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Author Topic: Novice ID  (Read 686 times)

KM1H

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #15 on: April 22, 2021, 11:59:19 AM »

Quote
Thread sounds like either a nursing home chat topic or a eulogy at a funeral.


And just as long and repeated often ZZZZZZZZ

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K3UIM

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #16 on: April 22, 2021, 12:10:57 PM »

Gr-r-r-r-r  :o ::) ;D
Charlie
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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

N9FB

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #17 on: April 28, 2021, 10:15:16 AM »

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.

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.   
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W3HF

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #18 on: April 28, 2021, 01:55:33 PM »

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.

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.

"Learned" is probably a strong word. Maybe "found a new source" is better. The Novice Historical Society web page is the source of that date, specifically the "Late 70s" page.
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N2EY

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #19 on: April 29, 2021, 05:52:35 AM »


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.

All of this is backed up by an article in QST for December, 1976, (Washington Mailbox) detailing the changes.

73 de Jim, N2EY
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F8WBD

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #20 on: June 05, 2021, 11:51:46 AM »

It would be interesting to hear from any current Novices who are active and still pounding brass on their allotted frequencies. Would like to know what they are doing these days. A couple of  years ago I read of a recently deceased Novice class amateur of many years who was quite active on 80 meter cw. A great help to new cw operators. If anyone here is friendly with an active Novice, it would of interest to many to read of their current activity.
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KM1H

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #21 on: June 05, 2021, 01:26:19 PM »

If I hadnt upgraded in 1956 Id probably be drooling in a rocker.
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N2EY

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #22 on: June 06, 2021, 08:47:08 AM »

Last time I looked, (a few minutes ago), there were 7098 current unexpired Novice licenses held by individuals.

73 de Jim, N2EY
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KM1H

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #23 on: June 06, 2021, 03:22:18 PM »

Quote
Last 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.
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W3HF

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #24 on: June 06, 2021, 06:57:49 PM »

Quote
Last 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.

It's true that we don't know how many of these are active on the air. And I'm not really sure how we would find out. But we do know definitively that each of these licenses has been renewed TWICE since 2000. So all 7098 licensees have deliberately kept their licenses current within the ULS.
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K3UIM

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #25 on: June 06, 2021, 07:37:04 PM »

When the ham bug bites, the itch lasts a lifetime.  ;D
There's always the hope that their interest will eventually be renewed.
Charlie
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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

W6RZ

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Re: Novice ID
« Reply #26 on: June 06, 2021, 09:34:01 PM »

There's a guy on QRZ that's an active Novice. His call is KA6IBM. Here's a thread where he's complaining about a RTTY contest.

https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/it-appears-its-digital-only-allowed-on-40-meter-cw-tonight.713851/
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