History of the Ham Radio Callsign
Created by on 2017-05-20The Storied History of the Ham Radio Call Sign
Every legalamateur radio operator in the world has a government issued call sign, and manyhams are better known to their radio friends by their call sign than they areby their given birth name. The uniqueness and prestige of a call sign is indeedone of the most important things that provide the persona that IS amateurradio. Remember when you first openedthat letter from the FCC, it was not unlike Christmasday as you learned what your new call sign would be. From then on, you would beknown by that call sign.
Call signs areimportant indeed. Think of the call sign W1AW,and 99% of hams would know that this once identified Hiram Percy Maxim, thefounder of the ARRL. The call sign wasso important that it became the official call sign of the ARRL. But, if onethinks about it, we don't really ownthese call signs, they're leased to us by the FCC for our use as long as we remainlicensed. We are the caretakers, andwhen we become a silent key, they are passed along to the next caretaker.
The origins ofamateur radio call signs go back to the earliest days of radio, informally atfirst, then more formalized as major world events transpired that changed theface of amateur radio itself. Thisevolution can be broken down into five distinct periods of history:
The very earlydays of ham radio was an interesting time, not completely unlike the untamed
However, as theairwaves became more and more congested it was clear that more needed to bedone to coordinate and publish established call signs to reduce conflicts.
By May of 1909 the "wirelessregistry" listed many more amateur wireless stations and their call signs, mostlisted were using three letters by now. (It's interesting to note that manyused two letters followed by the third letter of "M" to denote that they were employees of Marconi Company). Somehams were listed with a combination of letters and numbers, such as J.C.Randall of Albany, New York who was listed signing as "S4", and F.W Harris of Renton, Washington, who signed simply as "
In such anunregulated environment that had many wireless stations competing, (all utilizingtransmitters with very broad emission spectrums), and coupled with crudereceivers on the other end, conflicts caused by both unintentional andintentional interference were commonplace. This was getting worse by the day,and one day it all came to a head. That day was April 15, 1912.
On that fatefulday, the seemingly impossible happened. The "unsinkable" RMS
There was also athird issue. The Marconi Company early on had established the "
While the above isa nice narrative about a well-known disaster, what does this have to do withamateur radio call signs? When the dust settled, the US Congress beganinvestigations into how to keep this disaster from repeating itself. Besidesthe sole remaining Titanic wirelessoperator, Harold Bride, the radio pioneer and tycoon GuglielmoMarconi himself was called before Congress to explain his company's practices.The end result of these hearings became what is known as the Radio Act of1912, written into law on August 13, 1912. This historic act had thefollowing provisions, among others:
The end result ofthe new licensing requirements dramatically dropped the number of amateurs fromabout 10,000 to around 1,200 almost overnight, and almost killed off the hobby.This was a win for the Navy and commercial wireless interests, as they reallydidn't want any "amateurs" on the air anyway, interfering with
On theinternational front, the International Radiotelegraph Convention of 1912established the first internationally recognized call sign standards, based onthe country. This standard replaced the random three letter call signsprevalent then. Major world powers weregiven single prefixes such as "N", "W", and half of the "
On May 9, 1913, theofficial United States Policy for Radio Call Letters was published:
"The call letters for amateur stations in the United Stateswill be awarded by radio inspectors, each for his own district, respectivelyaccording to the following system:
(a) The call will consist of threeitems; number of radio district; followed by two letters of the alphabet. Thus,the call of all amateur stations in New England (which comprises the firstdistrict) will be the figure "one" in Continental Morse, followed bytwo letters; in California (in the sixth district) the figure "six"followed by two letters; in South Carolina the figure "four" followedby two letters; in Missouri the figure "nine" followed by twoletters, etc. The letters "X", "
The territory of each district was as follows:
(b) The threeitems; a given figure first, followed by two letters of the alphabet, thus maybe combined in 598 different calls, which will probably suffice for the amateursending stations in most districts for some time to come.
(c) Radio inspectors will insert amateur station calls in stationlicenses according to this system, and will keep a permanent chart, of 598squares, lettered with the alphabet from left to right and from top to bottom("A" to "W"), inserting in the appropriate square the serial license numberof the station to which the call letters were awarded. Within these limitationsradio inspectors will use their discretion in the award of calls, avoiding, ofcourse, duplications.
(d) When a station is abandoned andthe license canceled, or if a license shall be forfeited for violation of law,the call assigned to it may be allotted to another station.
(e) If the entire 598 calls have beenexhausted, radio inspectors will issue additional calls, consisting of thefigure of the district followed by three letters. From such combinations shouldbe excluded the combination SOS, andPRB, all three-letter combinationsbeginning with QR or
The "official" USamateur ham radio station call sign was officially born, but what isinteresting to note here was that the Department of Commerce, who wasresponsible for these regulations, thought that 598 call signs per districtwere plenty "for some time to come." Little did they know that the number of USamateurs would balloon to the almost three-quarter million we have now!
Radio amateurs,while no longer licensed, were a valuable asset for the war effort. They wereencouraged by the government to help man coastal wireless stations and enlistin the Signal Corps for field radio operations.
At the conclusionof the war the US Navy put together a very large push with the Congress toensure that future amateur radio activity remained silent, so the militarycould continue to have the airwaves for themselves. Mostly due the effort ofHiram Maxim and the ARRL that effort was defeated, and amateurs could onceagain be licensed and back on the air starting in early 1919.
Since all licenseshad been cancelled at the start of US involvement in the war, all previous callsigns were forever lost. When the nine district radio offices once again openedfor business amateurs lined up in an attempt to ensure low letter suffixassignments. (Are things really different now outside Apple stores these dayswhen the new phones come out?)
As early as 1920some of the call districts had run out of two letter suffix assignments, sobegan the three letter suffix call sign. (That said, there were some reassignments oftwo letter call signs, if you knew the right person!)
By 1923, asboth receiver and transmitter technology greatly improved, internationalcontacts between amateurs were becoming commonplace. Amateur stations, for themost part, still didn't follow the call sign prefix standards set by the InternationalRadiotelegraph Convention of 1912, so there were again problems related toduplication of call signs. Only this time on a worldwidescale. Remember that the policyestablished in 1913 did not cover call sign prefixes for amateurs, only thedistrict assignments and suffixes. Therecould be a 2AL in New York working a2AL in Brazil, or another one inEngland. Amateurs, (being inventive as they are), took the matter in their ownhands, and sometime starting in the mid 1920's US amateurs began using anunofficial "u" or "U" as a prefix oncall signs to denote they were from the US. By 1927 the prefix "nu" (NorthAmerica, United States) became commonplace on QSL cards (example:
In 1925 theDepartment of Commerce opened up the "Z"letter suffix for assignment, and allowed the "Y" letter suffixes to be used for educational institutions.
The WashingtonConference / Radio Act of 1927 established formalized US amateur radiobands, and finally put US amateurs under international prefix rules that wereloosely established in the international conference of 1913. As a result ofthis act a new commission was formed, the Federal Radio Commission. Thecommission was assigned the task of issuing licenses, including amateurradio. Also part of this latest act, theUS was finally going to follow the already established International TelegraphUnion (ITU) call sign standards.
The ITU standardswere upgraded to grant the entire "K"prefix to the US, in addition to the existing "W" and "N" prefixes.(Remember that Germany had the "KAA"to "KCZ" prefixes issuedpreviously). The Navy was reserved the "N"prefix, while starting in 1928 the "W"and "K" prefixes were authorized forcivilian services, such as amateur radio. As new amateur licenses were issued,and old ones were renewed, the "W"prefix was simply added to the existing call sign.
Unrelated toamateur history, (but a question that always seem to arise), is the history ofhow the US commercial broadcast stations got geographically divided into "
In 1933 PresidentFranklin Roosevelt requested the Secretary of Commerce to appoint aninterdepartmental committee for studying electronic communications.
On December 7,1941, the "day that will live in infamy", the world of amateur radio wasupended for the second time, as the US was drawn into the Second World War. Allamateur activity was officially suspended January 9th 1942 for the remainder ofthe war. The big difference here though, was that the FCC continued to issueand were allowed to renew amateur radio
This lasted untilthe war officially ended in September 1945, and shortly afterwards amateurswere granted limited permission to get back on the air in November of 1945,with only the ten and two meter bands to start. The US amateurs were back, evenif only in a limited capacity at the time.
During the war the
Also at this timeUS Possessions had own unique prefixes assigned, ie:
In 1951 there was abig push to create an "entry level" amateur license, so in response the FCCcreated a new Novice amateur radio license class, originally as a one year,non-renewable, low power, and CW only license. These new "novices" wereassigned either a WN or a
As the number oflicensed amateur operators greatly increased in the boom years following thewar, "W" prefix call signs startedto run out, so starting in 1947 the first "K"prefix calls began to appear in the continental US. By 1953 most districts wereissuing them, and some still were until 1964. (The 9th call district area was first to implement the new "
By the late50's/early 60's all of the possible combinations of
However, therecycling of old call signs was not new when they began reissuing unused "
The issuance ofthe recycled call signs was a lot of extra work for the FCC, so it beganissuing new "WD" prefix call signsin the 8th, 9th and 10th area call districts, startingaround 1976. (In 1978 the "WD"prefix was replaced with the "KA"prefix, assystematic licensing was put into place). But what happened to the "WC"prefix, which logically should have come after "WB"? The answer is; those prefixes were reserved for Radio AmateurCivil Emergency Service (RACES) stations at the time. VHF and UHF club ownedrepeaters also had their own 2X3 format call signs issued, starting with the "
In 1975 the FCCreleased special 1x1 call signs for special event stations, choice 1x2, and "
However,
The Groups were defined as:
Group B -- Advanced Class
Contains most "K", "
Group C -- Technician & GeneralClass, (and later, the Technician Plus Class)
Contains all "N" 1x3 call signs.Unassigned "W" and "
GroupD -- Novice Class
Contains most "K" and "
Note that no provision had been madefor the issuance of AA-AL and
In 1995 the Vanity"for a price" program opens, consisting of four "gates":
Gate 1: 5/31/96, for those amateurs that had held a call before, oreligible for "in
memoriam"calls
7/22/96, for Club stationtrustees that were eligible for "in memoriam" calls
Gate 2: 9/23/96, AmateurExtra requests
Gate 3: 8/6/97, AdvancedClass requests
Gate 4: 12/2/97,
So now we have thefull history of the ham radio call sign, from the infancy days of amateurradio, until the present day. What doesthe future hold for our call signs? Who knows? Eventually, the "
In conclusion,please take the time to appreciate the past efforts and tenacity ourforefathers, and especially the gallant early efforts of the ARRL, had toensure that the hobby we all enjoy as radio amateurs even exists today. Ourunique call signs define who we are as amateurs, and have from the start.Please remember to take good care of our special call sign heritage for futuregenerations of amateurs.
Bibliography:
| W4JQK | 2017-07-07 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great piece. I have been licenced for 63 years now and this explains a lot of things. During that time I have held 7 US calls and 2 foreign ie PZ1 and VE7. Ham radio has shaped my entire life. | ||
| W7VO | 2017-07-05 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks, Mike. You are indeed correct, I should have clarified that some people interpreted SOS as "save our ship" or "save our souls", but there is really no reason to bring that point up in a essay on callsigns. I have removed that part of the text entirely from my document, just noting the use of CQD by Marconi, and SOS being the standard that Marconi chose not to use. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : N2MG on 2017-07-05 Contrary to what this article says, the signal replacing CQD, known as SOS, does not stand for Save Our Ship or anything else. In addition it is not precise to write it as SOS (which would indicate three letters, S, O, S with stops in between). It should be written as SOS with a bar over it, indicating the characters are to be run together as in didididahdahdahdididit. Similar to SK (didididahdidah) at the end of a transmission. Mike N2MG Reply to a comment by : W2CBK on 2017-07-01 I took advantage of the Novice/Technician "loophole" and held both licenses simultaneously. This was in the late 60s. | ||
| N2MG | 2017-07-05 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Contrary to what this article says, the signal replacing CQD, known as SOS, does not stand for Save Our Ship or anything else. In addition it is not precise to write it as SOS (which would indicate three letters, S, O, S with stops in between). It should be written as SOS with a bar over it, indicating the characters are to be run together as in didididahdahdahdididit. Similar to SK (didididahdidah) at the end of a transmission. Mike N2MG Reply to a comment by : W2CBK on 2017-07-01 I took advantage of the Novice/Technician "loophole" and held both licenses simultaneously. This was in the late 60s. | ||
| W2CBK | 2017-07-01 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| I took advantage of the Novice/Technician "loophole" and held both licenses simultaneously. This was in the late 60s. | ||
| W7VO | 2017-06-18 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks for the updated information, Karl! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : SM0AOM on 2017-06-18 Actually the official treaty list of callsign prefixes did not come into being until 1927, after the Washington conference. A non-binding list was compiled at the 1912 London conference, but did not make it into the convention itself The system between 1912 and 1927 worked on precedent, as the practices used by the major players was to use three-letter coast station calls, and the four-letter ship identifiers that were in use internationally even before radio. Ar the 1927 conference this was brought up for several reasons, one was the rise of international civil aviation, and another was the increasing use of HF, where unambiguous callsigns became a critical aspect. Aviation identifiers and radio callsigns became patterned after each other. Amateur radio did not have any international legal status until 1927, and the forms of any pre-existing amateur callsigns became accordingly adjusted to the new international practice set out in the 1927 Regulations. Regarding the role of the Telefunken company, it first came into being as a counter-action to the monopoly that Marconi was trying to implement. Telefunken was founded by three major German players, AEG. Siemens and the Imperial German government. The intention was to pool all German radio inventions, patents and development talents into a single company, large enough to successfully compete with the Marconi company. Telefunken attracted several talented engineers and scientists, such as Braun, von Arco,Slaby, Rendahl, Beggerow and Bredow. The practical crystal detector and the quenched gap spark transmitter ("Tönende Löschfunken") were among the Telefunken milestones. Coupled to the very advanced radio and electronics research at the major German universities, with names such as Zenneck, Sommerfeld, Barkhausen, Meissner and Esau also gave Telefunken a scientific edge. Telefunken made many important improvements to the radio art, and was pioneering several new aspects of radio communications. UHF and microwaves were early adopted by the company, as well as electronic television. 73/ Karl-Arne SM0AOM Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 I don't know why Telefunken shipboard stations used a "D" rather than a "T" to begin their callsign, as it is pointed out that Marconi stations used a "M" (Which later became one of the three original UK callsign prefixes, "G", "B", and "M". ("M" and "G" prefixes remain with the UK to this day). The German government itself may have been the ones that mandated that the German stations began their callsigns with a "D" for "Deutschland". Maybe somebody knows this history. I really don't know the history of Telefunken, but they were certainly a bitter rival of Marconi, just as Microsoft and Apple are bitter rivals today. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 I was not aware of that pseudonym, and now I am at ease! Thanks for the information! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W1NK on 2017-05-23 Larson E. Rapp, WIOU was a prolific ARRL contributing author whose writings (Byron Goodman, W1DX was the man behind the pen) always appeared in the April issues of QST. Dr. Rapp contributed such circuit designs as the Q5-S9 receiver as well as a VFO so stable it took a while to change frequencies. He also theorized the FCC assign amateur frequencies in concentric circles rather than bands to eliminate out of band operation and band edge congestion. My apologies if my attempt at humor I created any confusion .... then again, I'm sure WIOU would have wanted it that way Frank, W1NK Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 The 1930 Callbook shows W1OU belonging to an Earl Burlingame of Auburn RI. Such an error (issuing an I instead of a 1), must have been later. Great information. When I get a chance I'll research this further for confirmation. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 That should be 1976, not 1978. Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 The one thing I remember about my call sign is that I ordered 200 QSL's with WN1YIH on October 1, 1978 only to find out on October 2nd the calls were going to change! | ||
| SM0AOM | 2017-06-18 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Actually the official treaty list of callsign prefixes did not come into being until 1927, after the Washington conference. A non-binding list was compiled at the 1912 London conference, but did not make it into the convention itself The system between 1912 and 1927 worked on precedent, as the practices used by the major players was to use three-letter coast station calls, and the four-letter ship identifiers that were in use internationally even before radio. Ar the 1927 conference this was brought up for several reasons, one was the rise of international civil aviation, and another was the increasing use of HF, where unambiguous callsigns became a critical aspect. Aviation identifiers and radio callsigns became patterned after each other. Amateur radio did not have any international legal status until 1927, and the forms of any pre-existing amateur callsigns became accordingly adjusted to the new international practice set out in the 1927 Regulations. Regarding the role of the Telefunken company, it first came into being as a counter-action to the monopoly that Marconi was trying to implement. Telefunken was founded by three major German players, AEG. Siemens and the Imperial German government. The intention was to pool all German radio inventions, patents and development talents into a single company, large enough to successfully compete with the Marconi company. Telefunken attracted several talented engineers and scientists, such as Braun, von Arco,Slaby, Rendahl, Beggerow and Bredow. The practical crystal detector and the quenched gap spark transmitter ("Tönende Löschfunken") were among the Telefunken milestones. Coupled to the very advanced radio and electronics research at the major German universities, with names such as Zenneck, Sommerfeld, Barkhausen, Meissner and Esau also gave Telefunken a scientific edge. Telefunken made many important improvements to the radio art, and was pioneering several new aspects of radio communications. UHF and microwaves were early adopted by the company, as well as electronic television. 73/ Karl-Arne SM0AOM Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 I don't know why Telefunken shipboard stations used a "D" rather than a "T" to begin their callsign, as it is pointed out that Marconi stations used a "M" (Which later became one of the three original UK callsign prefixes, "G", "B", and "M". ("M" and "G" prefixes remain with the UK to this day). The German government itself may have been the ones that mandated that the German stations began their callsigns with a "D" for "Deutschland". Maybe somebody knows this history. I really don't know the history of Telefunken, but they were certainly a bitter rival of Marconi, just as Microsoft and Apple are bitter rivals today. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 I was not aware of that pseudonym, and now I am at ease! Thanks for the information! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W1NK on 2017-05-23 Larson E. Rapp, WIOU was a prolific ARRL contributing author whose writings (Byron Goodman, W1DX was the man behind the pen) always appeared in the April issues of QST. Dr. Rapp contributed such circuit designs as the Q5-S9 receiver as well as a VFO so stable it took a while to change frequencies. He also theorized the FCC assign amateur frequencies in concentric circles rather than bands to eliminate out of band operation and band edge congestion. My apologies if my attempt at humor I created any confusion .... then again, I'm sure WIOU would have wanted it that way Frank, W1NK Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 The 1930 Callbook shows W1OU belonging to an Earl Burlingame of Auburn RI. Such an error (issuing an I instead of a 1), must have been later. Great information. When I get a chance I'll research this further for confirmation. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 That should be 1976, not 1978. Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 The one thing I remember about my call sign is that I ordered 200 QSL's with WN1YIH on October 1, 1978 only to find out on October 2nd the calls were going to change! | ||
| AA7LX | 2017-06-16 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thank You, for all the great and time consuming(I'm sure) Research involved! I hope you are able to put all of this Research into book form and send 2 copies to the Library of Congress(Yes, that can be done with any publication)-- so as, not to have it lost to the future! '73. George-- AA7LX(2nd holder- first holder Silent Key). | ||
| PU2LXN | 2017-06-12 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| "D" of Deutschland = Germany Reply to a comment by : KA3JLW on 2017-05-23 VERY cool - great stuff! 2 questions: - The early German Telefunken stations that started with "D" - is that the cause of Germany taking the "D" prefix once the laws were established? Or a happy coincidence? - Is there a source of which callsigns were 'first' of their kind(s)? For instance, was W1AA the first 1 are callsign assigned? There was some discussion of this in the "DXing on the Edge" book regarding the history of 160 meters...just wondering if there's a list of firsts compiled anywhere. Very enjoyable, thank you for taking the time! 73, Jay, W3MMM | ||
| W6COP | 2017-06-11 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Mike W7VO As a writer I understand the frustration of submitting articles to the journals. Keep working it will pay off. You did a great historical job on it. Love the humor you mixed in - as a fellow scribe. There are many bumps in the road while writing on the highway of life. Best wishes, Steven Wayne Knight Part of the Keystone Dinosaur Cops. | ||
| W7WQ | 2017-06-08 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| I'm getting on I guess. I remember so many of the 1x2 ops way back when. I hear their calls now and brings back a lot of memories..... Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-06-08 Thanks, Don, for the information on the WR6/KR6 callsigns. I will add this to the next edition of my article! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W4ZYT on 2017-06-04 A truly great article! Many thanks! Okinawa was administered by the US Army between 1945 and 1972 under a United Nations mandate. The chief executive was a US Army major general based in Sukiran (now Zukeran). Call signs were issued under his authority by the local Signal Corps office, with the prefix KR6. Most calls were 1x2, with a few exceptions - In the fifties, KR6USA was the large Army MARS station at Sukiran and KR6USN a Navy MARS operation from Naha. KR6AF was the Air Force MARS and club station at Naha Air Base. Novices - instead of following the "WR6" convention used elsewhere, were issued KR6Z_ calls, which changed to a standard KR6__ call sign once the novice upgraded. There was some flexibility in the selection of suffixes, depending on availabilty. In 1960, Okinawan nationals, who previously were not allowed to operate ham stations, were allowed to become hams and were issued "KR8__" callsigns. Okinawa reverted to Japanese administration on May 15th, 1972. Callsigns for Okinawa are now issued by the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs and will bear JA6-JR6 and 7J6 prefixes. | ||
| W7VO | 2017-06-08 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks, Don, for the information on the WR6/KR6 callsigns. I will add this to the next edition of my article! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W4ZYT on 2017-06-04 A truly great article! Many thanks! Okinawa was administered by the US Army between 1945 and 1972 under a United Nations mandate. The chief executive was a US Army major general based in Sukiran (now Zukeran). Call signs were issued under his authority by the local Signal Corps office, with the prefix KR6. Most calls were 1x2, with a few exceptions - In the fifties, KR6USA was the large Army MARS station at Sukiran and KR6USN a Navy MARS operation from Naha. KR6AF was the Air Force MARS and club station at Naha Air Base. Novices - instead of following the "WR6" convention used elsewhere, were issued KR6Z_ calls, which changed to a standard KR6__ call sign once the novice upgraded. There was some flexibility in the selection of suffixes, depending on availabilty. In 1960, Okinawan nationals, who previously were not allowed to operate ham stations, were allowed to become hams and were issued "KR8__" callsigns. Okinawa reverted to Japanese administration on May 15th, 1972. Callsigns for Okinawa are now issued by the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs and will bear JA6-JR6 and 7J6 prefixes. | ||
| W7VO | 2017-06-08 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks, Steve, for the link to the old Callbooks! I was wondering when somebody would go through the trouble to scan all those thousands of pages in. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : KB9MWR on 2017-06-07 Here is a link to a collection of digitized call books which may aide those doing callsign research: https://archive.org/details/callbook | ||
| K4TIN | 2017-06-08 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Interesting. Enjoyed. | ||
| KB9MWR | 2017-06-07 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Here is a link to a collection of digitized call books which may aide those doing callsign research: https://archive.org/details/callbook | ||
| K5BM | 2017-06-06 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| i was issued kn5zxe in the early 60's. if i had waited a few weeks, old w5 calls were reissued. zxe was a tough phone or high speed cw call. I was an extra class, so k5bm was available and is very rhythmic on cw. bowel movement is a retort on ssb. tom, k5bm | ||
| KI7DD | 2017-06-05 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| That is a great article and really informed me about why callsigns are the way they are. Thank you. | ||
| W4ZYT | 2017-06-04 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| A truly great article! Many thanks! Okinawa was administered by the US Army between 1945 and 1972 under a United Nations mandate. The chief executive was a US Army major general based in Sukiran (now Zukeran). Call signs were issued under his authority by the local Signal Corps office, with the prefix KR6. Most calls were 1x2, with a few exceptions - In the fifties, KR6USA was the large Army MARS station at Sukiran and KR6USN a Navy MARS operation from Naha. KR6AF was the Air Force MARS and club station at Naha Air Base. Novices - instead of following the "WR6" convention used elsewhere, were issued KR6Z_ calls, which changed to a standard KR6__ call sign once the novice upgraded. There was some flexibility in the selection of suffixes, depending on availabilty. In 1960, Okinawan nationals, who previously were not allowed to operate ham stations, were allowed to become hams and were issued "KR8__" callsigns. Okinawa reverted to Japanese administration on May 15th, 1972. Callsigns for Okinawa are now issued by the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs and will bear JA6-JR6 and 7J6 prefixes. | ||
| WA2ISE | 2017-06-02 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| That explains how I got WA2ISE a few years after my father got WB2JIA. | ||
| W8LV | 2017-05-27 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Might the issue of "Z" calls to Mariners have had to do with their "Z-" issued Seaman's Papers? Just wondered... 73 and All the Best! DE Bill W8LV Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| KI4ZUQ | 2017-05-27 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Outstanding article! Much work went into it! Thank you! | ||
| N6KP | 2017-05-24 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| It surprises me that QST turned down your excellent article and yet in the May 2017 issue they ran a "company puff" article promoting a very expensive lightning protection system. I am sure many more amateurs would have rather read your article. Go figure! Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Thanks to everybody! This article has been a passion of mine, and is taken from a presentation that I put together for local ham clubs here in the Pacific Northwest. It was turned down by QST Magazine, so I asked to publish the work here instead. Unfortunately, this version on e-Ham is less all the graphics and QSL card samples that go along with it, but I'll publish something later with all the graphics included somewhere else. Thanks again! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : N4CQR on 2017-05-20 Outstanding work! 73 Craig Reply to a comment by : K0UA on 2017-05-20 Great informative article. This should be a "sticky" placed somewhere. Reply to a comment by : KC8JX on 2017-05-20 Thanks very much for this extremely informative history article; well researched. | ||
| N6KP | 2017-05-24 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| It surprises me that QST turned down your excellent article and yet in the May 2017 issue they ran a "company puff" article promoting a very expensive lightning protection system. I am sure many more amateurs would have rather read your article. Go figure! Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Thanks to everybody! This article has been a passion of mine, and is taken from a presentation that I put together for local ham clubs here in the Pacific Northwest. It was turned down by QST Magazine, so I asked to publish the work here instead. Unfortunately, this version on e-Ham is less all the graphics and QSL card samples that go along with it, but I'll publish something later with all the graphics included somewhere else. Thanks again! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : N4CQR on 2017-05-20 Outstanding work! 73 Craig Reply to a comment by : K0UA on 2017-05-20 Great informative article. This should be a "sticky" placed somewhere. Reply to a comment by : KC8JX on 2017-05-20 Thanks very much for this extremely informative history article; well researched. | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-24 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| You are correct, and all three instances are covered in the text. In addition to what you stated, the "Y" suffix was reserved for educational institutions, and apparently the "Z" was for hams who were also shipboard operators (they were given additional frequencies they could operate). Not available for use to this day are "N" and "A" coded 2X3 suffix coded callsigns, (which is also covered in the text). Thanks for the feedback! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W1XYZ on 2017-05-24 Great article. An "X" after the prefix was considered as a reserved call and was issued only to experimental stations until recently. Also there was a particular reserved 2X3 callsign that had never issued. I found this out after a brief discussion/hiccup when I applied for my vanity call. | ||
| W1XYZ | 2017-05-24 | |
|---|---|---|
| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great article. An "X" after the prefix was considered as a reserved call and was issued only to experimental stations until recently. Also there was a particular reserved 2X3 callsign that had never issued. I found this out after a brief discussion/hiccup when I applied for my vanity call. | ||
| AF7ZA | 2017-05-24 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Fantastic work Mike. There is a lot of work in researching history on any subject, amateur radio being no different than others. W7XQ will be happy to see him mentioned, and me too. Bill & Mac. Hi! I hope to be seeing you on Youtube soon. | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Yes, that is where several samples of U, nu, nc and other unique prefix QSL card samples came from in my live PowerPoint presentation. Seeing those prompted me to dig into what these cards were all about. Great website, with a LOT of old history in those cards. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W1NK on 2017-05-23 Mike- Also check out W8JYZ's http://oldqslcards.com/ Scroll down to find the link titled "The Early Days". You'll be surprised to see U.S. QSLs with U and NU prefixes! Frank, W1NK Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 Thanks for the encouragement! As I said earlier, this article was composed from a forty slide PowerPoint presentation that I put together over the last few years. So, I have a lot of historical pictures, documents, graphics, etc. that are part of the PowerPoint, and also incorporated later into a Word document version for publication. I couldn't get the graphics to work with e-Ham, so this is a plain text version of the Word document. After one of my "live" presentations for a ham club I had somebody come by and he asked me if I could create a YouTube video of the live presentation. That is something else I could do. As a result of all the positive feedback from this forum I may just expand this out as you suggested. Thanks again! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7KPK on 2017-05-23 Mike, this is a most excellent article. Thanks for doing the legwork and putting it all together!! You mentioned that QST turned you down when you submitted this to them. Might I make a suggestion: Flesh it out a little bit, add in the histories of the classes of license available, drop in pictures of old QSLs and other historical documents (maybe copies of licenses from the past, if anyone has them) and publish it as a book. The cost to self-publish an ebook is negligible, there are options available for doing paper copies on demand, and I think a history of licenses and call signs would rank right up there with "200 Meters And Down" for those of us who are interested in the history of our hobby. Cheers/73, -- Creede WA7KPK (ex-WN7KPK and a couple others) | ||
| W1NK | 2017-05-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Mike- Also check out W8JYZ's http://oldqslcards.com/ Scroll down to find the link titled "The Early Days". You'll be surprised to see U.S. QSLs with U and NU prefixes! Frank, W1NK Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 Thanks for the encouragement! As I said earlier, this article was composed from a forty slide PowerPoint presentation that I put together over the last few years. So, I have a lot of historical pictures, documents, graphics, etc. that are part of the PowerPoint, and also incorporated later into a Word document version for publication. I couldn't get the graphics to work with e-Ham, so this is a plain text version of the Word document. After one of my "live" presentations for a ham club I had somebody come by and he asked me if I could create a YouTube video of the live presentation. That is something else I could do. As a result of all the positive feedback from this forum I may just expand this out as you suggested. Thanks again! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7KPK on 2017-05-23 Mike, this is a most excellent article. Thanks for doing the legwork and putting it all together!! You mentioned that QST turned you down when you submitted this to them. Might I make a suggestion: Flesh it out a little bit, add in the histories of the classes of license available, drop in pictures of old QSLs and other historical documents (maybe copies of licenses from the past, if anyone has them) and publish it as a book. The cost to self-publish an ebook is negligible, there are options available for doing paper copies on demand, and I think a history of licenses and call signs would rank right up there with "200 Meters And Down" for those of us who are interested in the history of our hobby. Cheers/73, -- Creede WA7KPK (ex-WN7KPK and a couple others) | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks for the encouragement! As I said earlier, this article was composed from a forty slide PowerPoint presentation that I put together over the last few years. So, I have a lot of historical pictures, documents, graphics, etc. that are part of the PowerPoint, and also incorporated later into a Word document version for publication. I couldn't get the graphics to work with e-Ham, so this is a plain text version of the Word document. After one of my "live" presentations for a ham club I had somebody come by and he asked me if I could create a YouTube video of the live presentation. That is something else I could do. As a result of all the positive feedback from this forum I may just expand this out as you suggested. Thanks again! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7KPK on 2017-05-23 Mike, this is a most excellent article. Thanks for doing the legwork and putting it all together!! You mentioned that QST turned you down when you submitted this to them. Might I make a suggestion: Flesh it out a little bit, add in the histories of the classes of license available, drop in pictures of old QSLs and other historical documents (maybe copies of licenses from the past, if anyone has them) and publish it as a book. The cost to self-publish an ebook is negligible, there are options available for doing paper copies on demand, and I think a history of licenses and call signs would rank right up there with "200 Meters And Down" for those of us who are interested in the history of our hobby. Cheers/73, -- Creede WA7KPK (ex-WN7KPK and a couple others) | ||
| WA7KPK | 2017-05-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Mike, this is a most excellent article. Thanks for doing the legwork and putting it all together!! You mentioned that QST turned you down when you submitted this to them. Might I make a suggestion: Flesh it out a little bit, add in the histories of the classes of license available, drop in pictures of old QSLs and other historical documents (maybe copies of licenses from the past, if anyone has them) and publish it as a book. The cost to self-publish an ebook is negligible, there are options available for doing paper copies on demand, and I think a history of licenses and call signs would rank right up there with "200 Meters And Down" for those of us who are interested in the history of our hobby. Cheers/73, -- Creede WA7KPK (ex-WN7KPK and a couple others) | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-23 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| I don't know why Telefunken shipboard stations used a "D" rather than a "T" to begin their callsign, as it is pointed out that Marconi stations used a "M" (Which later became one of the three original UK callsign prefixes, "G", "B", and "M". ("M" and "G" prefixes remain with the UK to this day). The German government itself may have been the ones that mandated that the German stations began their callsigns with a "D" for "Deutschland". Maybe somebody knows this history. I really don't know the history of Telefunken, but they were certainly a bitter rival of Marconi, just as Microsoft and Apple are bitter rivals today. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 I was not aware of that pseudonym, and now I am at ease! Thanks for the information! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W1NK on 2017-05-23 Larson E. Rapp, WIOU was a prolific ARRL contributing author whose writings (Byron Goodman, W1DX was the man behind the pen) always appeared in the April issues of QST. Dr. Rapp contributed such circuit designs as the Q5-S9 receiver as well as a VFO so stable it took a while to change frequencies. He also theorized the FCC assign amateur frequencies in concentric circles rather than bands to eliminate out of band operation and band edge congestion. My apologies if my attempt at humor I created any confusion .... then again, I'm sure WIOU would have wanted it that way Frank, W1NK Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 The 1930 Callbook shows W1OU belonging to an Earl Burlingame of Auburn RI. Such an error (issuing an I instead of a 1), must have been later. Great information. When I get a chance I'll research this further for confirmation. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 That should be 1976, not 1978. Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 The one thing I remember about my call sign is that I ordered 200 QSL's with WN1YIH on October 1, 1978 only to find out on October 2nd the calls were going to change! | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| I was not aware of that pseudonym, and now I am at ease! Thanks for the information! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W1NK on 2017-05-23 Larson E. Rapp, WIOU was a prolific ARRL contributing author whose writings (Byron Goodman, W1DX was the man behind the pen) always appeared in the April issues of QST. Dr. Rapp contributed such circuit designs as the Q5-S9 receiver as well as a VFO so stable it took a while to change frequencies. He also theorized the FCC assign amateur frequencies in concentric circles rather than bands to eliminate out of band operation and band edge congestion. My apologies if my attempt at humor I created any confusion .... then again, I'm sure WIOU would have wanted it that way Frank, W1NK Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 The 1930 Callbook shows W1OU belonging to an Earl Burlingame of Auburn RI. Such an error (issuing an I instead of a 1), must have been later. Great information. When I get a chance I'll research this further for confirmation. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 That should be 1976, not 1978. Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 The one thing I remember about my call sign is that I ordered 200 QSL's with WN1YIH on October 1, 1978 only to find out on October 2nd the calls were going to change! | ||
| W1NK | 2017-05-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Larson E. Rapp, WIOU was a prolific ARRL contributing author whose writings (Byron Goodman, W1DX was the man behind the pen) always appeared in the April issues of QST. Dr. Rapp contributed such circuit designs as the Q5-S9 receiver as well as a VFO so stable it took a while to change frequencies. He also theorized the FCC assign amateur frequencies in concentric circles rather than bands to eliminate out of band operation and band edge congestion. My apologies if my attempt at humor I created any confusion .... then again, I'm sure WIOU would have wanted it that way Frank, W1NK Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-23 The 1930 Callbook shows W1OU belonging to an Earl Burlingame of Auburn RI. Such an error (issuing an I instead of a 1), must have been later. Great information. When I get a chance I'll research this further for confirmation. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 That should be 1976, not 1978. Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 The one thing I remember about my call sign is that I ordered 200 QSL's with WN1YIH on October 1, 1978 only to find out on October 2nd the calls were going to change! | ||
| KA3JLW | 2017-05-23 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| VERY cool - great stuff! 2 questions: - The early German Telefunken stations that started with "D" - is that the cause of Germany taking the "D" prefix once the laws were established? Or a happy coincidence? - Is there a source of which callsigns were 'first' of their kind(s)? For instance, was W1AA the first 1 are callsign assigned? There was some discussion of this in the "DXing on the Edge" book regarding the history of 160 meters...just wondering if there's a list of firsts compiled anywhere. Very enjoyable, thank you for taking the time! 73, Jay, W3MMM | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-23 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| The 1930 Callbook shows W1OU belonging to an Earl Burlingame of Auburn RI. Such an error (issuing an I instead of a 1), must have been later. Great information. When I get a chance I'll research this further for confirmation. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 That should be 1976, not 1978. Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 The one thing I remember about my call sign is that I ordered 200 QSL's with WN1YIH on October 1, 1978 only to find out on October 2nd the calls were going to change! | ||
| WA1YIH | 2017-05-23 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| That should be 1976, not 1978. Reply to a comment by : WA1YIH on 2017-05-23 The one thing I remember about my call sign is that I ordered 200 QSL's with WN1YIH on October 1, 1978 only to find out on October 2nd the calls were going to change! | ||
| WA1YIH | 2017-05-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| The one thing I remember about my call sign is that I ordered 200 QSL's with WN1YIH on October 1, 1978 only to find out on October 2nd the calls were going to change! | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-22 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Actually, your last statement IS covered, in a discussion related to the new Technician class licenses, verses the Novice/General licenses: "There was also another rule that if an amateur had homes, (such as a “snowbird”), in two different FCC districts, he or she could hold call signs that reflected the numbers of both districts. So, technically, one amateur could potentially hold four amateur call signs simultaneously!" But, this is a paper on callsigns, not licenses themselves. I do make mention that before WWII they FCC issued operator licenses AND station licenses, and only cancelled the station license during the war. After WWII the station licenses became valid again. I don't think I mentioned when they became just single license, but that is not really related to the topic in hand. If I added more chapters on the evolution of licenses themselves then this all becomes a short book! ;-) Thanks for the input! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W0FEN on 2017-05-22 There is some additional information that is not mentioned. Even though today we only think of one license. The FCC until 1978 era considered that there were 2 licenses. The Operator License and the Station License. Also due to the above Amateurs were allowed a second call sign to be issued to a second address. Therefore Amateurs were allowed to have two callsigns. I had two callsigns during that period. Robin Cross w0fen | ||
| W0FEN | 2017-05-22 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| There is some additional information that is not mentioned. Even though today we only think of one license. The FCC until 1978 era considered that there were 2 licenses. The Operator License and the Station License. Also due to the above Amateurs were allowed a second call sign to be issued to a second address. Therefore Amateurs were allowed to have two callsigns. I had two callsigns during that period. Robin Cross w0fen | ||
| W1NK | 2017-05-22 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| What an outstanding piece of research, Mike! I would like to point out one overlooked period of callsign assignment that likely occurred during the 1927-1941 period. It was known as the "Oh No, What Have I Done Incident". Apparently this occurred on or about April 1, but the exact year is unknown, when, a fledgling FCC license typist typed an I instead of a 1. Before the mistake could be corrected, the call WIOU was forever assigned to one Larson E. Rapp of Kippering-on-the-Charles, Massachusetts (just off Route 128). The rest, as they say, is history. Frank, W1NK ... 3rd caretaker of W1NK, 2003-present Robert E. Coleman, W1NK 1927-2003 Fred Hunkins, 1NK 1920 (maybe earlier)-1927 Reply to a comment by : WR5E on 2017-05-22 Thanks for the great article. Interesting too! I was challenged a couple of times after getting my Extra being accused of "using a repeater call". The FCC provided me with "WR5E", so that is what I used then and still do. It was interesting to see about how my old "N5HPF" call getting it when upgrading from Novice to Technician, then able to keep N5HPF when upgrading to Advanced (although not the best call on CW). The drive or "kicker" for getting my Extra was personally projecting that the W5 1x2s as seen in QST's call sign listing each month were going to be running out soon (as seen in early 1985?). And I really wanted a W5 1x2 call sign. So, I got my CW proficiency "up" with some on-the-air contacts to ensure that I could pass the 20WPM CW test, took the Extra, then waited for my new call from the FCC. "WR5E" it was! | ||
| WR5E | 2017-05-22 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks for the great article. Interesting too! I was challenged a couple of times after getting my Extra being accused of "using a repeater call". The FCC provided me with "WR5E", so that is what I used then and still do. It was interesting to see about how my old "N5HPF" call getting it when upgrading from Novice to Technician, then able to keep N5HPF when upgrading to Advanced (although not the best call on CW). The drive or "kicker" for getting my Extra was personally projecting that the W5 1x2s as seen in QST's call sign listing each month were going to be running out soon (as seen in early 1985?). And I really wanted a W5 1x2 call sign. So, I got my CW proficiency "up" with some on-the-air contacts to ensure that I could pass the 20WPM CW test, took the Extra, then waited for my new call from the FCC. "WR5E" it was! | ||
| N4KZ | 2017-05-22 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| The answer to your question about the new call sign system that began in 1978 was touched upon in this piece. In 1976 and 1977, the FCC was kind of in a patchwork approach to issuing ham call signs. In some call areas, such as 4-land, the commission was re-issuing old available WA and WB 2x3 calls. My own former WB4 2x3 was re-issued to a guy in the Carolinas. About this same time, the FCC was dealing with a scandal involving an employee of the Gettysburg processing center. He was accused of accepting money for giving people preferred call signs. The WC 2x3 block of calls was skipped over for government use in RACES, etc. In other words, there was not a clear strategy for how to issue ham calls in the future. So people at the commission decided to clear the slate and start with a brand new call sign system -- one in which your class of license determined the type of call you were eligible to receive, if you wanted a new one. Because it was always optional. No one was ever forced to change their call because they upgraded to a higher license. Novices and techs were eligible for 2x3 calls beginning with KA. Generals were eligible for 1x3 calls beginning with N. Advanced class could get a 2x2 call beginning with KB and extras qualified for 2x1 calls that ran through the AA-AL, K, N and W prefixes as well as 2x2 calls with the prefixes AA-AL. Someone said KA calls were issued to U.S. military personnel in Japan. True. But those were always just 2x2 calls with the KA prefix. That's why novices and techs could get KA 2x3 calls and advanced class people could get 2x2 calls beginning with KB except in the 1 and zero call areas. There were never any KA1 or KA0 calls issued in Japan so those were available in the states while in call areas 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 all 2x2 calls began with KB. When the 1978 new call system was announced, the FCC said from now on all calls would be issued systematically by computer. Well, that went out the window in 1996 with the implementation of vanity calls. Also in 1978, the old rule about your call always having to designate your call area was discontinued as well as the requirement to always sign mobile or portable when operating away from home. More than you wanted to know! Reply to a comment by : WB4M on 2017-05-22 Great article! Do you know why the FCC went to issuing KA calls after the last WD? Why did they not continue with WE, WF, etc? KA prefixes were once US personnel stationed in Japan. | ||
| WB4M | 2017-05-22 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great article! Do you know why the FCC went to issuing KA calls after the last WD? Why did they not continue with WE, WF, etc? KA prefixes were once US personnel stationed in Japan. | ||
| N1QZ | 2017-05-22 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great history Mike, Thank you. | ||
| K3CXG | 2017-05-21 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| The history buff in me likes this! Mad props to you. Mike K3CXG | ||
| KB6QXM | 2017-05-21 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Outstanding. I would like to see an addendum or another article on the history of the Amateur radio license classes. Some of that was included in this article, but you have to dig it out from the call sign history. One of the most well-written article I have seen on eham. Bravo! Reply to a comment by : G3YWX on 2017-05-21 Fascinating history. Really enjoyed reading it. It is interesting to see how radio as we know it today including ham radio reached the point where we are now. This obviously includes the callsigns. I wrote something on UK ham callsigns and this includes the dates when they were first issued: https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/ham_radio/call-signs/uk-amateur-radio-callsigns.php In the UK there are different callsign formats according tot he time when they were first issued. | ||
| G3YWX | 2017-05-21 | |
|---|---|---|
| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Fascinating history. Really enjoyed reading it. It is interesting to see how radio as we know it today including ham radio reached the point where we are now. This obviously includes the callsigns. I wrote something on UK ham callsigns and this includes the dates when they were first issued: https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/ham_radio/call-signs/uk-amateur-radio-callsigns.php In the UK there are different callsign formats according tot he time when they were first issued. | ||
| K8AXW | 2017-05-21 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Mike: I too submitted an article that was "too long" and it was published on line.... "QST in Depth" I think it was called. I suggest you re-submit and suggest they publish it on line because your article represents the most extensive information on call sign assignment that I've ever seen. It should be considered a classic. As an aside, I now receive my QST by Internet after telling them that their new QST monthly format is terrible and isn't worth taking up space in my shack! They no longer really care what one thinks. Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-21 I formally submitted the article to the QST Editorial Board earlier this year, but they turned it down without comment (as they do for all articles submitted and rejected), probably for several reasons (these are my own opinions though!): 1. QST gets thousands of articles submitted to them each year, and they can only publish a few of them. I was warned about that when I submitted it. 2. It is 11 typewritten pages long, probably too long for that magazine unless they run it over several months. If you look at a QST you will find that most of the articles are one or two pages. 3. I believe that the league itself is focused on the future of amateur radio, not the past. Sure, they throw in tidbits for us "old-timers" with the vintage equipment pages, but that is not their focus now. 4. There has been one shorter and more condensed QST article about call signs published quite a while ago that I found after I researched and wrote this one. I thought about sending it in to CQ Magazine after I was turned down by QST, then for some reason I chickened out. I sent it to e-Ham instead a couple of months ago. It's great to get all the feedback from this forum! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2017-05-21 "putting" Sheesh, my eyes. Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2017-05-21 Mike, you ought to see about purring that in QST/CQ etc. That's a very fine interest story. Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 "Great Article, but I have a question, when did they add the 1X3 calls into the call sign pools?" See Subsection (e) of the 1913 United States Policy for Radio Call Letters as in the text. I can't tell you exactly when they started using the 3 letter suffix callsigns, but I'm sure it varied by district. There may have been some "exceptions" (guys that knew the right person, and for some reason wanted a 3 letter suffix). 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Ran aground???? Didn't it hit an iceberg? I said that earlier in the text. I guess I need to fix that in the later text. Thanks! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Good to know about the "Z" suffix. I will have to research that one. I hadn't heard that before. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| N4KZ | 2017-05-21 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| A nice read that very closely matches my own readings on this subject. But one small item to add. WD 2x3 calls were also issued in call areas 2, 4 and 6 -- in addition to the ones mentioned in the piece. Oddly enough, in the 2nd call area, the FCC only issued WD2 2x3 calls with a suffix beginning with A before the big call sign system change was made in 1978. So WD2A-- calls are rare. I worked one of those guys a few years back on 40 meters and he shared that with me. I looked in the callbook and his information was accurate. Reply to a comment by : KB2DHG on 2017-05-21 A very nice article. I got a lot out of it Thank you | ||
| KB2DHG | 2017-05-21 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| A very nice article. I got a lot out of it Thank you | ||
| K9MOV | 2017-05-21 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| W7VO, Mike, thank you for your research and sharing this information with us.Excellent article which will be saved and read from time to time. Yes, it should have been in QST. Thanks, Mike, well done. Lane-- K9MOV ( KN9MOV, 1958 ) Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-21 I formally submitted the article to the QST Editorial Board earlier this year, but they turned it down without comment (as they do for all articles submitted and rejected), probably for several reasons (these are my own opinions though!): 1. QST gets thousands of articles submitted to them each year, and they can only publish a few of them. I was warned about that when I submitted it. 2. It is 11 typewritten pages long, probably too long for that magazine unless they run it over several months. If you look at a QST you will find that most of the articles are one or two pages. 3. I believe that the league itself is focused on the future of amateur radio, not the past. Sure, they throw in tidbits for us "old-timers" with the vintage equipment pages, but that is not their focus now. 4. There has been one shorter and more condensed QST article about call signs published quite a while ago that I found after I researched and wrote this one. I thought about sending it in to CQ Magazine after I was turned down by QST, then for some reason I chickened out. I sent it to e-Ham instead a couple of months ago. It's great to get all the feedback from this forum! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2017-05-21 "putting" Sheesh, my eyes. Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2017-05-21 Mike, you ought to see about purring that in QST/CQ etc. That's a very fine interest story. Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 "Great Article, but I have a question, when did they add the 1X3 calls into the call sign pools?" See Subsection (e) of the 1913 United States Policy for Radio Call Letters as in the text. I can't tell you exactly when they started using the 3 letter suffix callsigns, but I'm sure it varied by district. There may have been some "exceptions" (guys that knew the right person, and for some reason wanted a 3 letter suffix). 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Ran aground???? Didn't it hit an iceberg? I said that earlier in the text. I guess I need to fix that in the later text. Thanks! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Good to know about the "Z" suffix. I will have to research that one. I hadn't heard that before. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-21 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| I formally submitted the article to the QST Editorial Board earlier this year, but they turned it down without comment (as they do for all articles submitted and rejected), probably for several reasons (these are my own opinions though!): 1. QST gets thousands of articles submitted to them each year, and they can only publish a few of them. I was warned about that when I submitted it. 2. It is 11 typewritten pages long, probably too long for that magazine unless they run it over several months. If you look at a QST you will find that most of the articles are one or two pages. 3. I believe that the league itself is focused on the future of amateur radio, not the past. Sure, they throw in tidbits for us "old-timers" with the vintage equipment pages, but that is not their focus now. 4. There has been one shorter and more condensed QST article about call signs published quite a while ago that I found after I researched and wrote this one. I thought about sending it in to CQ Magazine after I was turned down by QST, then for some reason I chickened out. I sent it to e-Ham instead a couple of months ago. It's great to get all the feedback from this forum! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2017-05-21 "putting" Sheesh, my eyes. Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2017-05-21 Mike, you ought to see about purring that in QST/CQ etc. That's a very fine interest story. Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 "Great Article, but I have a question, when did they add the 1X3 calls into the call sign pools?" See Subsection (e) of the 1913 United States Policy for Radio Call Letters as in the text. I can't tell you exactly when they started using the 3 letter suffix callsigns, but I'm sure it varied by district. There may have been some "exceptions" (guys that knew the right person, and for some reason wanted a 3 letter suffix). 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Ran aground???? Didn't it hit an iceberg? I said that earlier in the text. I guess I need to fix that in the later text. Thanks! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Good to know about the "Z" suffix. I will have to research that one. I hadn't heard that before. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| K9MHZ | 2017-05-21 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| "putting" Sheesh, my eyes. Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2017-05-21 Mike, you ought to see about purring that in QST/CQ etc. That's a very fine interest story. Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 "Great Article, but I have a question, when did they add the 1X3 calls into the call sign pools?" See Subsection (e) of the 1913 United States Policy for Radio Call Letters as in the text. I can't tell you exactly when they started using the 3 letter suffix callsigns, but I'm sure it varied by district. There may have been some "exceptions" (guys that knew the right person, and for some reason wanted a 3 letter suffix). 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Ran aground???? Didn't it hit an iceberg? I said that earlier in the text. I guess I need to fix that in the later text. Thanks! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Good to know about the "Z" suffix. I will have to research that one. I hadn't heard that before. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| K9MHZ | 2017-05-21 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Mike, you ought to see about purring that in QST/CQ etc. That's a very fine interest story. Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 "Great Article, but I have a question, when did they add the 1X3 calls into the call sign pools?" See Subsection (e) of the 1913 United States Policy for Radio Call Letters as in the text. I can't tell you exactly when they started using the 3 letter suffix callsigns, but I'm sure it varied by district. There may have been some "exceptions" (guys that knew the right person, and for some reason wanted a 3 letter suffix). 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Ran aground???? Didn't it hit an iceberg? I said that earlier in the text. I guess I need to fix that in the later text. Thanks! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Good to know about the "Z" suffix. I will have to research that one. I hadn't heard that before. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| "Great Article, but I have a question, when did they add the 1X3 calls into the call sign pools?" See Subsection (e) of the 1913 United States Policy for Radio Call Letters as in the text. I can't tell you exactly when they started using the 3 letter suffix callsigns, but I'm sure it varied by district. There may have been some "exceptions" (guys that knew the right person, and for some reason wanted a 3 letter suffix). 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Ran aground???? Didn't it hit an iceberg? I said that earlier in the text. I guess I need to fix that in the later text. Thanks! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Good to know about the "Z" suffix. I will have to research that one. I hadn't heard that before. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Ran aground???? Didn't it hit an iceberg? I said that earlier in the text. I guess I need to fix that in the later text. Thanks! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W7VO on 2017-05-20 Good to know about the "Z" suffix. I will have to research that one. I hadn't heard that before. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Good to know about the "Z" suffix. I will have to research that one. I hadn't heard that before. 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : WA7ZK on 2017-05-20 Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| K9FV | 2017-05-20 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great article, and sure glad you posted. One tiny question, you mentioned "Only the Marconi Company equipped ships still used “CQD” as the standard distress message when the Titanic ran aground." Ran aground???? Didn't it hit an iceberg? Again, GREAT article. Ken H> | ||
| WA7SGS | 2017-05-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| I liked the "T" for Temporary callsign trivia. That was the first time to hear about that! I do wonder why QST would not want a historical article about callsigns in their magazine? Rick | ||
| K8AXW | 2017-05-20 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| GREAT article representing a great deal of research. This article is a "keeper" that one can reference to if the need arises. Thank you for this piece.. BTW, it should be in QST magazine! 73 AL - K8AXW ex-K3FKA | ||
| KB9FMV | 2017-05-20 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| GREAT ARTICLE !!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Paul KB9FMV | ||
| WA7ZK | 2017-05-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great article. In the early years up to about 1925 the X,Y, and Z calls were reserved for special use. The "Z" calls were issued to Amateurs that were also commercial radiotelegraph operators at sea. My great uncle was issued his 7ZK call in 1920. He was the Sparky on the SS Senator in the late teens and early twenties. The "Z" calls permitted the licensee to operate on 300 meters as well as regular amateur privileges. He became inactive about 1923 and went to Dental school to become a Dentist. I remember him telling me he was later thrilled getting back his old "Z" call (1939 W7ZK). 73 Mark | ||
| W8RXL | 2017-05-20 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great Article, but I have a question, when did they add the 1X3 calls into the call sign pools? | ||
| N4KC | 2017-05-20 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Absolutely great article. Thanks for all the work. I had wondered about some of these things. I only vaguely remember the circumstances of my requesting my 1 X 2 call way back in the mid-70s. I got my second choice. Now, if anyone actually knew "KC" was once a common reference to "kilocycle" before we finally honored Mr. Hertz with "khz." And I hope W4IC enjoyed his call, the one that he beat me to! Don N4KC www.n4kc.com www.donkeith.com Reply to a comment by : KC8JX on 2017-05-20 Thanks very much for this extremely informative history article; well researched. | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks to everybody! This article has been a passion of mine, and is taken from a presentation that I put together for local ham clubs here in the Pacific Northwest. It was turned down by QST Magazine, so I asked to publish the work here instead. Unfortunately, this version on e-Ham is less all the graphics and QSL card samples that go along with it, but I'll publish something later with all the graphics included somewhere else. Thanks again! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : N4CQR on 2017-05-20 Outstanding work! 73 Craig Reply to a comment by : K0UA on 2017-05-20 Great informative article. This should be a "sticky" placed somewhere. Reply to a comment by : KC8JX on 2017-05-20 Thanks very much for this extremely informative history article; well researched. | ||
| W7VO | 2017-05-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks for the update, Jim. I'll add it in the next revision! 73; Mike W7VO Reply to a comment by : W5ZIT on 2017-05-20 Some Added Information. In late 1953 in the 5th call area district, call signs with the W5 prefix were re-issued for several months before starting the K5 series. My callsign (W5ZIT) and my buddies callsign W5ZKD were issued in mid 1953 and another buddy was issued W5ATF and W5ZKD's brother was issued W5ENA. Another buddy was issued W5GSP before another member of our high school ham group was issued K5AVH. So for a brief time callsigns were re-issued before starting the K5 series. 73 - Jim W5ZIT | ||
| W5ZIT | 2017-05-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Some Added Information. In late 1953 in the 5th call area district, call signs with the W5 prefix were re-issued for several months before starting the K5 series. My callsign (W5ZIT) and my buddies callsign W5ZKD were issued in mid 1953 and another buddy was issued W5ATF and W5ZKD's brother was issued W5ENA. Another buddy was issued W5GSP before another member of our high school ham group was issued K5AVH. So for a brief time callsigns were re-issued before starting the K5 series. 73 - Jim W5ZIT | ||
| N4CQR | 2017-05-20 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Outstanding work! 73 Craig Reply to a comment by : K0UA on 2017-05-20 Great informative article. This should be a "sticky" placed somewhere. Reply to a comment by : KC8JX on 2017-05-20 Thanks very much for this extremely informative history article; well researched. | ||
| K0UA | 2017-05-20 | |
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| RE: History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great informative article. This should be a "sticky" placed somewhere. Reply to a comment by : KC8JX on 2017-05-20 Thanks very much for this extremely informative history article; well researched. | ||
| KC8JX | 2017-05-20 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Thanks very much for this extremely informative history article; well researched. | ||
| KA2LIM | 2017-05-20 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Very Informative, thank you for sharing. | ||
| AK4YH | 2017-05-20 | |
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| History of the Ham Radio Callsign | ||
| Great article, thank you! | ||
