I have taken N2ERN's suggestion to use return address label stickers on things, and now on rides on every battery pack, HT, FRS radio and eyeglass case in the house.

A very simple and easy solution.

UPDATE: It's now been about 8 years since I left my HT on that bench, and the resturant moved locations about three years ago. After a few years, the owner passed away, and the staff and family decided to let it go.

How sad I am that they closed the place, but what a wonderful memory I have of them.

I guess all things must pass...

I don't recall furnishing ANYTHING to report the death of my father.  I just posted to an SK forum, and poof...the data base that used to contain his license information was gone the next time I looked for it.

If someone was supposed to wait for confirmation or something in writing, they jumped the gun. (Not that anything shady was being pulled, or that anything I told them was incorrect.  I just never received anything in response and someone deleted the record from the data base.

I shudder to think that anyone could do that if they  covetted someone's call sign... (I don't think that K8HLK or whatever his actual call was, was particularly desirable... but it was his, as randomly assigned by the FCC back in the 80s.)

Thank you for your responses.

I'm not sure that I can recall my dad's call now. I can come close, but without an old call directory handbook to confirm it, I'd be guessing.

I can think of only one or two positive and one or two negatives to reporting an Silent Key ham.

First, it returns calls to the pool, as if that was a problem.
Second, it might alert theives that some gear might be unattended or available on the market soon.
Third, as mentioned, sentimental reasons for "keeping it in the family."
Fourth, to save on the expense of reprinting QSL cards... or
Fifth, if there were a lot of personalized logo hats, shirts, banners, or poster or some such in the ham shack.

NONE of the above apply, as he had no QSL cards, no gear and no hats or shirts.  In fact, had we not found the paper in the bottom of his important papers drawer, I would not have known that the call existed.

PS: We also found a license (permit?) for a CB from the FCC as well...and that license I never recall him using either...though he did carry a CB with him on long driving trips in the 70s when the CB boom hit.

Forgive this seemingly insensitive inquiry, but I've been mulling this over for years, and know no one else to ask.

My late father had earned his general license in the early 1980s when he retired.  Though he initially tried to use my HW-16, he was too unfamiliar with it, and never had a rig of his own.

When he passed on, we found his license among his papers.

And sometime later, I mentioned on-line that he was a "silent key", an expression that I understood simply meant that he had passed away.  I had not expected that all references to his license in the database would be erased.

Now, after earning my own license, I am wondering if I did the right thing, "notifying" others that he was a SK.

Can you think of ANY benefits to NOT identifying a silent key?
Given that he had no rig, no recent activity, and lived in another state, can you think of reason why I should not have "admitted" that his call was an SK?

Is there anyway to reassert his license at this point? (I am quite certain that his license would have expired twice over by now...)

Just curious if there are any aspects to this that I may have not realized.

Thanks guys,
JRV

Thank you all for your quick response. I guess there is some hope of the calls showing up before they "need to be used" at our major club function.

Sorry I POed N5LRZ with my honest inquiry...  I thought I was quite clear that it was 1:30 a.m. and that I was sleep deprived... unable to reason where to look, nor having the time to look up regulations.

The kids were asleep, the ARRL manual is missing (in their backpack?), the wife has packed up the Radio Shack primers from Gordy West, and I didn't know the  latest revision to Tech priveldges that  were apparantly covered in the class (but that I can't attend, due to work).

So I turned to my trusty Elmers on Eham for some quick info and to crow about my two budding hams. If I can just kindle their little spark of interest into a hobby or show them what all they can now DO with Ham radio, perhaps we have a chance of getting them INTO the hobby.  

However, with attitudes like N5LRZ "dumping" on an obvious honest request for help, I think the future of this dying hobby is written on the wall!

Again, let me say thank you to the six of you who responded positively to help direct me to the correct place to dig it out for myself. I knew I would receive help by coming to Eham...

I'm told my two kids (ages 12 & 14) passed the Tech Class license at the Ham Club exam class tonight! Hooray, but I couldn't be there!  As an old rusty General, I don't recall just what privledges they now have.
Do they have to wait to appear in a database at the FCC before beginning? Since they didn't learn code/CW (I've still got an HW-16 packed away) they probably want VOICE, and soon.  Just what voice privledges do they have, given that I have two or three 2 meter HTs and a pack of FRS units of varying reliability.  (I know, I know, dig out the manual and read up...)
but at 1:30 a.m. working second shift, I'm looking for a faster answer, as I won't see the kids until next weekend. I'm looking for a way to surprise/reward them both.  Any suggestions?

How can you judge the quality of coax when the only source in town is a Radio  Shack?

As I recall, they offered me RG58  and RG8X at other times.

Seems like it was what was left over that they were willing to whack off for me.

I didn't know any better: Still don't.  What's the difference?

Is there a readily accessable list of the common Ham abreviations? My son is getting swamped... QRM, ARRL, FCC, CW, CQ, etc....

Can we get a master list of all the stations that already have this ban in place... and how many have something pending?

This is an excellent thread, and posed the question that kept me out of Ham radio for years.
There was no one (back in the day) to ask this quesiton of... that is, my HW-16 had three or four bands to chose from, and unless I had a measured antenna for each, there was no way to know which to attempt, OR WHEN.

Is there a central place where a description of each band and the characteristics is printed up? I could never catch one when reading a study manual.

This type of information could be critical to catching a new novice ham and getting them to become regular on the air!

Do you agree?

I'm not clear on why someone "tone deaf" would not be able to perform CW copy and sending...   Doesn't "tone deaf" refer to the inability to distinguish one tone from another?  Or are you using the term differently?

What electronic kit would recommend I buy my 10 year old son to interest him in Ham radio or electronics? I built Heathkits when young, but they're out of business now. Who has taken their place in educating our kids like we were? Help me please! Thanks!

I had an HW-16 as a teen novice WN8RXA, and bought a Heathkit VFO to expand it. Used it one summer and put it all away. My dad sold the VFO off, and the buyer smoked it...power cable was configured for HW-16 only! What was the OTHER rig you could wire it for, and, can one rewire the VFO (model #?) to serve the other? (A matter of an 8 pin plug, as I recall.) HELP please!

I had an HW-16 when a teen novice, and bought a Heathkit VFO to expand it. Used it one summer and put it all away. My dad sold the VFO off, and the buyer smoked it...power cable was configured for HW-16 only! What was the OTHER rig you could wire it for, and, can one rewire the VFO (model #?) to serve the other? (A matter of an 8 pin plug, as I recall.) HELP please!

Well, it's been 5 years since I posted this true story...
And what a lot of repsonses!
True, it was more a LOST rig than stolen....
And, yes Tim, I STILL remember the details cause it was my first HT, and represented a SIZEABLE investment for a young ham entering the field. I had turned Heaven and Earth to find that HT again... and I'm glad I did.
When I DID find it, the explanation by the resturant's manager dove-tailed perfectly with everything that I had learned from other HAMs that were monitoring the local repeater and had heard the attempt to contact someone.

So, sorry if it sounded fake to you.
It meant EVERYTHING to me, especially to get it back! I had had one meal a month at that resturant ever since, if only to help reward and payback the owners for their keeping it safe.  

Now, 5 years later, the battery pack of NiCads has died, and I'm having trouble finding a replacement for my beloved ADI AT-201.  Any suggestions, please let me know.  I'd like to keep this ol workhorse in service after forgetting about it for a year at a time...until our club's annual community service project rolls around each Spring!