I sort of get into the history of ham radio. I enjoy reading about what ham radio used to be like. I buy old QSTs and ARRL Handbooks and enjoy seeing what used to be. I am posting this for newer hams just as a FYI type of thing with no particular agenda.

When I became a ham. I don't think there was any such thing as vanity callsigns in the same way they exist today.  Club callsigns were rare. There was no QRZ.com. If you wanted to look up someone's information there was no internet: there was a big book that you had to buy called The Callbook: which you can still buy on CD but back then it was paper. It was a fairly large book that came out once a year. You could subscribe to it and get supplements during the year in-between the full editions if you subscribed. There was a US Callbook as well as a seperate DX Callbook and you had to buy them seperately. If you wanted to QSL, this was how you got the information to send them a card.

So, when you heard a guy on the air, his callsign told you some things about him that don't mean a thing in today's world of ham radio.

First of all, the number in your callsign HAD to correspond with where you lived. When you heard a guy on the air, you had a good idea of where he was located. There was no KH6 callsign living in South Carolina for example. If you heard a KH6 on the air, it was almost a certainty that he was in Hawaii.

Second, callsigns were sequentially issued. So, you could get a good idea of when he was licensed. Back then, if you were working a W4 prefix, you knew he had been around ham radio for a long time. If you were working a KA8 prefix, you knew he was a fairly new ham. Even the suffix sometimes was interesting. My original callsign was KA8FFL. If I worked KA8FFM, I would know that he got licensed right at the same time I did.

There were no vanity callsigns, but when you upgraded, you could apply for a new callsign. You couldn't specify what that callsign was, but the prefix would indicate what class of license you held. This is still true to a small degree today. For example my prefix is AB8. Even today, that prefix is reserved for Extra class license only. As a point of trivia: the AB prefix was first issued in 1976 and stood for "American Bicentennial. I thought about this today in reading the other thread about the General getting lectured by some Extras because the General was operating in the Extra class portion of the band. Today, in order to know that, you would have to look the guy up online. Back in the day, it would have been far more obvious.


I have to admit that I miss the logical order of how this all worked. Today, you don't know who you are working unless you look it up or until they tell you. You can work a W7xxx callisgn and find out he lives in Florida and just got licensed two months ago. Back in the day, a ham living in Florida wouldn't have had a W7 callsign and if he was there on vacation, he would have been signing his callsign/Portable 4. And as a new ham, he wouldn't have had a W7 callsign.

I was on an online sked page and one of the regulars on there had a KH6 callsign, but he lived in Montana. A DX station was on there pissed off because this guy, with that KH6 callsign, was not in Hawaii. He said that he understood that Americans can use callsigns that are no indication of what call area they are actually living in, but in this case the guys callsign wasn't even in the same DXCC entity as he actually lived. Using that logic, he could be using a ZL prefix and actually live in Georgia. And I agreed completely with the DX station: it made no sense.
I have been there. I have heard a KH6 callsign on the air and was all excited to work him. Then after the QSO, I looked him up on QRZ and found out that he was actually in Michigan or whatever. I am sure that these guys often get all kinds of calls from people thinking they were working Hawaii, maybe even small pileups from people who didn't research it before they started calling him.

I love my vanity call...I am sorry it annoys you.

I knew I would get this reaction from some people. which is why I posted in the first couple sentences. I have no agenda.
This is just for infomational purposes. A point of discussion. Something to think about.


I HAVE a vanity callsign myself.
It isn't my initials or anything. It has no real meaning. When I upgraded to extra I lived in Nevada and was issued the callsign, AB7KT. I worked thousands of people using that callsign. When I moved to Ohio, I wanted to get an 8th area callsign because I strongly believe in having a callsign that corresponds to the area you actually live in. So, I got AB8KT as a vanity callsign. In other words, the same as my previous callsign only with a different number. I hoped that many of the people I had worked before would get the connection.

It was a lot easier when callsigns were useful.

According to QRZ, there are 51 call signs that end in SEX.


I like things that end in SEX.

True dat!

I've only been a Ham for a year, so this is only a noob opinion......

I got my call and didn't like it - just because it was so bleeping long - which is how it used to be.  I saw there was an opportunity to get a Vanity call and so went that route.  I asked around here (and a few other places) about what people thought about the number part of the call and it seemed to me that more people thought your region should be correct - maybe that's what I wanted to hear - so that's what I did.  And the end of my call is my initials.

My conundrum is going to be when I go to extra, I won't keep my vanity call - I want the recognition of the achievement
That said, I'm hoping that I like the call that is assigned to me, if I don't I hope I can find a vanity call that like/want.

But, all this said, my call will always match my QTH region - although that might be hard to ascertain once I retire!

In the end, I'm with 444 - I think the vanity should still reflect the region and I think the guy with KH6 call (who lives in MT or MI) should append /X as appropriate.  As always, opinions are like a-holes........

When I got my vanity callsgin, I put a lot of thought into it.

I thought about getting a callsign that maybe was once held by a friend that is now SK to remember them by, I thought about getting some kind of suffix that stood for something else I was interested in or that I could make up catchy phonetics. For example I thought seriously about getting the callsign: W8OSB. Whiskey 8 Ohio State Buckeye.
Something I spent a lot of time thinking about is: I am primarily a CW operator and I looked into getting a call that was easy to send and easy to copy on CW. There is even a website that deals with this.
I thought about getting a 1x2 call, but those are all taken.

In the end, I went with what I posted previously. It has no catchy phonetics. In fact it seems like it is difficult to copy on phone.  It has very little meaning. It is an extra class callsign and that is about it.

I agree with the point that I don't like region numbers not having to be accurate.  I also went the vanity route when I got my extra license but I made sure to maintain a region 8 call.  It certainly makes it more difficult to pursue awards like WAS when you're trying to lookup every call you hear to see if they actually live in their region.

Interesting. This thought has crossed my mind since I was licensed in Area 1 and moved to 8. I don't plan on changing my call now that I'm here and am happy that I am not required to because I like my call.

I understand what it is like to collect states/DX/etc and be excited to hear a KH6, but, in the end, I don't really think it would bother me at all. I'd likely ask about it (if he had time) and move on without giving it a second thought.


Though, I'm just another no-code ham ruining the hobby, what do I know?

I got licensed as a tech-plus in 1993 ( technician, plus 5wpm cw )
Was issued a 1x3 call   10m FTW

Upgraded to advanced in 1994 (also passed general and 13wpm cw test )
Was issued a 2x2 call


Kept it for many years, until I got my extra and got a vanity 2x1

I was proud to get my advanced and 2x2 call
Failed the 13wpm the first attempt ...then i forced myself to call CQ

I remember the callsign book....it was like a giant yellowpages phone book ( do those still exsist LOL )
I was poor and working my way thru college. That book wasn't cheap

With todays QRZ.com, i dont really mind out of district callsigns

Ive always wanted a 4 land 1x2 since i grew up all over 4 land, but gave up trying

I also remember life before internet DX spotters

We'd actually have to tune around and find the DX

I thought about posting a thread about why this is an issue to some people on both sides of the fence on this issue;  but I realized the butthurt would be immense.
Even watching carefully what you say causes butthurt to some people. Having a rational discussion is hard work.
I  try to remember that this sub-forum isn't GD but at other times I wonder.

No butthurt here whatsoever. I was going to say it's an "inside joke" but that didn't really make sense because I wrongfully assumed everyone here had heard it. I think maybe that came across as being a smart as when that wasn't my intention.

Back "in the day", we didn't live in the mobile society that we now have.  In the first 15 years I was out of college, I moved 8 times (for work), and lived all over the US.  One year I was in Oak Harbor, Washington, and the next I was in Key West, FL.  Many, many people move every few years, and  I imagine the FCC got tired of the time and expense involved with issuing new callsigns.  

In reality, the numbers don't mean much anyway.  Sure, a "2" callsign means New York or New Jersey, but a "7" callsign could be in Washington or Arizona.  A "5" could be in New Mexico or Mississippi.  And "0" could be in Minnesota or Colorado.  When I lived in Pensacola, I was a  lot closer to Mississippi (5) than I was to Virginia (4).  If you are chasing WAS, you still have to look it up.  If you really want the numbers to mean something, then each state should have it's own. All 50 of them.

I'm an extra class with a 2x3 vanity callsign.  It's a "4", but I live in "5" land.  It has some sentimental value to me, because it was my father's callsign, and has been associated with my family for some 50 years now.  I don't plan on changing any time soon.

No, don't get me wrong. I wasn't talking about this thread or what you said. I thought about starting a thread about why some people are pissed off about the no-code thing and why other people are pissed off at the people that are pissed off about the no-code thing: but I realized it would't get any rational discussion and would end up in thread lock and two bans

I will probably keep my original call just as a matter of pride as it is my first call sign, unless K7EC becomes available as I really miss having a 1X2 call.

I have a vanity cause the call issued back in 2001 ended in 'OIE'.  Thought I was singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" every time I said it.

Yeah, that is the cool thing about the vanity callsign thing: it is great that you can have your dad's callsign. If my dad had been a ham, I would want his too.

But, that being said, it does cause confusion.

When you hear a station on the air, sometimes you want to jump in and work him before he gets noticed by a lot of other people or even spotted on a DX Cluster. For example, let's say my last state for WAS is Alaska and I am on the US east coast running QRP with a mediocre antenna. Working Alaska under those conditions ain't easy. So you hear a KL7 calling CQ. You think to yourself, this guy must have just gotten on the air. Nobody has heard him yet. I have a good copy on him and I NEED to get him into the log before 20 other stations start calling him and my QRP signal can't cut the pileup. You work him and he is one state over from you

Whereas, if you heard him, and you looked him up, found out he was in AK, by that time 20 other stations would be calling him (that you can hear, probably more you can't hear) and you will never work him.

This is why the whole thing made sense before.

Beg pardon, but my response was just that.  Two simple statements of fact.  I love my call. and I am genuinely sorry it annoys you.  It is regionally correct and I am an Extra, so maybe it doesn't even annoy you.  But that is up to you to decide.

I don't even notice most times where someone is located, nor do I care.  They are on the radio, they want to talk, so do I.  It is enough.

I think you are looking for the reaction you admit you expected to get...I assure you, you're not getting that from me.

The KH6 call should have signed KH6xxx/0 shouldn't he?

In the case of geographically issued calls it is only appropriate to indicate operations not from that geographic area.  KH is a DXCC country and good operating manners usually would be to indicate when not operating from one's home country.  

As for the old system, who cares - it changed so long ago and is never coming back, so it isn't worth a lament.

Poor operating manners leading to confusion  is lamentable though.

73

Steve
K9ZW

No new call sign, when I upgraded to Advanced (in Boston, from an FCC Examiner) so I am still the original K1***.

No desire to become a "No-Code Extra".

When I tested in the Spring of 1954, the FCC was going through the 4 area calls and filling in the vacant spots. Several of us who tested together got WN4 prefixes, while the groups who tested the following months received KN4 calls. Of course, when we upgraded to General, the N was dropped.

Some of the calls were a PITA, long when sent in CW, and others were difficult to understand when voice was used. Mine is both, lots of dits and dahs and a tongue-twister when pronounced. But it's a W call and there's no way I'm giving it up until I become a Silent Key.

 

I have the same call sign I got in 1985 in Connecticut, and I live in Texas now.  So it's unusual here.













 

That's how I do it bro...no net in the shack  Thinking for Upgrading just to get the 2x2 (we'll see what the FCC gives or I'll vanity again-and stay in 4)

What's your prefix?

My K1 dates to 1960.

Well, I like to think my call sign means something, though not in the traditional hamspeak sense.

My first callsign started with WN8  

I put a little thought into keeping my original call sign for ever, or if my BIL becomes SK, I thought I might like his W2 call.  I also think that 2's should be in their proper region.  We have a K6 here in NY, and he loves pointing it out that he was originally licensed in CA (He should have stayed there!)

Bill

Here in 7 land, it really doesn't matter since half the time I hear a 7 call, it's usually someone in AZ or OR, rather than someone local.

No, it's a lot easier with QRZ



 

I actually made an effort to come up with a vanity that was geographically appropriate.

Traded my KD0 for an N0...

on phone, i can tell right away the folks from Boston and also the folks from Louisiana.  

"my boy is wicked smahht" is a dead giveaway.

CW is harder.  

ar-jedi

Agree that prefix and call area should be respected.

In my case, I'm not going for an Extra "short call" until I am CW-certified. Sure, I'm a NCE, but I still respect tradition.

If I permanently move, I'll be changing to reflect call area.

My callsign is W3***. It's a vanity call and there was no call sign I wanted available in the 4 area, where I currently live. I'm an extra but 1x3 call fits me just fine. There was nothing decent available in 1x2 and I don't like 2x1 calls, especially the ones starting with an A.  I was first licensed in 0 area and also lived in 6 and 7 areas. It would have been a nightmare to change my call every time I moved. All these numbers don't mean much anymore. People in this country move a lot. It's rare for someone to be born and spend the whole life in the same area.
Good thing is that they at least kept the W and K prefixes. A while back, I was really confused when someone from Croatia responded to my CW CQ call with 9A209A callsign.

Call signs.

Phone numbers - "Lexington-54321". Even after the 10-digit standardization, the Area Codes before cells and "take your number with" were easy to follow. My state had 4 area codes. I have no idea how many are assigned to the state now.

48-bit MAC addresses.

IPV4.


Everything's changed. At least there's ULS for call signs.

I now have my deceased fathers call sign. I'm not changing it no matter how much it matters to the HAM weenies.

I got my Novice ticket in the late 70's and had a Ka9*** call which was not good for CW so I could not wait to upgrade to Extra which I did in the early 80's and got my current call which is a 2X1 from the 9 area. It used to be a really cool thing to upgrade to Extra and get the short call sign and it gave you a reason to upgrade especially since it is better for CW to have a short call sign. I went in the Marines in the early 70's and spent 10 years in there. I always kept 9 land as my home of record no matter where I was stationed and I still have the same 2X1 9 land call even though I now live in Florida.

Jim

I have a 5call I got when I was licensed in AR.  Then I moved to MS and it was still in 5 land.  When I moved this time, I moved out of 5 land but kept my call.  I know that since 5 calls are so rare people are disappointed that I'm not there when they answer me.....seriously, I ws assigned a random call.  You wouldn't believe how many people are amazed that I'm not in Texas.

Not trying to sound mean but.......IMHO
My callsign, My business.
If I wanted it to be FU2FUK that's my call.
Worry about something that matters.

To each his own...I've been to France, I'm not moving there.

There's a member here who's call ends in WTF.  

Meh.

 

There are active call signs N0FUK and W8FUK.
There are other .FUK's that are out of the US.
I like N0FUK!
There is a N0SHT also.

Bill

Back in the banana boat days, the general call for the United Fruit Company ships was KFUC.  Some say that's where the "banana boat swing" came from, when sending CW.

This post is kinda funny. The reason I say that, my grandmother (let her license expire after my grandfather SKed) was driven crazy by W and K calls versus location. When her and my grandfather got licensed W prefix was reserved for stations east of the Mississippi River, K prefixes were stations west of of the Mississippi. Off-shore calls used to be similar as well. By the time my grandparents moved from Baton Rouge to Austin, they were primarily focusing on the region.

Calls are still usually issued consecutively (the suffix for those who obtain their licenses in the same session will all usually be consecutively issued) just not in the same method they used to be.

Mine is K8 but It applied for my Grandfathers call as a vanity....

Are you saying you refuse to upgrade from Advanced to Extra, just because Extra no longer requires a Morse test?

If that's the case, why didn't you upgrade when it still had the 5wpm requirement?