"Steve Robeson K4YZ" wrote


In the FCC's opinion it is not a regulatory necessity, thus they don't
require it.

It's not about regulatory. It's about enforcement.


In the FCC's opinion it is not an enforcement issue, thus they don't
require it.


There's are numerous letters in QST over the past few years
(and I must assume even more who haven't written) lamenting
the same thing.


The FCC sees no regulatory reason (nor enforcement reason, nor "good
operating practice" reason) to change your callsign when you move from
one district to another, nor are they required to consult "numerous
letters in QST" to determine what is "good operating practice"..

They do, however, often take into account the wishes of the citizens who
petition them for rule changes. One of those petitions asked that they
allow amateurs to retain their calls when moving because many hams had
become 'connected' to their call signs, almost as a 'name', and did not
wish to surrender the call when moving. Finding no regulatory,
enforcement, nor "good operating practice" reason that a ham shouldn't
keep their callsign, they ruled in favor of the petitioner.


I guess it's no problem when you are running a full gallon and
have the Internet right there at the operating position, Hans.

Whether I'm running a "full gallon" or 100mW (which is closer to what I
normally run) doesn't make it any easier to devine the source of a CQ.
And what does the internet have to do with it?

73, de Hans, K0HB/4ID

In article . net, "KØHB"
writes:

One of those petitions asked that they
allow amateurs to retain their calls when moving because many hams had
become 'connected' to their call signs, almost as a 'name', and did not
wish to surrender the call when moving. Finding no regulatory,
enforcement, nor "good operating practice" reason that a ham shouldn't
keep their callsign, they ruled in favor of the petitioner.

Yep.

There's also another factor: availability of callsigns in the new area.

There was a time, back when the ARS was much smaller, that FCC would try to
give "corresponding" calls when someone moved. W1ICP was W0ICP, for example.
But that became "impractical".

I got N2EY (sequentially issued) when I moved from EPA to WNY in 1977. By the
time I moved back (1979), the FCC was not reissuing "abandoned" 1x2 calls.
Something about their computer system.

What it meant in my case was that if I'd asked for a 3-land call, I could have
gotten a sequentially-issued 3-land 1x2. But N2EY would not have been reissued
to anyone. So there would be one less Extra with a 1x2, and I decided to keep
N2EY.

Did I do the wrong thing?

I guess it's no problem when you are running a full gallon and
have the Internet right there at the operating position, Hans.

Whether I'm running a "full gallon" or 100mW (which is closer to what I
normally run) doesn't make it any easier to devine the source of a CQ.
And what does the internet have to do with it?

If you have internet access in the shack, you could look up a callsign heard
and see what state the ham is in. Not a new idea, though - there used to be
this thing called a "callbook"

73 de Jim, N2EY

"N2EY" wrote in message
...
In article . net, "KØHB"
writes:

One of those petitions asked that they
allow amateurs to retain their calls when moving because many hams had
become 'connected' to their call signs, almost as a 'name', and did not
wish to surrender the call when moving. Finding no regulatory,
enforcement, nor "good operating practice" reason that a ham shouldn't
keep their callsign, they ruled in favor of the petitioner.

Yep.

There's also another factor: availability of callsigns in the new area.

This is a more restrictive issue than most realize. There are only 2028
possible 1x2 callsigns and only 2028 possible 2x1 callsigns in each
district. As of this point in time, most districts have none available for
sequential issue and only a few available for vanity calls.

Even the 1x3s, of which there are 52,728 possible combinations per district,
are no longer available for sequential issue.

Actually the number of callsigns is slightly smaller since there are certain
suffixes that for various reasons are not made available for the general ham
population.



There was a time, back when the ARS was much smaller, that FCC would try
to
give "corresponding" calls when someone moved. W1ICP was W0ICP, for
example.
But that became "impractical".

I got N2EY (sequentially issued) when I moved from EPA to WNY in 1977. By
the
time I moved back (1979), the FCC was not reissuing "abandoned" 1x2 calls.
Something about their computer system.

What it meant in my case was that if I'd asked for a 3-land call, I could
have
gotten a sequentially-issued 3-land 1x2. But N2EY would not have been
reissued
to anyone. So there would be one less Extra with a 1x2, and I decided to
keep
N2EY.

Did I do the wrong thing?

Absolutely not IMHO. I've moved several times: from 8 land to 9 land to 0
land and back to 8 land. It would make no sense to me to keep changing my
call sign. And if one were restricted to sequentially issued calls, all
that was available by the time I moved into each of these areas were the
2x2s beginning with A. I don't happen to like them.


I guess it's no problem when you are running a full gallon and
have the Internet right there at the operating position, Hans.

Whether I'm running a "full gallon" or 100mW (which is closer to what I
normally run) doesn't make it any easier to devine the source of a CQ.
And what does the internet have to do with it?

If you have internet access in the shack, you could look up a callsign
heard
and see what state the ham is in. Not a new idea, though - there used to
be
this thing called a "callbook"

73 de Jim, N2EY

Don't need internet access even today. There are callbooks available on CD
ROM for a non-internet connected computer. Besides that, what's wrong with
just asking the guy (or gal)? In addition, if one is hunting states for WAS
or whatever, monitor the contests that include section as part of the report
and jump in when you find one. Or call CQ specifically for the states of
interest.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

In article , "Dee D. Flint"
writes:

"N2EY" wrote in message
...
In article . net, "KØHB"
writes:

One of those petitions asked that they
allow amateurs to retain their calls when moving because many hams had
become 'connected' to their call signs, almost as a 'name', and did not
wish to surrender the call when moving. Finding no regulatory,
enforcement, nor "good operating practice" reason that a ham shouldn't
keep their callsign, they ruled in favor of the petitioner.

Yep.

There's also another factor: availability of callsigns in the new area.

This is a more restrictive issue than most realize. There are only 2028
possible 1x2 callsigns and only 2028 possible 2x1 callsigns in each
district. As of this point in time, most districts have none available for
sequential issue and only a few available for vanity calls.

If hams were required to change callsigns when moving across district lines,
It's highly probable that there would usually be *no* 1x2s or 2x1s available in
most districts, because they'd all be tied up by current holders or in the 2
year period.

Even the 1x3s, of which there are 52,728 possible combinations per district,
are no longer available for sequential issue.

The "no longer available for sequential issue" thing is, I think, due solely to
an FCC decision. IIRC, their computers are not set up to do it. Yet.

Besides, it generates vanity revenue.

Actually the number of callsigns is slightly smaller since there are certain
suffixes that for various reasons are not made available for the general ham
population.

Exactly.

There was a time, back when the ARS was much smaller, that FCC would try
to
give "corresponding" calls when someone moved. W1ICP was W0ICP, for
example.
But that became "impractical".

I got N2EY (sequentially issued) when I moved from EPA to WNY in 1977. By
the
time I moved back (1979), the FCC was not reissuing "abandoned" 1x2 calls.
Something about their computer system.

What it meant in my case was that if I'd asked for a 3-land call, I could
have
gotten a sequentially-issued 3-land 1x2. But N2EY would not have been
reissued
to anyone. So there would be one less Extra with a 1x2, and I decided to
keep N2EY.

Did I do the wrong thing?

Absolutely not IMHO. I've moved several times: from 8 land to 9 land to 0
land and back to 8 land. It would make no sense to me to keep changing my
call sign. And if one were restricted to sequentially issued calls, all
that was available by the time I moved into each of these areas were the
2x2s beginning with A. I don't happen to like them.

If everyone had to change with every move, even those would probably be all
tied up.

If you have internet access in the shack, you could look up a callsign
heard
and see what state the ham is in. Not a new idea, though - there used to
be
this thing called a "callbook"

73 de Jim, N2EY

Don't need internet access even today. There are callbooks available on CD
ROM for a non-internet connected computer.

My point was simply that even thr Ancient Ones in the BPC times had ways of
finding the rare states.

Besides that, what's wrong with
just asking the guy (or gal)?

Ya gotta work him first.

In addition, if one is hunting states for WAS
or whatever, monitor the contests that include section as part of the report
and jump in when you find one. Or call CQ specifically for the states of
interest.

I've found that in CW SS, section-hunting is usually (not always) a waste of
time. Except for the very rare/difficult ones (NT, NL, AK, PAC [from EPA]),
I've found that simply working everything you can hear will get you 70+
sections. Getting the really rare ones is a different game, of course, but
relatively few are "really rare".
And the rare ones are often easily found by the size of the pileup on them.

In SS 2004, the Type 7 and I worked all states except Hawaii. 100 homebrew
watts, inverted V at 37 feet, paper logs and a bug.

73 de Jim, N2EY

"N2EY" wrote


In SS 2004, the Type 7 and I worked all states except Hawaii. 100
homebrew
watts, inverted V at 37 feet, paper logs and a bug.


Ah yes, "a boy and his radio", not a net-connected, cluster-spoon-fed,
computer-dependent robo-station tended by a jumpsuited sycopant "if
they're not a W6 they can't be in California" techno-control-geek with
thick glasses.

There's hope for radiosport after all!

73, de Hans, K0HB/4ID

In article . net, "KØHB"
writes:

"N2EY" wrote

In SS 2004, the Type 7 and I worked all states except Hawaii. 100
homebrew watts, inverted V at 37 feet, paper logs and a bug.

Ah yes, "a boy and his radio", not a net-connected, cluster-spoon-fed,
computer-dependent robo-station

Can I use that description?

tended by a jumpsuited sycopant "if
they're not a W6 they can't be in California" techno-control-geek with
thick glasses.

Well, I don't own any jumpsuits but I did have to get glasses last year...

There's hope for radiosport after all!

CQWW, anyone?

73 de Jim, N2EY

"N2EY" wrote
writes:

"N2EY" wrote

Ah yes, "a boy and his radio", not a net-connected, cluster-spoon-fed,
computer-dependent robo-station

Can I use that description?


No, because some W4 will 'remember' reading it first in CQ or QST and
publicly smear your name as a plagiarist without first checking her
facts. I've seen it happen.

73, de Hans, K0HB/4ID

PS: I hereby grant to N2EY permission for royalty-free use of my
description "net-connected, cluster-spoon-fed, computer-dependent
robo-station©" for any non-commercial purpose.

"N2EY" wrote in message
...
In article , "Dee D. Flint"
writes:


Even the 1x3s, of which there are 52,728 possible combinations per
district,
are no longer available for sequential issue.

The "no longer available for sequential issue" thing is, I think, due
solely to
an FCC decision. IIRC, their computers are not set up to do it. Yet.

Besides, it generates vanity revenue.


No, it was not due to an FCC decision. They used them up.

Figuratively speaking, I was there, as they say, at the point in time when
they ran out. Sequentially available 1x3s ran out in most districts in '92,
'93, or '94 (some districts were slower than others and some may have gone
on slightly longer). My call is my original one issued in 1992 and as you
can see from the fact that it is N8UZE that they were already close to the
end of the 1x3s in district 8 by then. My daughter's call sign, issued in
1993, is N8ZNW. The pattern of issue was first to use W calls, then K
calls, and finally N calls. Slightly off topic, 2x3 calls being issued at
this time are still in the K sequence.

For a while, I followed the call sign usage just out of curiosity to see
when they would run out.

The biggest reason that I did not change my call sign upon getting my Extra
was that district 8 was out of 1x2 call signs by the time I passed my Extra
test in late 1992 (upgraded license was issued in early 1993). I had no
interest in Extra class call signs in the 2x1 or 2x2 format.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

In article , "Dee D. Flint"
writes:

The "no longer available for sequential issue" thing is, I think, due
solely to
an FCC decision. IIRC, their computers are not set up to do it. Yet.

Besides, it generates vanity revenue.


No, it was not due to an FCC decision. They used them up.

Well, they went through them. See below.

Figuratively speaking, I was there, as they say, at the point in time when
they ran out. Sequentially available 1x3s ran out in most districts in '92,
'93, or '94 (some districts were slower than others and some may have gone
on slightly longer). My call is my original one issued in 1992 and as you
can see from the fact that it is N8UZE that they were already close to the
end of the 1x3s in district 8 by then. My daughter's call sign, issued in
1993, is N8ZNW. The pattern of issue was first to use W calls, then K
calls, and finally N calls. Slightly off topic, 2x3 calls being issued at
this time are still in the K sequence.

For a while, I followed the call sign usage just out of curiosity to see
when they would run out.

What I was trying to describe is that while FCC may have issued all of the
1x3s, they're not all in use. Once upon a time, when, say, W8ZZZ was reached,
FCC would go back to W8AAA and "fill in the gaps". This was done sequentially -
you didn't get a choice.

Of course that sort of thing takes resources and also reduces the demand for
vanity calls.

The biggest reason that I did not change my call sign upon getting my Extra
was that district 8 was out of 1x2 call signs by the time I passed my Extra
test in late 1992 (upgraded license was issued in early 1993). I had no
interest in Extra class call signs in the 2x1 or 2x2 format.

Works for me!

73 de Jim, N2EY

"Dee D. Flint" wrote in
:


"N2EY" wrote in message
...
In article , "Dee D. Flint"
writes:


Even the 1x3s, of which there are 52,728 possible combinations per
district, are no longer available for sequential issue.

The "no longer available for sequential issue" thing is, I think, due
solely to an FCC decision. IIRC, their computers are not set up to do
it. Yet.

Besides, it generates vanity revenue.


No, it was not due to an FCC decision. They used them up.

Figuratively speaking, I was there, as they say, at the point in time
when they ran out. Sequentially available 1x3s ran out in most
districts in '92, '93, or '94 (some districts were slower than others
and some may have gone on slightly longer). My call is my original one
issued in 1992 and as you can see from the fact that it is N8UZE that
they were already close to the end of the 1x3s in district 8 by then.
My daughter's call sign, issued in 1993, is N8ZNW. The pattern of
issue was first to use W calls, then K calls, and finally N calls.
Slightly off topic, 2x3 calls being issued at this time are still in
the K sequence.

For a while, I followed the call sign usage just out of curiosity to
see when they would run out.

The biggest reason that I did not change my call sign upon getting my
Extra was that district 8 was out of 1x2 call signs by the time I
passed my Extra test in late 1992 (upgraded license was issued in early
1993). I had no interest in Extra class call signs in the 2x1 or 2x2
format.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE


In my case I didn't know whether I would get, say, WZ3Z or AA3AA. I
particularly didn't want a 2x1, as they seem to me to be 'back-to-front'. A
2x2 would have been OK, but they are no shorter than a 1x3. A friend of
mine, who upgraded at the same time, in fact got AA3BS. That could have
been me. Everyone phoneticises his last two letters as 'Bovine Scatology'!

73 de Alun, N3KIP