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W5TIT wrote:
"Dee Flint" wrote in message
. ..

"W5TIT" wrote in message
...
Hello Gang:

I couldn't find the original message that was posted about vanity
callsigns only being able to be applied for by General class
licensees. I think you're opinion is right-on, but I do have a
question. If you believe the Techs are using up all the good vanity
call signs, wouldn't this be because all the Advance, General, and
Extra class folks aren't?

: ) Kim W5TIT

Hi, Kim.

I think the fellow's complaint is just sour grapes because he didn't
get a call sign he wanted.

Acknowledged. Have to say, though, that sometimes even the sour grape
complaint is a good topic to pick up on...GRIN

I do NOT agree that Techs shouldn't be allowed to get vanity call
signs. They are entitled to 1x3 calls and at this point in time those
are only available through the vanity system since the 1x3s available
for sequential assignment were "used up" in the early 1990s.

Y'know? I remember that now and thanks for bringing that up. I sit
with a changed mind, Dee.

In addition, blocking them from vanity calls would also block them
from getting a deceased relative's call unless an exception was made.

Hello folks!

All but Extras are still sometimes blocked by license class unless they
upgrade. That's one reason a call has to be unassigned for two years
before it's available to a nonrelative.

True, and I hadn't considered that when I quickly responded, either. I
agree.

And who is to say what is a "good vanity call sign?"

Dee. I am not even going there.

I will!

A 'good vanity callsign' is one that the licensee thinks is 'good', for
whatever reeason.

Some folks like their initials as part of their callsign.
Some want a callsign as a memorial (W1AW)
Some like the way a certain callsign sounds in Morse Code, or how it
can be phoneticized. A callsign with no rhyming or hard-to-distinguish
letters could be an advantage on 'phone.

And some have...other reasons. Eye of the beholder and all that.

For me it was the competitive advantage of a short callsign. For 10
years I had a 2x3, and then in 1977 got my current callsign when I
relocated. FCC had just changed the rules so that the 1x2s beginning
with N were available, but you couldn't pick which one.

So it certainly looks like a case of someone complaining because they
didn't get the call sign they wanted. That is not a good enough
reason to stop Techs from getting vanity calls.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

To come full circle...true. You've changed my mind, made a lot of
logical submissions and I now believe the vanity callsign program is
good as is...that is, unless it's changed since I've been out of the
Ham Radio scene the last--what--three years (at least)?

Kim W5TIT

As long as you're licensed, you're not completely out of the scene, Kim
- just inactive....

There's another reason some folks have sour grapes:

For a long time, you could sort-of tell the 'vintage' of an amateur by
his/her callsign, because FCC had a fairly predictable way of issuing
callsigns, and the vanity program was extremely limited. So you knew
that W3ZYX had been a ham a lot longer than WA3IYC, and WA3IYC had been
a ham a lot longer than KB3EIA, etc.

When FCC extended and expanded the vanity call program, most of that
went away. A ham with a 1x3 starting with W could be a brand new Tech,
while a 2x3 starting with WA could be a ham who'd been an Extra for 40+
years. Plus all sorts of variations. So that old system fell apart, and
some don't like it.

Good to see you folks here again.

73 de Jim, N2EY

And for some, the vanity call is the only thing that they can be proud of
because it took more effort to get the vanity call than it took to get the
license.

Ten-Four?

SC

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