Thread sounds like either a nursing home chat topic or a eulogy at a funeral.
On 1 October 1976 EVERY WN license (or WH in the Pacific, WP in the Caribbean, or WL in Alaska) that was active on that date was transitioned to the companion WA/WB/WD/KH/KP/KL callsign. No change was made to expired Novice licenses in the license database.
Quote from: W3HF on April 21, 2021, 05:38:37 AMOn 1 October 1976 EVERY WN license (or WH in the Pacific, WP in the Caribbean, or WL in Alaska) that was active on that date was transitioned to the companion WA/WB/WD/KH/KP/KL callsign. No change was made to expired Novice licenses in the license database.Hi Steve, if my memory is right you must have learned of that date after we last corresponded; where/ when did you learn the exact date? I had only been licensed about a month when that letter came in the mail from the FCC informing me that my WN9 callsign would be WB9 going forward.
On 1 October 1976 EVERY WN license (or WH in the Pacific, WP in the Caribbean, or WL in Alaska) that was active on that date was transitioned to the companion WA/WB/WD/KH/KP/KL callsign. No change was made to expired Novice licenses in the license database.By that point, FCC was allowing expired Novice licensees to re-test and reinstate their Novice privileges. (Novice licenses didn't become renewable until 1978.) If a Novice whose license had expired prior to 1 October 1976 re-tested, he/she could reclaim their old callsign, which was still pre-transition. FCC also made the "change of callsign with upgrade" a licensee choice with the new Group A/B/C/D structure that appeared in 1978. So the re-instated Novices could, in fact, choose to retain the distinctive WN calls. But this ONLY applied to those whose original Novice license had expired by 1 Oct 1976 and then re-claimed their old calls after that date.That is the source of the WN calls that exist today and are not HV (vanity) callsigns.
Last time I looked, (a few minutes ago), there were 7098 current unexpired Novice licenses held by individuals.
QuoteLast time I looked, (a few minutes ago), there were 7098 current unexpired Novice licenses held by individuals.But active or unactive unknown. Sounds like a good project for someone to find out.