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Author Topic: Dangers of putting your call on your car.  (Read 1142 times)

KG4RUL

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #15 on: February 19, 2023, 03:42:43 AM »

You mean someone is going to track me down, break into my house and steal all my radio junk?  I can hardly wait!

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM

ROTFLMAO  ;D
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N4MU

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #16 on: February 19, 2023, 05:29:34 AM »

Interesting responses. I'm in agreement with the "no problems" ones myself. The others may be the folks who never venture outdoors anymore for fear of getting Covid or shot picking up their morning paper or being hit on the head by falling balloon debris.
But here's a little story (true) of an experience I had years ago (nothing to do with license tags):
In the 70s I opened a small business selling and repairing CB radios, etc. I was living in Orlande at the time. It was called Florida Communications Company.
I would repair a CB and test it on the air and "sign off" using the phrase "this is the FCC testing and monitoring" quite often.
After a few weeks of this occasional dialogue I was visiting a local ham radio store (AES) and overheard a customer telling a clerk that he heard that the FCC was in town and listening to CB so everybody should be careful, etc. He was dead serious...I was cracking up! Thanks for reading. Now...re callsign plates: I can't afford them anymore...I'm retired. 73.
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KF4HR

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #17 on: February 19, 2023, 06:15:39 AM »

Most will say they never had a problem... until something goes wrong.  Several years ago I was proud to obtain my first (and last) call sign license plate..., right up until my vehicle was broken in to (and damaged) and my radio equipment was stolen.  While thieves may not know exactly what ham radio equipment is, or how to use it, it's a safe bet thieves DO know it's worth something at a pawn shop, etc.  As another poster stated, thieves are usually after a crime of opportunity.  Just my .02 but why advertise and possibly create that opportunity? 
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AC1LC

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #18 on: February 19, 2023, 06:23:14 AM »

I'm a retired LEO (40+ years) and I just got my call sign on my license plates.  I use a PO box for my mailing address so even is someone wants to look me up they're going to have to sit in the parking lot of the post office to find me.  Most of the social degenerates out there don't realize that they can look up your info based on your call sign.  Most of them don't even know what amateur radio is.  If they look in your vehicle they'll probably think it's just a fancy CB radio.  If they want to know where you live they'll just follow you home.  Tip for you - if you're concerned about your safety and park your car in a garage, don't get out of your car when you pull it into the garage until you close the garage door.  If someone is following you home you're safer that way and if they try to block you in then you're going to damage your car, your garage door and them if you put it in reverse and floor it.  Or, if you're locked inside your car lean on the horn which will draw attention to you...unless you live way out in the sticks.  If you drive like an idiot then yes, it would not be a good idea to put anything on your vehicle that would make it easier for someone to find you.  But, if you drive like a normal person, refill your blinker fluid reservoir so your signal lights work and mind your own business nobody is going to bother you.  If you're worried about people finding out personal information about you google your name.  You'll be shocked at what's on the internet about you.  Your call sign on your vehicle is the least of your problems in today's society.  More than half the members of one of the radio clubs I belong to have their call signs on their license plates and none of them are being kidnapped, robbed or stalked.  No smart criminal is going to mess with a grumpy old man anyway..and I live in a state where a lot of people carry guns - open and concealed - so it makes for a much more polite society.
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K6CPO

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #19 on: February 19, 2023, 10:45:33 AM »

I live in the second largest city in California and I've had a call sign license plate for the last 12 years. Nothing has ever happened to me that can be attributed to the plate.  The one time the vehicle was broken into in a hotel parking lot, surveillance video showed the thieves trying ALL the vehicles in the parking lot. Mine was just the one they were able to get into. I don't have a PO Box, either. My street address is shown on the FCC ULS. I also have three very visible antennas up on the property.

In 6-land I was led to believe the police or fire would see your ham callsign and allow you to enter an area under emergency conditions, such as a major fire since we had two-way radios in our cars and could help provide emergency communications. I've never tested this theory, but I've had my callsign on my different vehicles since early 1970's...true story, a couple of times back then I was pulled over for having a "questionable license plate!!" When a cop would run my plates, for some reason it only showed the letters and not the number and show an error - a cop friend said the patrolman was suppose to substitute a * symbol for the number...eventually the DMV fixed the issue.

GL/73

This isn't happening in California, at least not any more. With the adoption of ICS/NIMS protocols, all volunteers have to be previously vetted with background checks and issued proper identification.  I'm a member of ARES and we were all issued county volunteer badges identifying us as Disaster Service Workers. Additionally, my club is an acknowledged volunteer organization with the fire department in one of the smaller cities in the county and some of our members are vetted there also. 
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AI5BC

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #20 on: February 19, 2023, 01:46:23 PM »

I am a ham, not only do have my call sign on my rear plate, I have my SS on the front plate. Never had a problem.
i
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AF5CC

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #21 on: February 19, 2023, 10:45:35 PM »

If you leave you car sitting in the driveway, as I have to do due to no garage, ham plates are advertising to the whole neighborhood that you are a ham, especially if the plates say "Ham Radio" or "Amateur Radio" like they do in Oklahoma and Texas.  Such statements weren't on the plates in Iowa.

So now the neighbors all know you are a ham radio operator. Guess whose front door with be getting the knocks (and accusations) whenever someones TV or internet has issues.

73 JOhn AF5CC
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K1FBI

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #22 on: February 20, 2023, 05:21:50 AM »

If you leave you car sitting in the driveway, as I have to do due to no garage, ham plates are advertising to the whole neighborhood that you are a ham, especially if the plates say "Ham Radio" or "Amateur Radio" like they do in Oklahoma and Texas.  Such statements weren't on the plates in Iowa.

So now the neighbors all know you are a ham radio operator. Guess whose front door with be getting the knocks (and accusations) whenever someones TV or internet has issues.

73 JOhn AF5CC
Excellent point; best post of this whole thread!
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KG4RUL

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #23 on: February 20, 2023, 05:44:14 AM »

If you leave you car sitting in the driveway, as I have to do due to no garage, ham plates are advertising to the whole neighborhood that you are a ham, especially if the plates say "Ham Radio" or "Amateur Radio" like they do in Oklahoma and Texas.  Such statements weren't on the plates in Iowa.

So now the neighbors all know you are a ham radio operator. Guess whose front door with be getting the knocks (and accusations) whenever someones TV or internet has issues.

73 JOhn AF5CC
Excellent point; best post of this whole thread!

The ONLY time I have had an incident like this, in 29 years at this address, was a neighbor trying to receive Over-The-Air TV, from 25+ mile from the station, with a pair of rabbit ears.  I explained to him that what he was doing was pretty much impossible and and the problem would go away with an outdoor antenna which he installed.  Problem solved.
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K7MEM

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #24 on: February 20, 2023, 06:05:38 AM »

If you leave you car sitting in the driveway, as I have to do due to no garage, ham plates are advertising to the whole neighborhood that you are a ham, especially if the plates say "Ham Radio" or "Amateur Radio" like they do in Oklahoma and Texas.  Such statements weren't on the plates in Iowa.

So now the neighbors all know you are a ham radio operator. Guess whose front door with be getting the knocks (and accusations) whenever someones TV or internet has issues.

73 JOhn AF5CC

I live at the very end of my neighborhood (cul-de-sac), so I have to go past every house and see every vehicle, on the way to my house. Some of the neighbors have 3 or 4 cars, so they don't all fit in the garage. I can't even remember if any of them even have plates on their car, let alone a ham call sign. The only time I ever read license plates is when I am sitting in traffic.

The dead giveaway for me might be the 43' vertical that everyone in the neighborhood can see. It's been there almost 3 years now. A few have asked me about it, but no interference complaints.

I live in Michigan now, but when I lived in Arizona, I had a 50' crank-up tower with a Tri-Band Yagi. No one even seemed to notice it was there and never had any interference complaints. And, I had vanity plates with my call sign on them.

I doubt that any of the neighbors have any idea what Amateur Radio is. When I tried to explain it to the neighbor behind me, they wanted to know what channel I was on, so they could listen to my radio show. I just told them "it's not that kind of radio".
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Martin - K7MEM
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K4HB

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #25 on: February 20, 2023, 06:10:14 AM »

So now the neighbors all know you are a ham radio operator. Guess whose front door with be getting the knocks (and accusations) whenever someones TV or internet has issues.

Or they already know from seeing your antennas. But either way, Hatlo summed that one up a long time ago...

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K6CPO

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #26 on: February 20, 2023, 11:08:44 AM »

If you leave you car sitting in the driveway, as I have to do due to no garage, ham plates are advertising to the whole neighborhood that you are a ham, especially if the plates say "Ham Radio" or "Amateur Radio" like they do in Oklahoma and Texas.  Such statements weren't on the plates in Iowa.

So now the neighbors all know you are a ham radio operator. Guess whose front door with be getting the knocks (and accusations) whenever someones TV or internet has issues.

73 JOhn AF5CC

As has been said, the big vertical looming over the house might be a giveaway too. The guy who owns and manages the rental next door looked at my antenna with disgust. Until I pointed out there was an antenna on the roof of his house, apparently placed there by a tenant years ago. And it's still there five years and at least three tenants after I pointed it out. 

All this paranoia about call sign license plates is misplaced. I've had my call sign on my truck for over a decade and not once has it led to an untoward incident. And in every single internet forum thread on the topic there isn't one person that can provide any kind of proof something has happened to them because of their call sign being on their vehicle.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2023, 11:12:27 AM by K6CPO »
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KC8KTN

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #27 on: February 20, 2023, 05:28:58 PM »

I would not recommend to put your call sign on your plate. Because... Nuff Said
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K1FBI

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #28 on: February 21, 2023, 03:36:13 AM »

It's not worth the EXTRA money for the plate or even the EXTRA effort to put it on.
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K7JQ

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Re: Dangers of putting your call on your car.
« Reply #29 on: February 21, 2023, 05:07:52 AM »

These days, nobody knows what the hell amater radio is anyway, let alone deciphering a few letters and a number on a license plate ;).
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