain combinations are accepted. It kind of DEFINES us, irregardless of whether or not the district number is actually accurate.
I like them the way they are, and again, I wouldn't change them.
Dave
KX8N
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KC8VWM on October 25, 2004
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"These are calls actually applied for through the vanity system. UT3Z was applied for by an EXTRA."
I bet there are people that put these erroneous callsigns on the application form so that all other callsigns submitted to the FCC for consideration (other than the one they really want) on the application form will become "automatically rejected"
This is probobly why you see these "rejected" but erroneous looking callsigns at vanity hq.
There are probobly a certain percentage that probobly think that a "vanity callsign" is exactly the same thing as choosing a "vanity license plate"
Calls like W2F4U (way to fast for you) and others have appeared from time to time.
73
Charles - KC8VWM
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N0TONE on October 25, 2004
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DX - When in a pileup, a DX station indiates he's listening for calls from a specific district as a pileup management tool, not because he's looking specifically for west coast or east coast.
Mobile/portable - My read of Part 97 says that you should only sign /x if you are away from your home station address. For instance, the infamous W2NQ/7 should not sign /7, if he is at his location as filed in Salem, Oregon. However, if he visits friends in New Jersey, and while there chooses to "check propagation", then he should sign as W2NQ/2. These are not hard and fast rules, but rather, follow the general FCC guidelines. Signing with a /x is supposed to indicate a temporary condition where your operations are not strictly consistent with the way your license is listed (such as temporary operations away from your listed address).
Callsign districts - until very recently, I could rest assured that if someone had a "2" in their callsign, then they at least once had lived in NY or NJ. But I got fooled once, when QSOing with a chap with a "2" callsign. I asked where in 2-land he'd lived, and he said, "have never even visited. I chose the callsign because I wanted the suffix, which matches my first girlfriend's initials". I wonder if he'd change callsigns with each change of girlfriend.
AM
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AC5AA on October 25, 2004
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KG4RUL said: "In all states, the DMV computer scans Vanity Plate requests for potential Amateur Radio Calls and summarily rejects any that start with A, N, K or W"
This is incorrect. Here in Texas, they seem to take delight in using the two letter, one number, two letter configuration for some of the special plate designs, and lots of them start with W or K, and they look like 2x2 callsign plates.
73, Duane AC5AA
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K7PEH on October 25, 2004
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I like the call sign format just as it is right now. In fact, I think it would be a nightmare if call signs could be chosen arbitrarily. And, of course that would never happen as it violates lots of agreements.
But, who would want this? I mean, I think it is hard enough to pull the call sign out of the noise at times. Maybe it is me and my hearing but I sort of rely on the prefix, number, suffix format. And, for those DX calls that start with digits, it always throws me a bit. And, I must admit that two-digit calls cause me to think more and listen harder.
So, let's not mess things up. Keep it as it is.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by LNXAUTHOR on October 25, 2004
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W4TYU wrote:
"LNXAUTHOR did not realize that Ham Call auto license plates are made to order and are not off the shelf items. "
- of course i realize that ARS plates are made to order; it's just that i couldn't fill out the form and submit for a plate when first registering my vehicle (something to do with title transfer completion, etc., is what i recall being told)...
- shame though, because in my last state, the plate fee was waived for ARS plates - not so in this part of 4 land!
:-(
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by G0GQK on October 25, 2004
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Why would you expect a government department to do anything that was logical, sensible, and simple.?
Perhaps you put too much faith in your belief that they know what they are doing. They don't.
If you think the US Ham radio licensing is a mess
just thank your lucky stars because the UK sytem of issueing licenses is completely crazy.We have individual call signs for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey and these are split into 1,2.3.4,5,6,7,8,9,and 0. There are G's and M's and every variation of licence you could think of from a full licence to fella's who can use only 5 watts, or is it 10 ?
Would you think you were hearing rare DX if you heard a 2E0XXX ?
Quite honestly it doesn't make a scrap of difference because most of the time those with power limitations still use the same power as everybody else !
And what is so sad is that the novice licence fellas are made to feel second class because the super duper full licence operators who can send CW at 35 WPM, and most of it rubber stamp gibberish, think they are superior. After a while the novices drop out and forget about amateur radio.......very sad.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WILLY on October 25, 2004
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by KD7KMG on October 25, 2004
"
I live in Florida. They apparently do not scan apps for A K N W. The guy next door has a K9PWR opn his plate. He is NOT a ham, he owns 4 or 5 dogs. go figure "
Has anyone looked up K9PWR yet?
http://www.qrz.com/detail/K9pwr
Appears to be a current license, albeit one that is taking advantage of the topic that started this thread.
The licensee used to have a 7 call, and lives in Washington.
Wouldn't it be interesting if she were to move to Florida and send through the request for the Amateur Radio tags?
The state would have to reject it.
The licensee could certainly respond with: I am the only person, not only in the U.S. with that callsign, but in the world. You - Florida - issue callsign plates. Why did you give away my callsign plate to someone else? I really don't want them riding around impersonating me.
It would make a good case, and an uncomfortable one for the state.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4WQ on October 25, 2004
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I believe the "3 x 4" callsign system was for CB back in the '60s (when a license was required).
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W5HTW on October 25, 2004
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I think there are something like 18 or 21 "radio districts" in the USA. These are not call sign districts but something else. So why not use them for call signs?
Like W22HTW? Or W13GAB?
Partly satire, of course. But I agree our present system makes zero sense. Once upon a time it had a recognizable pattern and a reason for existing. It doesn't anymore.
Of course three letter or four letter call signs would be impossible for hams, as they are taken up by standard broadcast or maritime. Five letter calls would do the job, but as someone points out, under international rules there has to be a number.
I think maybe we can solve the problem by going to a three or four letter call sign, followed by four numbers, like WHT3345. Or WHTW3345. Or perhaps we can go to a system that allows us to use our initials (provided we have three initials - if not, create one) and the last four of our driver's license. Of course, it has to start with a W, K, A, or N, so we'd have to have four letter and four numbers. Like WEEB1234. When you buy the radio, you simply assign yourself a call sign like that. You advise the FCC what your call sign is, rather than them advising you. In the case of duplicates, they add a suffix letter or number, like WEEB1234-133, or WEEB1234-ABC.
OK, I said satire was over. I guess it wasn't. Really, we do need some MAJOR revamping of the amateur radio rules, not just the call sign assignments. I think we should combine Part 95 with Part 97 and call it Part 795. And maybe combine it with Part 15 and call it Part 795-15.
Oops, there I go again, Nancy. Where was I? Oh yes, amateur Part 97 really needs a top to bottom, or perhaps bottom to top, rewrite. Maybe we could just dispense with call signs entirely, and make our CQ sound like, "Hey Billy Bob 21, this here is Jimmy Bob 22, gotcha ears on?"
Darn! Did it again! I think I have that ADHD, or AHDD, or DGAS, (Don't Give A Stink?) or something like that.
Yeah, we need a whole new call sign system, not even resembling what we have now. Maybe just totally sequential, like W123ABCD, followed by W123ABCE, W123ABCF, etc, right through W999ZZZZ. No special class, no vanity, no choosing calls, no assignments by district, no nothing special.
I did it! I got through one without being diverted!
Ed
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W4MY on October 25, 2004
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Having the numeral in your callsign designate your area was convenient, but other than Canada, I don’t know anywhere else in the world this is followed. It certainly never was required internationally to do so that I ever remember.
When the FCC changed to let you keep your “out of area” call years ago it probably was to decrease their administrative load. (pre ULS) Back then I heard of lots of guys loosing calls they liked because they moved.
What possible difference is it that a 2 call is in Florida?
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N4KZ on October 25, 2004
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OK, someone said ham calls could have two numbers instead of one; e.g. W33WON or K25AW or N32ABC. Since the K, W and N blocks are allocated exclusively to the USA, it would be possible for a radio callsign to have more than one number but that format is not permitted for amateur callsigns, at present, under the ITU rules.
Now don't confuse the above with callsign prefixes such as 2E1, 3B8, 4X4, 5B4, 9A, etc. In those prefixes, the ITU does not consider the first digit as a number, not in the traditional context. It's just another "letter." The second number is the real "number," not the first one. I know, I know. It's confusing.
If a 3B8 station was in a pileup and the DX station started going by call areas, the 3B8 should call as an 8 -- not a 3. The 3 is part of the prefix, not the call area. Further complicating all this is the fact that some nations don't have call areas. Take the UK, for instance. The number in their calls have never indicated their location in the UK. The number used to denote their class of license or the time period in which their ticket was issued. It doesn't even do that anymore. Smaller nations tend not to have call areas the way we do in the USA.
Speaking of call areas, how many of you know or remember that the USA call areas were realigned after WWII? Kentucky, for instance, used to be in the 9th call area and Pennsylvania was divided in half between the 8th and 3rd call areas. Arizona was in 6 land. Zero land was added after the war and a few places got shifted. Hams here in Kentucky used to have 9 calls. After the war, the FCC reassigned them 4 calls as similar to their old 9 calls as possible. My grandfather's cousin was W9LDI in the 1930s but he became W4LDL after WWII.
73, Dave, N4KZ
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N2SU on October 25, 2004
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The numeral in the callsign is determined by geography in many countries around the world. Here are some off the top of my head: Spain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Austria, Russia, China, Japan, Cuba, most of Central and South America (Argentina and Uruguay are the main exceptions) and South Africa.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KC0KBH on October 25, 2004
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KG4RUL-
Do you watch The Red Green Show? Your quote comes from it.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W6TH on October 25, 2004
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No problem with my plate which I have had for many years.
MS W6TH
.:
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W0FM on October 25, 2004
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When I began to look at Vanity call signs, I was initially after my initials (TS). They were already taken in every format available in the Zero call area where I live. I've been a Zero since 1962 (please resist the urge to comment on that).
My initials were available in a 1x2 call in several call areas other than Ø. But something kept pulling me back to Ø. Changing the call district number just didn't seem right. I didn't want to be a 1 or a 2 or a 7 (no offense to them). So I opted for my third choice in the zero call area, FM, which references my occupation. I believe that most of us would prefer to hang onto the call district number from where we reside. I could be wrong.
However, the population is more transient today. Some guys would have had a dozen or so different call signs in their lifetime due to changing residences if they could not take their call with them.
My only regret occurs when a non-ham asks me to explain the funny little Ø on my license plate. If the Ø were a 5, they could say it right without help.
73 de Terry, WØFM
Once a Zero, always a Zero!
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by X-WB1AUW on October 25, 2004
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Let’s see.
Eham does not issue calls.
The FCC issues calls.
If you wanted to find out why calls are structured they way they are, and not the way you think they should be, you could ask The League, search on the internet, look at what agency issues what allocation of call signs. I have a 1948 ARRL Hand Book that can answer your question.
Ever wonder why hams went from inventing their own call sign to a government agency issuing them? Ever wonder why USA does not issue all 2X A calls?
AND. Finally. If hundreds of people agree with you on eHam, so what? What changes?
Bob
PS: after I moved to 7 land, I got a 7 land call. Life is pretty simple.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AE6IP on October 25, 2004
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My call is from the sequential list. It's not the best call for noisy conditions, as people trying to dig it out often get the E and I confused, even when I give it phonetically. (They get all the right letters, but there seems to be a tendency to swap the E and the I, coming up with AI6EP or AI6IP.) I'm not going to change it though.
As long as the FCC doesn't require changing callsigns when moving to another call district, I'm not going to do that either. It would be nice to have the same call throughout.
The club has a vanity call. K6BAR, because the club is Best Amateur Radio Club. I think vanity calls are fine for those who want them, and there are plenty of good reasons to have them.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N3AIU on October 25, 2004
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I've kept my three call in spite of the fact that I have houses in both Arizona and Colorado. I just like the call. I may change it in the future if I ever settle down (grin).
On a positive note, when I make contacts on the air I often get the question, "Where did you live in three land?" It's always a good way to break the ice and get a conversation started.
73, Nick N3AIU (ex WA3YJZ, WN3YJZ)
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K3WQ on October 25, 2004
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The Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 (Telecommunication), Chapter 1, Part 2, Subpart D, Section 2.302 contains an extensive, and presumably complete, listing of United States call sign allocations. The chart in this citation shows that all amateur call signs contain a single number. Those without numbers are reserved for broadcast and maritime stations, among others. If you want "numberless" amateur call signs, it will require an act of Congress. (If you want to look this up, go to http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html)
I don’t see the inconsistent assignment of call signs (e.g. an amateur from New York gets to keep his 2-land call when moving to Ohio) as a big problem. If you’re on the air and you’re curious about where the other party is located, or want to clarify your location, just ask or use the stroke-number suffix (e.g. K3WQ/5). Abandoning the requirement for consistent district numbers must surely have reduced the amount of paperwork the FCC has to deal with, which is good.
-Dave, K3WQ
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N4VOX on October 25, 2004
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If it's not broke, don't fix it. Someone has too much time on his hands.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N2RRA on October 25, 2004
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Just like KG4RL said " If it aint broke dont fix it "
Let's not make this complicated everything has been working just fine all these year's.
I also certainly do not with this hobbie to confused with 11 meters.
73,
Eric
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K8XF on October 25, 2004
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The question at hand is an old complaint- Being a K8 in Florida I will receive a comment or two from some guys that seem to become befuddled and upset that
they are not talking to a guy from 8-Land. I might suggest that you dont turn your antenna until you rec the qth from the opr.....I still rec the following questions:
1. Are you on vacation?
2. Are you retired?
No, to both questions.......
73
Mike, K8XF
perm 4 since 84
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W7WIK on October 25, 2004
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LNXAUTHOR must think there's a state prisoner in the back room of the DMV with a ball and chain around his ankle stamping out vanity plates on demand!
It does, however, seem like a waste of resources to issue a normal plate, then have to apply for the vanity later. Here in Oregon they issue a paper permit to use while waiting for the callsign plate.
73,
Marco, W7WIK
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KA3TKZ on October 25, 2004
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What about the old days of dropping the A from KA3TKZ when you upgraded from Novice? The Fcc should make people change calls when moving to the new area, I will be changing soon from the 3 call area to the 4 call area just like the old days.
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RE: CAN YOU HOLD 2 US CALLSIGNS AT THE SAME TIME
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by WB4QNG on October 25, 2004
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In Ky I believe they scan them. I have never seen Ham calls on vanity plates. We have a seperate plate for ham calls. I think it is ugly. Just a plain white tag with your call letters. On top it says Ky. and the bottom it says amateur radio. Vanity plates are the regular plates. I have one on my Van. Back to the post leave it alone. I thought they did away with holding two calls at the same time.
Terry
WB4QNG
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RE: CAN YOU HOLD 2 US CALLSIGNS AT THE SAME TIME
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by WB4QNG on October 25, 2004
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I didn't know they had you drop the A when you upgraded from Novice. You used to have an N that changed to whatever the next letter was. I was originally WN4QNG and they changed it to WB4QNG. I liked the old way better when the number was the area that you lived. I also liked the idea you kept what the FCC gave you. That is why I never changed. Then again front wheel drive cars are a fad. Give me a good old manual typewriter. Who wants a calulator when you got your head. I think I am old
Terry
WB4QNG
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KI8GW on October 25, 2004
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What do the following callsigns have in common?
K8SEX
N8SEX
and worst of all...KC8UNT
Answer: They are all legal and assigned callsigns!
Bonus round..which one of the above is a vanity call?
Answer: N8SEX, the others were actually assigned by the FCC!
Isn't anyone in Gettysburg looking at these things when they are assigned?
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N9AVY on October 25, 2004
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How about just adding an extra number to the callsign to denote the call area the station is actually in ?
If a W2 is a permanent resident in the 6th call area then his call would become W26xxx. This would open up more possibilities for issuing callsigns since W2_xxx could be issued in all 10 districts.
Naturally, this will make many unhappy since they will have longer callsigns... tough.
Have found that this new call assignment idea looks better with each beer I consume ....
Jerry N9AVY
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W3DCG on October 25, 2004
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Well, if you live in Four-land, a cool call is hard to get.
Yes, like ISP screen names-
Since my last name begins with G, first name Darin, I used to be able to acquire "Daring" with ease.
Not anymore. Instead of acquiring it, I just have to
be that way. Such as taking a 3 in Four-land.
As far as DX specifically seeking either, a 3 or 4, I doubt it.
Maybe Rhode Island and Delaware.
Most DX beamwidths will pretty much cover regions of 3 and 4 land just the same.
Virginia and DC, for example.
However, I know of at least one person, who was at a distinct disadvantage. He participates in contests almost every weekend, QRP/Stealth from a 4th floor apartment near down-town Atlanta. Sometimes when he'd drop his 6th district call, being QRP, often, he could just hear them start turning their beams!!! hi hi.
This would be a problem working say, the Texas QP from GA, with a CA call, QRP/Stealth/fixed antenna!
And so, after having his 6th call for over 30 years, he finally relented, acquired a nice and tidy 1x2, 4th district.
A small feat in it's own right.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W5AK on October 25, 2004
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Good evening all.... If you want to sign with "BILL", "KEN", "DON", etc., you can today. Just fire up a 1 watt station on 160 to 190 KHZ and choose your own call sign. I don't think "HELL" is taken yet so hurry up and claim it! Seriously, the call sign issue is a non issue to me.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K8SRB on October 25, 2004
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I live in Ohio. My van has K8SRB, amateur plates. My PT Cruiser has K8SRB M, vanity plates. I tried to have a (-) or (/) added between the K8SRB and M, but that was no go! Best they can do was to leave a space between the call letters and the letter M. I have radios and antennas on both vehicles at all times and I am the only driver.
Stan, K8SRB
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4JSR on October 25, 2004
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Why worry about it? We are all going to die if we live long enough!
By the way Bill, WH, They are dudes! ;-P
73, Cal K4JSR
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Why have a license at all????
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by WB4M on October 25, 2004
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Last post was to use 10-codes on ham radio, now we have someone who wants to make up calls using only letters. They do that on CB now, and what you propose is actually to use "handles" disguised as a license.
Hey, just forget about licenses altogether, I mean, that is what a lot of dimwits out there want. But I'm sure if that happened, you'd still find something to bitch about..
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K8ZO on October 25, 2004
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If I remember correctly there are N#XX plates all over Mississippi that belong to members of the military. It has been a few years since I was down there, but I rember thinking that there sure were a lot of hams in Biloxi (without any antennas on their cars), which has an air base.
Could have fooled me.
K8ZO
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KL7IPV on October 25, 2004
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N8AUC is correct. Unless the plates are specifically "Amateur Radio" plates, you can buy a vanity plate with a callsign "looking" number set. I could have KL7IPV in Amateur Radio AND a vanity plates side by side at home. The difference would only be the designation of "Amateur Radio" stamped on one of the license plates.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N6XA on October 25, 2004
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So like, uhhhh...wouldn't that mean a lot of hams out here right now would have to give up their callsigns.
I mean mine is n6xa. There is probably a n5xa, though I havent't really looked. etc.
But overall, this is a really useless topic anyway.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W3DCG on October 25, 2004
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It's an IDEA... nothing wrong with posing it for discussion.
My take on it would be, easier to just state your city, you know-
"Roger, callsign-XYZ from DoubleU Three Dee See Gee, Atlanta."
Besides, in pileups, the other station doesn't care in that moment.
If it's a normal contact, almost all of them include QTH.
I guess I kind of like the idea of having an occasional element of mystery added to my radio adventures.
Like when I hear the non DX sounding KH6 calling CQ- you can usually tell if it's a station in Hawaii, or a station in Nevada, etc. (by the way the signal sounds)(at least on 40/80). If you make contact, they'll tell you where they are and visa versa.
OK, I take it back, I just heard an NH6 station, QRZ says they're in Spokane, and I wasn't sure.
See? If it wasn't so late and I wasn't about to crash for a few hours sleep before work- I'd have called him first, and he'd have told me QTH Spokane, and next we'd be chatting about where in Hawaii, when, perhaps food there which I sometimes miss, etc. So ultimately it does not really matter. What matters is the FCC knows where you are, and there are otherways to verify location, aside from engaging the station of interest on the air.
73.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W5RJ on October 26, 2004
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Very interesting concept, but.....
my call is w5rj. what happens to all the other "wrj's" assigned in other call districts ??
I forsee a "catch 22" situation arising.
also a VERY large can of worms....
don't change something that is working.
albeit a lot of people are NOT happy with the system at present but it works. don't screw it up anymore.
73 W5RJ
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KB9WQJ on October 26, 2004
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Did anyone besides me work Ruff K9SEX for a QSL card in the last NAQP? Interesting card.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 26, 2004
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Wayne,
To answer your question, no. The
FCC a few moons ago consolidated
their radio districts. For example,
my District Director (formerly known
as EIC) is now in KC,MO instead of
NORVA (a little Navy talk from an
Army guy). There is only a "small
professional staff" left at the
ole District office. I'm not sure
how many radio districts are left,
but way less than ten.
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 26, 2004
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David,
And those 3-4 letter calls not
used by broadcasters are used
by DOD for land and ship stations.
They have K, N and W as the first
letter.
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 26, 2004
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N4KZ, you're right about the 1x1
calsigns that is why you must
also sign a legal callsign at
appropriate intervals. For example,
id had the special event callsign
K4W in use, I would still have to
ID WA4MJF when required by regulations.
So it is enforced.
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 26, 2004
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Eric,
I hope he initiated a Federal
Lawsuit for deprivation of
civil rights under colour
of law. Also, a state suit
for false imprisonment.
A few of these and he would
be financially comfortable
for life :-)
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 26, 2004
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AM,
Well, then there was W2NSD in NH for
many, many moons. :-)
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 26, 2004
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Willy,
I don't know about other states
or commonwealths, but in NC you
can have the same number letter
combination on different plates.
You run them by the number letter
combination and by type plate.
Plate number 1, for example,
could be the Guv, the senior
US Senator, Chief Justice of
the State Supreme Court, Chief
Judge of the NC Court of Appeals,
US Attorney for the Eastern
District, US Marshal for the
Eastern District, US House Member
from First District and on and on.
101 could be the NCNG AG, the
Commander for the NCSHP, the
Comander of NC Wing CAP, etc etc.
So it takes the type of plate AND
the number letter combination
to determine who it is.
There could be a WA4MJF Vanity
Plate as well as WA4MJF Amateur
Radio Plate. So if I had a
second vehicle and I wanted
WA4MJF for it, it would be a vanity
plate (with higher costs)since
I already have a WA4MJF Amateur
Radio plate.
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KX8N on October 26, 2004
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KG4RUL said: "In all states, the DMV computer scans Vanity Plate requests for potential Amateur Radio Calls and summarily rejects any that start with A, N, K or W"
Nope. I had to fight to get KX8N on my van because the state of Ohio had already given it - SEQUENTIALLY - to a guy with a motorcycle. He wasn't a ham, it wasn't a special plate, they just stamped out KX8N as a random plate and gave it to him.
I contacted some people high up, spread a little BS, and after fighting for a month they revoked his plate, gave him a new one, and I finally got KX8N on my van. But it's hard to tell how many other people they have done this to. They've at LEAST done it to everyone around here with a KX8 prefix.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 26, 2004
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K4WQ,
3x4 can also be a Part 90
base license or nowadays
a system license.
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by EXWA2SWA on October 26, 2004
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A quick look at my signon here tells you that I used to be WA2SWA. My ticket expired lo these many years ago (somewhere in the 60's).
Two facts: I live in Oklahoma. I'm in the process of regaining amateur privileges.
However, even though:
I'll always remember having been WA(and WV!)2SWA; and,
I'll always think "W" is cooler than "K", "A" is weird & "N" belongs to the Navy; and,
I hate sending either '5' or '0' in CW (5 of anything is boring!),
I'll accept whatever sequential 5-land call is issued ... unless it sounds REALLY bad on CW!
I'm a believer in traditional things, and think an amateur's callsign should reflect his location. Just because we own a timeshare in Hawaii, and so have a legally acceptable mailing address there, doesn't mean I should have every QRP operator in 1 or 2 land going nuts to work a strong KH6.
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PROOF THAT YOU CAN HOLD 2 CALLSIGNS
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by KB7LYM on October 26, 2004
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Now many, many years ago, when I was a Ham of Twenty Three
I was married to a widow who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her, and soon they, too, were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life,
My daughter was my mother, cause she was my father's wife.
To complicate the matter, even though it brought me joy,
I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby then became a brother-in-law to Dad,
And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad.
For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother
Of the widow's grown-up daughter, who, of course, was my stepmother.
Father's wife then had a son who kept him on the run,
And he became my grandchild, for he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother, and it makes me blue,
Because, although she is my wife, she's my grandmother, too.
Now if my wife is my grandmother, then I'm her grandchild,
And everytime I think of it, it nearly drives me wild,
For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw
As husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa!
I'm my own grandpa as you all can see
With 2 Call signs WA 7 --- and KB
I'm my own grandpa.
It sounds funny, I know, but it really is true
So Folks remember , you could be too !
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W4PA on October 26, 2004
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Depends on goals, really. As a contester, I would have liked "N" for my callsign, because a short one is desirable...but I didn't see the FCC going along with me.
I'd had have settled for "N4", but they just wouldn't do it. Aw shucks.
I had a perfectly serviceable 2x1 callsign that was from outside the 4th call area but my frustration over people on the air being able to understand that I was in the southeast eventually led me to change it to a W4 call in the vanity program. It sucked being slowed down in contests because of it. And it happened OVER and OVER and OVER again...so I changed it. Sigh.
Anyone should be able to retain or obtain any valid callsign they want, regardless of district, for whatever reason. I'm not real big on other people (or governments) making decisions for me. I suppose it could be argued it WAS other people that led to my callsign change - but it was voluntary on my part.
Scott W4PA
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K0RGR on October 26, 2004
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Actually, I really like my callsign, and I think I should change my name to Roger.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WI4CW on October 26, 2004
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Nope -- heck no... Keep it as is - with one slight adjustment:
1. revoke all vanity calls that are out of your call number area. Allow you to of course acquire a new properly numbered vanity or system callsign..
If you live in a particular call area and want a vanity call in another area - tough.... There's a certain amount of order that needs to be maintained.
73 de WI4CW
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WW0Y on October 26, 2004
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Several people have mentioned calls with two numbers in them such as K25AW. Calls in that format are reserved for broadcasters. TV translators and some stations in the low-power TV service have calls with the two digit channel number followed by a two letter suffix. FM translators have numbers from 201-300 in them. International rules dictate what formats amateur calls can be but it's been a long time since I read them. I do remember that the prefix can be 1 or 2 letters but must be followed by a number. It can also be 1 letter and 1 number (not necessarily in that order) and then followed by a number. Calls like K34RT or W13AC could be legitimate amateur calls if the FCC decided to make them such.
One call I know of that broke the rules was King Hussein of Jordan whose call was simply the countries prefix, JY1. It's good to be king.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KD5OWO on October 26, 2004
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First off let me say that in Texas amateur radio license plates say "Texas Radio Operator" on them, so you know they are ham plates, I have seen other plates that had what looked to be callsigns on them, but they were not ham plates.
My callsign was issued to me, I did not pick it.. it was given to me in the 5 call area because that is where I live, but if I was to move out of this area I would not change my call. It does not bother me that I talk to 0's in Arizona, or 6's in 2 land.. The numbers are their as part of the callsign, and they shalll remain for a long time..
73'
+Steve/KD5OWO
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4DOU on October 26, 2004
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I'm not real big on the chaos we now have. In many instances our calls have no rhyme nor reason. Our call areas have been rendered impotent and meaningless. Even states/countries like Hawaii and Alaska are having their calls perverted. A KH6 may prove to be in Arizona now, or an AL7 may be in Iowa. All in the name of what?
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W3PH on October 26, 2004
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There was a period when I moved around a bit, and wound up with a series of calls that reflected each new location - for a good while I was W3CGJ, then suddenly, W0OLW, then K4JYU, and it was annoying, because I felt as if I was starting over every time I moved, since anybody who knew me by my old call wasn't going to recognize the new one. I managed to snag W3PH when I moved back to 3-land in the '70s and I'm glad it's no longer necessary to change.
I agree that it's frustrating to call a W6 only to find he's on the other coast, but with the FCC database on CD and on the net, I find it easy enough to look up somebody's likely location before calling (assuming I care about the location ...).
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by NY7Q on October 26, 2004
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I believe you have too much time on your hands...this thread is completely stupid.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WILLY on October 26, 2004
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by WA4MJF on October 26, 2004
"...
I don't know about other states or commonwealths, "
Neither do I.
"but in NC you
can have the same number letter
combination on different plates.
You run them by the number letter
combination and by type plate.
Plate number 1, for example,
could be the Guv, the senior
US Senator, Chief Justice of
...
So it takes the type of plate AND
the number letter combination
to determine who it is.
There could be a WA4MJF Vanity
Plate as well as WA4MJF Amateur
Radio Plate. So if I had a
second vehicle and I wanted
WA4MJF for it, it would be a vanity
plate (with higher costs)since
I already have a WA4MJF Amateur
Radio plate. "
I'll take you at your word for it. But I must say that I am amazed.
To me, it looks like there is great potential for confusion for the law enforcement agencies. I think that most often when a tag number is used, it is difficlut enough to get the numbers and digits. I can only imagine how difficult it might become, when the type of plate is needed too.
Tnx for the information.
73
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by NN6EE on October 26, 2004
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I guess everybody has missed the boat on this particular posting/thread in that the intent obviously is to have Amateur Radio and (UGH!!!) CB'ism one and the same, not necessarily because of the initial poster's query but because the DAMN FCC wants to rid their hands of us, and
"Master-Baiter" Roley Hollywood wants to RETIRE!!!
Say BOYS!!! It's not that far-fetched is it???
Jim/nn6ee
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA8EBM on October 26, 2004
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I think we should use our grid locator with a real "hammy" sounding handle trailing off the end of it like EN72DX-Sparky--- haven't figured out yet what to do if you are mobile.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KE5COY on October 26, 2004
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In Texas you can put the same Amateur Radio plates on multiple cars. So, I could have the same exact plates on all three of my vehicles. See link below
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/vtr/spplates/specialplate.htm?nbr=69
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by LNXAUTHOR on October 26, 2004
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K0RGR wrote:
"Actually, I really like my callsign, and I think I should change my name to Roger."
- ah crap! i shouldn't have read this while drinking a cup of coffee! it went up my nose and all over my shirt!
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AE7I on October 26, 2004
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I'm thankful for the call sign assigned to me by the FCC and also glad that I still live in the 7th district. I have no interest in ever changing my call sign.
If I were to move elsewhere, I would not change my call sign to match the district. However, I DO NOT agree with hams requesting vanity call signs from other districts, nor do I approve of a letter only call sign. It seems this vanity call sign option has gotten out of hand.
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA3LGG on October 26, 2004
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how's this for call letters..."to all hf operators, you are tuned to W B P L ON YOUR RADIO DIAL, on the air 24/7 to better serve you"!
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KB8UFF on October 26, 2004
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3 x 4 call signs were used in CB radio in the 60's. My parents call was KPM4279. I also remember my uncle's to be KNM4171. Call signs were only divied out one per family. If my mother wanted to call my father she would say KPM4279 Unit 1 to KPM4279 Unit 2. For a while it was only legal to talk to people in your own family unit to unit. CB was actually pretty cool back then. Big, big difference from today. I remember my parents having shoe boxes full of QSL cards from all over the country (even though talking farther than 155 miles was illegal).
All calls were sequential, there were no vanity calls and no call plates. Most radios only had 3 or 4 channels.
Then came all the improvements...like dropping licensing and call signs. So...I am a little scared of making improvements to our system. Anyone here blame me?
73,
Mark Kb8UfF
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KB8UFF on October 26, 2004
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3 x 4 call signs were used in CB radio in the 60's. My parents call was KPM4279. I also remember my uncle's to be KNM4171. Call signs were only divied out one per family. If my mother wanted to call my father she would say KPM4279 Unit 1 to KPM4279 Unit 2. For a while it was only legal to talk to people in your own family unit to unit. CB was actually pretty cool back then. Big, big difference from today. I remember my parents having shoe boxes full of QSL cards from all over the country (even though talking farther than 155 miles was illegal).
All calls were sequential, there were no vanity calls and no call plates. Most radios only had 3 or 4 channels.
Then came all the improvements...like dropping licensing and call signs. So...I am a little scared of making improvements to our system. Anyone here blame me?
73,
Mark Kb8UfF
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K5CUR on October 26, 2004
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AE7I: "If I were to move elsewhere, I would not change my call sign to match the district. However, I DO NOT agree with hams requesting vanity call signs from other districts"
Case A is okay and case B is not? Exactly how are the two different? In both cases, the current location does not match the call. The confusion factor is the same. Both types of mismatch are a deliberate act on the part of the ham.
I personally think that both should be allowed or both should be banned.
Perhaps either the district numbers should be forced to match the location, as in the past, or the whole location thing should be dropped, since it can't be depended on. In other words, drop the district number concept entirely and assign the number randomly throughout the entire country, just like the prefix and suffix. Use all ten digits randomly in all states.
If the number is not an reliable indicator of region, don't use it to indicate location at all.
As an analogy, the Houston inner city used to be area code 713, the outer ring of suburbs 281, and cell phones 832. Now phone numbers in the Houston area are assigned to any one of the three randomly.
You can't depend on a 713 number being in the inner city any more, so you no longer use the area code to designate location.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KG4RUL on October 27, 2004
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Just maybe, the answer could be for HF operators to give their Grid Square, as VHF/UHF operators do???
If I have, let's say, a '6' call and I give 'Echo Mike 93' as my grid, there is no question that I am not on the West Coast!
A simple and elegant solution.
Dennis / KG4RUL
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KC8VWM on October 27, 2004
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Great solution Dennis!
Charles - KC8VWM /EM89kw
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KJ5CO on October 27, 2004
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IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR LIKES OR DISLIKES. ITS ABOUT SEPARATING YOU FROM YOUR MONEY. IF SOMEONE HAS A NEW IDEA AND LOTS OF MONEY CAN BE BANKED, IT WILL PROBABLY BECOME A REALITY. THE FCC DOESN'T GIVE A HOOT WHETHER YOU LIKE YOUR CALLSIGN OR NOT. IF YOU WILL GIVE THEM SOME MONEY FOR A DIFFERENT PIECE OF PAPER, THEY WILL PROBABLY SEND YOU A NEW PIECE OF PAPER. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN A CALLSIGN STOOD ON ITS OWN MERIT AND NOT WHAT IT SAID. AS OTHER POSTS HAVE REFLECTED, A CALLSIGN HAD SEVERAL MEANINGS BUT IN RECENT YEARS IT HAS BECOME A PERSOANALIZED FEATURE INSTEAD OF AN ACCOMPLISHMENT. /
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KX8N on October 27, 2004
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//////
No need to shout, man.
Everyone posting should realize that this is just a speculation thread, and there are not going to be any actual changes to the current rules, regardless of what suggestions you may have...
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AE5X on October 27, 2004
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Just over a week ago K2WH posted the following:
by K2WH on October 19, 2004
I recently came over to Eham (my home page) for some fresh ideas and looked forward to discussions of a technical nature - NOT! There were some early on but lately however Eham lost it. There are no longer posts that are of a technical nature or articles of interest to new hams.
The site has just becomome a bitch session that mimics the Gerry Springer show. Name the subject ham related or not and bitch, bitch, bitch about it. I am starting to believe all subscribers to Eham are morons, just like Springers guests. I guess I've had it with these meaningless, nonsensical, moronish, boring and witless discussions that serve no purpose and go no where.
**************************************************
So where's the "technical content" in this current posting of yours about callsign numerics (yawn)?
Pot. Kettle. Black. K2WH.
73,
AE5X
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4JF on October 27, 2004
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"All calls were sequential, there were no vanity calls and no call plates. Most radios only had 3 or 4 channels.
Then came all the improvements...like dropping licensing and call signs. So...I am a little scared of making improvements to our system. Anyone here blame me? "
Callsign plates predate CB. At least in some states. I remember seeing them back in the 50s. (CB started in 1958, when the 11-meter band was taken away from hams. Which upset a few....)
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K5UJ on October 27, 2004
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This is a waste of hot air. K2WA is unhappy about out of district callsigns. K2WA, let's see you move to California and get a 1x2 call beginning with K or W. I bet you keep your K2WA call out there, once you look at what's available (nothing).
As I have said before, I will be happy to get a K9 or W9 1x2 call, provided we play fair and roll back the clock on all the other licensing changes instead of picking on one thing to make us happy. Most hams licensed in the past 15 to 20 years don't know that once:
There were no vanity calls.
You had to be an Extra and licensed 20 years to get a 1x2 call, or any ham who could prove he had held a license before 1924.*
There was no VEC testing--you sat before the FCC themselves to take your tests.
The FCC assigned you a callsign and you took it and that was that.
When you moved to a new callsign district and notified the FCC of your change of address you got a completely new callsign which they assigned you systematically, but if possible, one from the same format i.e. 1x2, 1x3 etc.
So if we are going to whine, let's go all the way and eliminate the vanity call program, revoke the 1x2 calls given to extras with less than 20 years, and systematically assign calls by the FCC, so that people like me have a fair shot at getting another K or W 1x2 whenever we move.
Oh, I see. You'd rather not do all that. Then live with it.
*When I was first licensed there were still a few OTs around who were generals and advanced who held 1x2s (now all SKs). Back then, hams who had been licensed as young men in the early days but could not prove it offered thousands of dollars for pages torn from Callbooks, or any other proof the FCC would accept that would get them grandfathered into the 1x2 calls as techs, conditionals, generals and advanceds. A fire at the FCC in the 1930s(?) destroyed their records which was why they needed this proof.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 27, 2004
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Though there were no VECs, as
stated above, you could get
your Novice by examination
from another ham (much later
2 hams). Also, if you
lived more than 75 miles from
a quarterly examination point,
you could get a Technician
(Conditional) or a General
(Conditional)from another ham.
You could be called
in for reexamination by a FCC
Engineer at any time though
if you had the (C) after your
license class.
Any test taken at the FCC
office or a quarterly examination
point could not be retested.
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KD5OWO on October 27, 2004
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I am happy with how we have things now, there is no reason to change.. I am sure others agree that things are fine.. Some hams might want to go with how things used to be, but personally I think times change and so does the callsign system.. but the proposel for a callsign without the number is just silly...
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K2WH on October 27, 2004
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Wow, you guys need to relax. Advocating the issuance of calls without numbers was only a tongue in cheek statement and the headline is not exactly correct as stated by Eham. It should not have said I was "advocating" calls without numbers.
As to some who said they bet I would keep my call if I moved to a new district, not so. I would change it in a heartbeat and it would not have to be an extra call and the number would be what it ought to be.
For the skeptical, I was once WA2AEH. I held that call for 30 years but I changed it and it because it was a pain in the butt. No one missed it, not even me.
If you think your call is somehow sacred, special or some sort of personal identity you are deluding yourself. No one really cares what your call is, not even your friends.
K2WH
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AE6IP on October 27, 2004
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> If you think your call is somehow sacred, special or
> some sort of personal identity you are deluding
> yourself.
Nah, I just think it's too much bookkeeping hassle to chcange it.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K2WH on October 28, 2004
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"Just over a week ago K2WH posted the following:
by K2WH on October 19, 2004
I recently came over to Eham (my home page) for some fresh ideas and looked forward to discussions of a technical nature - NOT! There were some early on but lately however Eham lost it. There are no longer posts that are of a technical nature or articles of interest to new hams.
The site has just becomome a bitch session that mimics the Gerry Springer show. Name the subject ham related or not and bitch, bitch, bitch about it. I am starting to believe all subscribers to Eham are morons, just like Springers guests. I guess I've had it with these meaningless, nonsensical, moronish, boring and witless discussions that serve no purpose and go no where.
**************************************************
So where's the "technical content" in this current posting of yours about callsign numerics (yawn)?
Pot. Kettle. Black. K2WH.
73,
AE5X"
This is true. However, my article was submitted at an earlier date and was posted to Eham after my backing out statement.
K2WH
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KJ1Z on October 28, 2004
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I can see some of the issues dealing with callsigns. I use to be NH6ZB and had held that call for over 10 years in Hawaii and San Diego and did here in Maine for a couple of years. When I started geting back into HF is when the confusion started, especially with European stations. It got so out of hand that after I upgraded this year to Extra I went for a vanity call with the correct district number to alleviate the confusion. Also to during contest I always had to sign /W1 because of the old Hawaiian call. I do miss the call and was the only one in the state with the NH prefix and it had sentimental value to me, but I figured it would be easier on me and the other stations to have the "correct" district callsign. Also too QSL issues come into play becuase now I am chasin incoming QSL via the bureau in Hawaii cause W1 bureau will not see Hawaiian prefix call signs. For the most part it does not bother me if someone has a different callsign that does not match the district they are in, because I chat with whomever wants to chat regardless.
73 to all..........Mike.........KJ1Z
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W2NJS on October 28, 2004
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I've now read through almost all of this thread (whew!) and all I can say is that overall lack of knowledge about amateur and other callsigns is astounding.
For the record, any US callsign must begin with a W, or a K, or an N. So forget about doing something dopey like spelling your name.
And for those who seriously advocate a ham callsign set of five letters only, you should be aware that such a callsign would make the holder an aircraft -- or is it a ship? -- I actually forget. But there's no way you can set up such an arrangement for hamming BECAUSE THERE IS ANOTHER SERVICE WHO IS ALREADY USING THE FORMAT, got it?
And the comment about a three by four format with letters leading (e.g., WXT5678)is almost as bad. That's one of the formats (and currently the most common)used by the FCC for public service/business/commercial two-way licensed stations. So, just as I said for the all-alpha group, THERE IS ANOTHER SERVICE WHO IS ALREADY USING THE FORMAT.
I've held the same callsign for more than fifty years, and I have no intention of ever giving it up voluntarily, no matter where I live. It's me, and I'm it. I could get my initials on a 1X3 callsign in any one of several districts, or my high-school club callsign (which unfortunately is languishing unused in the FCC pool), but I won't.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 28, 2004
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W2NJS,
Don't forget AA through AL
US ham prefixes. Ships and
military stations have the
three and four
letter calls, except for those
in the Domestic Broadcast
Service.
Aircraft use their tail number
and some can be ham calls, as
one ham who had an aircraft owner
cancel his callsign found out :-(
Not as ole a fart as you :-)
I've had WN4MJF for 9 moons and
WA4MJF for 41 years and three
moons.
73 de Ronnie
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4JJ on October 28, 2004
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I believe that US amateur call signs are required to be consistent and unique among amateur call signs in all other countries.
Using numbers in our calls that no longer designate US regions is one thing - allowing alpha characters without numbers would magnify the mystery of a ham operator's location to worldwide.
Joe, K4JJ
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by AE6IP on October 28, 2004
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> I've now read through almost all of this thread
> (whew!) and all I can say is that overall lack of
> knowledge about amateur and other callsigns is
> astounding.
Yes, yes it is.
> For the record, any US callsign must begin with a W,
> or a K, or an N.
Oh. Didn't know that.
AE6IP, marty
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W1XZ on October 29, 2004
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>I've now read through Almost All of this threAd (whew!) And All I cAn sAy is thAt overAll lAck of knowledge About Amateur And other cAllsigns is Astounding.
>For the record, Any US cAllsign must begin with A W, or A K, or An N. So forget About doing something dopey like spelling your nAme.
Is this correct? I wAs thinking there wAs Another letter, but it might be my overAll lAck of knowlege About AmAteur cAllsigns.
73's
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 29, 2004
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W1XZ,
Actually, it is AA-AL, but not A.
:-)
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4JF on October 30, 2004
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"If you think your call is somehow sacred, special or some sort of personal identity you are deluding yourself. "
Actually, it IS a personal identity. By international law, I am the only K4JF in the world. There are lots of folk with the same name.
That's why I was irritated when I found an online service had already given out K4JF@soandso.com. But I'll just live with their ignorance.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4JF on October 30, 2004
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For a bit of history on callsigns:
When the FCC set up Citizens Band, they used a unique format. They set up 12 districts, and used the district number, followed by "W" or "Q", then 4 digits. (The first call I used was with a business, and their call was 6W2079.) That was, of course, a violation of international law and, with red faces, they changed to the familiar 3x4 format. My next call under that was KDB2206. Every time you renewed, you got a new sequential callsign.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by WA4MJF on October 30, 2004
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Yep, and those prefixes were not
assigned to the US of A. The FCC
got egg on its face and had to change
the calls pronto.
73 de Ronnie
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K5CUR on October 30, 2004
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"That's why I was irritated when I found an online service had already given out K4JF@soandso.com. But I'll just live with their ignorance."
Is this a ham-related online service, or a general one? If the former, you have a point. If the latter, you are only assuming that this account has something to do with your call sign. But it could stand for "Kudos For Jonathan Frakke" or something else that means something to the account holder.
It's one of the hazards of having a short call sign, especially containing the numbers 4 or 2, which sometimes mean "for" or "to". This would be less likely to happen with a call such as KE5CAQ (my prior call). But you never know.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4JF on October 31, 2004
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No, it wasn't a ham-related internet service (are there any??)
I didn't assume it had anything to do with my callsign. As I said, I was just irritated, not upset. I figured it most likely was ignorance, completely innocent.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K4JF on October 31, 2004
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"It's one of the hazards of having a short call sign, especially containing the numbers 4 or 2, which sometimes mean "for" or "to". This would be less likely to happen with a call such as KE5CAQ (my prior call). But you never know."
True. But it makes for a nice car tag!! :o) Once a fellow looked at the tag on my black Firebird Formula RamAir and asked "I know the JF stands for 'Jet Fighter", but what does the K4 stand for?" >chuckle<
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KQ6Q on October 31, 2004
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Callsigns are part of the mystique of hamming. I've been KN6VVD, K6VVD, W5QDL, W7HSS, and KQ6Q. thought long and hard about whether to check the 'new callsign' box when I passed extra, but Calif is my home state, and was my QTH in the military at the time.
It's an oddball call, phonetics makes it worse, amazing how many people have to ask to have it repeated. Used to confuse folks in CW SS and FD when I was giving out NE as my section (QTH Omaha). Humorous event - got Nebraska plates with KQ6Q just fine the first time, but when they changed plate color, and I went to pick up my new ones, they were for KZero6Q (slashed Zero) - the guys at the prison had been used (browbeaten) into all Ham plates had to be a slashed zero, so they gave me one. I had the plates redone with the correct callsign, but couldn't keep one of the erroneous ones for a souvenier. Would have been fun!
Anyway, to me callsigns are kind of like fingerprints - nobody ever held mine before me, and likely no one will again! Same for my onetime DX call - HS2AJG - loved it, and only a few hundred QSL cards were mailed with it!
73 to all!
Fred Wagner, KQ6Q
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KX5RW on October 31, 2004
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I totally agree with keeping call signs 'in district' like it was done in the old days. Maybe we could issue our own calls containing something such as the letter "K" and the first initial from our first and last names followed by our postal code? Hi!
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KJ5XX on November 1, 2004
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I think that what you are suggesting is a bad idea for several reasons:
- First, callsign designations are stipulated by the ITU and structured as they are I am sure for a number of good reasons, not the least of which is that assigned callsign prefixes allow us as hams to identify other stations based on their prefix. I can always tell that VK7 is an Australian station without knowing anything else about the station. Secondly, it gives structure to what would otherwise be a chaotic situation. How would countries control callsigns if people could choose any characters they want?
- What you suggest sounds a lot like CB Radio - "This is Bill calling Chuck". The FCC at one time required CB radio operators to register and hold valid FCC callsigns in order to operate. For those of us that first got interested in radio via CB radio, you may remember this. My callsign back in the 70s was KPM-1002, and the FCC required that you sign using your callsign, just as ham radio operators are required to. I have to say that it gave some structure and organization to the hobby at that time. But then the FCC dropped the requirement altogether - no registration and no callsign required. And the result is the freeforall that you see in CB radio today. If we want the Amateur radio hobby to denigrate to mass chaos, then eliminating the requirement for callsign areas (even if they no longer reflect the license holder's geographic area) is a good way to start.
- Commercial radio stations are the only stations that are allowed by the FCC to have alpha only callsigns - WJBK, KZPS, etc. Again, you know when you hear one of those callsigns that you're talking about a commercial station.
The designated callsign ranges for ALL U.S. based stations is:
AAA-ALZ
KAA-KZZ
NAA-NZZ
WAA-WZZ
Again, this system provides structure and organization to the callsign system.
I'm in favor of requiring that hams re-apply for a new callsign from the FCC when they move outside their callsign area. Over time, this would self-correct the problem.
Ron - KJ5XX (Texas)
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by N3TTU on November 1, 2004
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Another ham friend and myself just moved to Tennessee from Marland, hence the "3", but I will be taking the tests for General and Extra in the next 3 months and will then change my call to a Extra class "4". I would not want to change my call until then due to the fact that all the 1x3 calls are used and since I am actively working toward Extra; I will change it then. I have at least however updated my address with the FCC. My friend's grandfather who was a ham for over 50 years and was an Extra class, died recently. In memorium, my friend plans on using the vanity system to get his grandfather's old 1x2 call even though it is a "3". As far as I know you are allowed to do that, but I agree that people should not make a habit of choosing random vanity calls that are out of their region. I would hate to think that I can't get an Extra call because they are all used up by people in Kalamazoo.
73
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K3XJ on November 2, 2004
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THE SYSTEM HAS WORKED WELL ,AND WE SHOULD STICK WITH IT !
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K5CUR on November 2, 2004
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"THE SYSTEM HAS WORKED WELL ,AND WE SHOULD STICK WITH IT !"
I have no doubt that people said the same thing when the *present* system was suggested, back in the days when nobody could have a call outside their area. In the days when you had to change calls when moving from area to area and vanity calls did not exist at all.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KC8VWM on November 3, 2004
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THE SYSTEM HAS WORKED WELL ,AND WE SHOULD STICK WITH IT !
So you must obviously be a Republican...
;)
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K5EUY on November 3, 2004
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I wish the old system was back, but as one person noted, that isn't going to happen! I believe having the number in our Call is what separates us from commercial Broadcast Stations. For instance, "CNHC" may be a station in Canada, whereas "KNHC" or "WNHC" would be a station in the U.S "HCJB" is Shortwave from Ecuador and "TGNA" is Guatemala. I am not for doing away with the numbers!
I chose (for nostalgia) to apply for a Vanity Call and get back my old call from Arkansas (circa 1957), K5EUY! Now, after using it since December of 1998, I'm not sure how smart that was. I am seriously considering getting a call with a "9" in it since my QTH is Fort Wayne, Indiana!
If I sign K5EUY portable 9 or K5EUY stroke 9 on SSB, the other station thinks I am an Arkansan or Texan operating portable in Indiana! I guess K5EUY/9 is okay, but its a pain in the whatever to have to add this to the call. A 1 X 3 is long enough!
Enough rambling! An N9_ _ or KJ9_ or AJ9_ would be nice on 20 Meter SSB! WOW! The call actually matches where he is. 73 de K5EUY (for now)!
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by K5SET on November 5, 2004
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Callsigns are computer generated based on your state address at time of issue. To change this and allow callcign selection at time of issue would require a complete rewright of software and simply delay the issue of New callsigns. I vote to leave things alone.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KE4NYV on November 5, 2004
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Hey why not just go back to old CB callsigns with 50 letters and numbers? Why not just throw the whole system out on it's ass? The call system has been around for years and works just fine.
Jason KE4NYV
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Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by KB6JPA on November 6, 2004
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Bill, I know you have heard of IARU, the international body governing amateur radio between nations. The FCC may not care about your location, but it is only authorized to use the prefixes and numbers agreed to with IARU. Right? So the FCC may no longer care how those prefixes, numbers and suffixes are allocation within regions in the US, but it cannot allocate you callsigns beyond its authorization.
Mark
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by NV8A on November 6, 2004
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"In all states, the DMV computer scans Vanity Plate requests for potential Amateur Radio Calls and summarily rejects any that start with A, N, K or W and have a numeric digit. If you pull out the numeric digit, you may find that the alpha characters left are already taken by someone else."
I had the callsign AB2OS in NY, but I couldn't get a license plate with my call in Michigan because their system refuses to differentiate O (letter) from 0 (zero), and the whole A<letter><digit><digit><letter> sequence is dedicated to fund-raising plates to benefit academic institutions.
When I selected a new call appropriate to my new location, I made sure that I could get a plate to suit (for $2 extra).
Alan
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by W8UR on November 7, 2004
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Quote:"I had the callsign AB2OS in NY, but I couldn't get a license plate with my call in Michigan because their system refuses to differentiate O (letter) from 0 (zero), and the whole A<letter><digit><digit><letter> sequence is dedicated to fund-raising plates to benefit academic institutions."
You could have fought and won.
MCL 257.217a states "A person who holds an unexpired technician, general, conditional, advanced, or extra class amateur radio license issued by the federal communications commission may make application directly to the secretary of state for a registration plate inscribed with the official amateur radio call letters of the applicant as assigned by the federal communications commission."
MCL 257.226 specifically states: "Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the secretary of state, upon application and payment of the proper fee, shall issue a registration..."
There is nothing in the law which allows the secretary any descretion regarding a bona fide application, and the law specifically permits call sign applications. The secretary does have discretion with personalized plates, which may have been their source of confusion.
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RE: Call Letter Assignments, What's Up?
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by XWA2SWA on November 11, 2004
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I've got time to decide whether to put up or shut up: My new sequential is KE5CXX.
Now, CXX (Charlie Xray Xray) isn't quite as cool as SWA (Short Wave Amateur), but it doesn't sound too bad on CW. Gotta live with it for a while & see how it goes.
Many thanks to Ron W7VU and Steve W3HF for Call Book help.
73,
Jim
KE5CXX
From my Oct 26 post:
"Two facts: I live in Oklahoma. I'm in the process of regaining amateur privileges.
However, even though:
I'll always remember having been WA(and WV!)2SWA; and,
I'll always think "W" is cooler than "K", "A" is weird & "N" belongs to the Navy; and,
I hate sending either '5' or '0' in CW (5 of anything is boring!),
I'll accept whatever sequential 5-land call is issued ... unless it sounds REALLY bad on CW!"
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