Who assigned the first prefixes K,W, F... ?
 

Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

Thierry wrote:
I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?

International Amateur Radio Union (which still exists today). See
http://lists.contesting.com/archives.../msg00111.html
.. (scroll down) Actually, prefixes had been assigned informally and
without official coordination even before that.

- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?

Until the end of World War 2, all USA stations were assigned W prefixes.
K prefixes were used in U.S. possessions (Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska,
Hawaii, etc.). (remember that Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states
until 1959) K prefixes were assigned to U.S. amateurs when the W calls
ran out in the 1950s. I *believe* A and N were made available when
"vanity calls" were first allowed in 1976.

I have never seen a good explanation of why the USA received the letters
A, K, N, and W.

- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)

ITU apportions prefixes among countries; each country's administration
decides which ITU-provided prefixes to use for amateurs and how to
assign them.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Thierry wrote:
I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?

International Amateur Radio Union (which still exists today). See
http://lists.contesting.com/archives.../msg00111.html
.. (scroll down) Actually, prefixes had been assigned informally and
without official coordination even before that.

- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?

Until the end of World War 2, all USA stations were assigned W prefixes.
K prefixes were used in U.S. possessions (Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska,
Hawaii, etc.). (remember that Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states
until 1959) K prefixes were assigned to U.S. amateurs when the W calls
ran out in the 1950s. I *believe* A and N were made available when
"vanity calls" were first allowed in 1976.

I have never seen a good explanation of why the USA received the letters
A, K, N, and W.

- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)

ITU apportions prefixes among countries; each country's administration
decides which ITU-provided prefixes to use for amateurs and how to
assign them.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

You will notice in the first assigned prefixes, the letter tended to be the
first letter of that countries name, although this was not an absolute
policy.

i.e.
f- france
i- Italy
D- Germany (Duetschland)
G-Great Britain
E-Eire (Ireland)
J-Japan
R-Russia
etc.....

Another funny fact which may or may not have any bearing on this subject. In
high speed morse there is a premium on reducing "code weight" ( less dit and
dahs mean more through-put on the circuit). Letters that partly sound alike
would be easier for an operator to recognize and allow him to pay more
attention or disregard the following traffic as appropriate.( pay atention
to any callsign that starts with dit-dah or dah-dit).
In the US prefixes the letters are subsets of each other in Morse Code:

A-W dit-Dah dit-dah-dah
N-K Dah-dit Dah-dit-dah

73
Dan Yemiola
AI8O

Thierry To answer me in private use
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry/post.htm wrote in message
...
Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for
my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex
CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

You will notice in the first assigned prefixes, the letter tended to be the
first letter of that countries name, although this was not an absolute
policy.

i.e.
f- france
i- Italy
D- Germany (Duetschland)
G-Great Britain
E-Eire (Ireland)
J-Japan
R-Russia
etc.....

Another funny fact which may or may not have any bearing on this subject. In
high speed morse there is a premium on reducing "code weight" ( less dit and
dahs mean more through-put on the circuit). Letters that partly sound alike
would be easier for an operator to recognize and allow him to pay more
attention or disregard the following traffic as appropriate.( pay atention
to any callsign that starts with dit-dah or dah-dit).
In the US prefixes the letters are subsets of each other in Morse Code:

A-W dit-Dah dit-dah-dah
N-K Dah-dit Dah-dit-dah

73
Dan Yemiola
AI8O

Thierry To answer me in private use
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry/post.htm wrote in message
...
Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for
my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex
CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message
...
Thierry wrote:
I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for
my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns
in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?

International Amateur Radio Union (which still exists today). See
http://lists.contesting.com/archives.../msg00111.html
. (scroll down) Actually, prefixes had been assigned informally and
without official coordination even before that.

- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or
W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?

Until the end of World War 2, all USA stations were assigned W prefixes.
K prefixes were used in U.S. possessions (Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska,
Hawaii, etc.). (remember that Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states
until 1959) K prefixes were assigned to U.S. amateurs when the W calls
ran out in the 1950s. I *believe* A and N were made available when
"vanity calls" were first allowed in 1976.

I have never seen a good explanation of why the USA received the letters
A, K, N, and W.

- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex
CCIR)

ITU apportions prefixes among countries; each country's administration
decides which ITU-provided prefixes to use for amateurs and how to
assign them.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Although K was late in the Amateur world, broadcast band stations had K
calls very early, e.g., KDKA, KYW,
etc. Were not the K prefixes assigned to territories KX
prefixes where X indicated the place? KL7 for Alaska and KH6 for Hawaii (if
I recall properly).

Ed

N5EI

"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message
...
Thierry wrote:
I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for
my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns
in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?

International Amateur Radio Union (which still exists today). See
http://lists.contesting.com/archives.../msg00111.html
. (scroll down) Actually, prefixes had been assigned informally and
without official coordination even before that.

- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or
W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?

Until the end of World War 2, all USA stations were assigned W prefixes.
K prefixes were used in U.S. possessions (Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska,
Hawaii, etc.). (remember that Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states
until 1959) K prefixes were assigned to U.S. amateurs when the W calls
ran out in the 1950s. I *believe* A and N were made available when
"vanity calls" were first allowed in 1976.

I have never seen a good explanation of why the USA received the letters
A, K, N, and W.

- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex
CCIR)

ITU apportions prefixes among countries; each country's administration
decides which ITU-provided prefixes to use for amateurs and how to
assign them.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Although K was late in the Amateur world, broadcast band stations had K
calls very early, e.g., KDKA, KYW,
etc. Were not the K prefixes assigned to territories KX
prefixes where X indicated the place? KL7 for Alaska and KH6 for Hawaii (if
I recall properly).

Ed

N5EI

W and K prefixes.

I'll stand to corrected but my recollection is that a further partition
existed within the USA in the 50s and earlier.

W was issued to stations, at least commercial stations, East of the
Mississippi and K was issued to station west of the Mississippi!!

Any confirmation????

DD

Thierry wrote:

Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

W and K prefixes.

I'll stand to corrected but my recollection is that a further partition
existed within the USA in the 50s and earlier.

W was issued to stations, at least commercial stations, East of the
Mississippi and K was issued to station west of the Mississippi!!

Any confirmation????

DD

Thierry wrote:

Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

W and K prefixes.

I'll stand to corrected but my recollection is that a further partition
existed within the USA in the 50s and earlier.

W was issued to stations, at least commercial stations, East of the
Mississippi and K was issued to station west of the Mississippi!!

Any confirmation????

DD

Thierry wrote:

Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry