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Author Topic: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign  (Read 58007 times)

W3HF

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #45 on: March 30, 2019, 06:10:12 AM »

I just don't wan't to spend a lot of money on an FOIA request.  Thanks guys!

Check the FCC's page on FOIA. Here's an excerpt:

"The Commission will charge all other requesters who do not fit into any of the categories above fees which cover the full, reasonable direct cost of searching for and reproducing records that are responsive to the request, except that the first 100 pages of the reproduction and the first two hours of search time shall be free of charge." [emphasis added]

A name search might take longer than two hours, but it may be worth a shot.

Steve
W3HF
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W3HF

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #46 on: March 31, 2019, 10:05:34 AM »


I never said that the FCC didn't have records.


No, you didn't, but others did. I'm sorry if my comment was misunderstood.


Of course there were records. But when they created the ULS, how far back did they need to go?


I stated exactly what the FCC announced when the ULS was created in 1999, that they only entered (into the ULS) licenses that were active at the time of entry.


I am sure that some of those old records still exist, in one form or another. You can access some of the old callbooks at Amateur Radio Call Books. But the archive is incomplete. Most of the Call books available only have listings for calls with a "zero". But they may be updated in the future.


I don't understand "Most of the Call books available only have listing for calls with a 'zero'." I haven't checked all the listings on the web site you referenced, but the few I've looked at had every page that listed callsigns. (They skipped advertisements, the index, and other information.) Virtually every US call book every published listed all districts in the US and territories, so even if they're not online, the data exists in paper format.
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K7MEM

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #47 on: March 31, 2019, 11:10:21 AM »



I am sure that some of those old records still exist, in one form or another. You can access some of the old callbooks at Amateur Radio Call Books. But the archive is incomplete. Most of the Call books available only have listings for calls with a "zero". But they may be updated in the future.


I don't understand "Most of the Call books available only have listing for calls with a 'zero'." I haven't checked all the listings on the web site you referenced, but the few I've looked at had every page that listed callsigns. (They skipped advertisements, the index, and other information.) Virtually every US call book every published listed all districts in the US and territories, so even if they're not online, the data exists in paper format.

The archive has broken up the Call Books by call sign zone, 0 to 9. My guess is that that's easier than trying to server up the entire Call Book. At first I could only get at the call signs with a "0". But after a little hunting around I found that there were extra links at the bottom of the page. The links were initially off the screen. Once I got to the right zone I was able to find my Novice license listing in the 1966 Call Book.
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N9FB

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #48 on: April 01, 2019, 06:04:01 AM »

Quote from: K7MEM
I'm pretty sure that the fire thing is a myth.

Quote from: W3HF
Fire may be a myth, but it's a fact that certain archived FCC records were destroyed by water in the 1970s. My speculation is that it was Hurricane Agnes in 1972, and the records that were destroyed would have been archives (not current records) that were in the basement at the time. (At one time, FCC said that records of licensed issued prior to the mid-60s are no longer available. That date is consistent with Agnes.) If you look at the rainfall totals for that storm you'll find it peaked around 15" in an area that looks very close to Gettysburg.

Quote from: K7MEM
I did not say that records were not destroyed. I only said that the fire idea is a myth and can't be substantiated. And, while the hurricane idea somewhat matches up, it is also speculation. You can probably come up with a dozen different scenarios, that closely fit the dates and times.

W3HF has proven to be a great source of information about callsign history and information, and based on his posts here i think it is pretty safe to say he has spent more time than most trying to postulate and discover the explanation as to why the FCC callsign records prior to the mid-1960s are unavailable, and that he has whittled down and discarded a multitude of other possibilities that didnt equally fit.  I would think his hypothesis, that flooding from Hurricane Agnes in 1972 destroyed archives (not current records) that were in the basement at the time, is probably spot-on.  If you have other plausible hypotheses that you think fit equally well here, please share them. 

Quote from: K7MEM
Usually, when there is a disaster that destroyed records, or causes wire services to be interrupted, the FCC requests more money. You can find several "Orders" on-line that were generated to help with recovery. And many of them are due to hurricanes.
I am sure records were destroyed, either by accident or on purpose. Which way, really doesn't matter.

actually it does matter to many of us and maybe there is a FCC flooding cleanup budget item somewhere in the records.  As far as your speculation that the records could have been destroyed on purpose -- can you expand on  why you find that a reasonable possibility  and how it could have played out?
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N9FB

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #49 on: April 01, 2019, 08:03:36 AM »

searching the forums here, i found the post and quote below: https://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=38488.5;wap2:

Quote from: W8ATA
This is an addendum to my previous post as I have located a letter dated Jan. 22, 2007 that I received from the FCC Gettysburg, PA office and I quote:

"We were not able to locate any record for the call sign KN3GQL or K3GQL. Our records do not date back to the time frame of 1957-1961"

I had given them that time frame in which to check as I was placing my original license date in the 1957-1958 period.

They further stated, "You may contact the Commission's duplication contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc at 1-800-378-3160 or at www.bcpiweb.com to see if they can find information."

My telephone call to them put me in touch with the gentleman in charge of the BCPI operation for the FCC. He was officed in the same building with the FCC in Washington, DC. He is the one who told me that records of amateur licenses prior to a date in the early 1970's were stored on micro-fiche in the basement of the FCC Gettysburg office and destroyed by a major flood. That well could have be the result of hurricane Agnes which devastated a wide area of PA in June 1972.

I did not post this to in any way dispute what someone else claimed to work for them. I had done an exhaustive search for the date of my original license and turned up nothing. It was the locating of currently licensed hams with calls either side of my original call that was productive in establishing a narrow (few weeks) window of the date. This was acceptable since calls were issued sequentially at the time. The call book services like W3HF, QCWA, and others are a great service, but a call book entry will probably get you within a couple of months at best. Calls in the 1958 span were running even a little later in getting posted.

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K1CJS

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #50 on: June 08, 2019, 09:15:47 AM »

I can find records of fires at other federal offices, but I can't find any record of a fire at the FCC offices. I'm pretty sure that the fire thing is a myth....

You won't find any record of a fire at the FCC offices, but their warehouse (where old records were stored) did burn down.  There was even articles in some of the radio magazines about it since records before the ULS was implemented were all stored there.  There were even laments because between the fire and water damages, there was very little if anything salvaged.
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ONAIR

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #51 on: June 13, 2019, 11:40:08 PM »

Wasn't there a magazine that published all the new CB licenses and call signs when they came out, along with names and locations?  If so, they may be archived.
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KB9BVN

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #52 on: June 18, 2019, 11:14:21 AM »

Around here everyone used  K then their initials and the last four of their zip code.

If your name was Chuck Bonapart and you lived in downtown Indy you'd be KCB6201

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N2OJJ

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #53 on: June 21, 2019, 02:20:57 PM »

I just found this thread while googling for my old  call letters.

I remember there was the "temporary" license with your initials like this one here...

http://onetuberadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1976CBtemporarypermit.jpg

I had recently found my old actual FCC paper licenses from 1980

FCC form 555

2 different call signs were issued to me.

one for CB and a different one for RC use

Both say 25 transmitters. I guess that was the standard..

I guess I'm lucky to have them since they don't seem to appear anywhere....



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K4EMF

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #54 on: June 24, 2019, 02:07:41 PM »

We owned a CB before getting our ham licenses around 1973 - 74 but to be honest I don't recall having a CB license.  Let alone what the call sign was. Though I'm sure we would have if it was required.    I do remember my CB "handle"....Tin Can.
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KA1CNK

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #55 on: July 21, 2019, 06:54:56 PM »

May you'll come across an old paper license somewhere....   I can't even find data on my ham license from that far back.
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N5GWU

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #56 on: September 20, 2019, 09:34:38 PM »

I got my CB license around 1974 when I was stationed in Maryland.  I was issued KBFD3898 and the only time I ever used the callsign on the air was when I was making an accident report on Channel 9 asking someone to make a landline call to the authorities since they didn't seem to be monitoring that channel.  I've long since lost the paper license that came with it.
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KJ4RT

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #57 on: September 28, 2019, 07:21:00 AM »

I am in central N.C. and when I first got licensed I was KCJ5087 and in my area we still had some hanging around that had calls like 5Q3910, 5W1563, 5Q2090 5Q0080 this one as I remember got a citation for using 5Q double goose egg 80 phonetics. After lots of years of wasted money and time I finally got my Npvice ticket and my original call was KA4DHP which I kept until I got my Advance ticket.

I would imagine somewhere in ancient history there is a data base of these CB calls but I would not have any idea of how or where to even begin to find them.
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K7KBN

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #58 on: October 02, 2019, 09:55:06 PM »

Las Vegas (NV) High School electronics classroom was licensed with a Hallicrafters CB in 1959-60, with the call 11Q0082.  You're the only other #Q licensee I've run into.

The electronics instructor was K7LBQ (been SK for a while).  Many of the students were hams, or working our way to that goal.  After the crank-up tower had been properly installed and had the 3-element 11M yagi sitting on top. it was time to adjust the antenna.  I was designated as the operator, and Mr. Delzer (LBQ) was up on the pretty flat roof.  I was to transmit "This is Eleven Cue Zero Zero Eight Two testing" and note the SWR meter reading.  It was relayed up to LBQ by voice chain.  He'd readjust a little bit, then back away to the farthest corner of the roof and stomp his foot.  This was my cue to transmit again. 

After the third or fourth round of this, a station popped up and said, "11Q0082, this is Zed Ess 1 Romeo Kilo.  I know you cawn't (British accent) answer me, old man, since this is now the Citizen's Band in the US, but thought you might like to know you're putting in a decent five by seven here in Cape Town. ZS1RK clear."  The voice chain passed the word to LBQ, who came running in after hearing the news.  His first concern was "You didn't answer him, did you!?"

Took me MONTHS to work Africa for myself.  Finally got a ZS3 in 1962, just before I graduated from LVHS.
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Pat K7KBN
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WA8NVW

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RE: Trying to find my dad's old C.B. callsign
« Reply #59 on: October 05, 2019, 06:00:38 PM »

Las Vegas (NV) High School electronics classroom was licensed with a Hallicrafters CB in 1959-60, with the call 11Q0082.  You're the only other #Q licensee I've run into.

The electronics instructor was K7LBQ (been SK for a while).  Many of the students were hams, or working our way to that goal.  After the crank-up tower had been properly installed and had the 3-element 11M yagi sitting on top. it was time to adjust the antenna.  I was designated as the operator, and Mr. Delzer (LBQ) was up on the pretty flat roof.  I was to transmit "This is Eleven Cue Zero Zero Eight Two testing" and note the SWR meter reading.  It was relayed up to LBQ by voice chain.  He'd readjust a little bit, then back away to the farthest corner of the roof and stomp his foot.  This was my cue to transmit again. 

After the third or fourth round of this, a station popped up and said, "11Q0082, this is Zed Ess 1 Romeo Kilo.  I know you cawn't (British accent) answer me, old man, since this is now the Citizen's Band in the US, but thought you might like to know you're putting in a decent five by seven here in Cape Town. ZS1RK clear."  The voice chain passed the word to LBQ, who came running in after hearing the news.  His first concern was "You didn't answer him, did you!?"

Took me MONTHS to work Africa for myself.  Finally got a ZS3 in 1962, just before I graduated from LVHS.


The numeric ahead of the letter was the number of the FCC District in which the licensee lived.  Detroit was District 19, and back in the mid-50s my father received callsign 19W3115 while living near Cleveland OH.  The pattern originally used for those Las Vegas calls later had to be altered to the more familiar 3 letters+4 digit sequence, since the USA was internationally authorized to use the letters A, K, N,and W, but NOT the letter Q. 
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