Call (Call Sign)

Call Districts (number in a call sign)

AF5NP Call (Call Sign), District, Geographic, Number

Specifically relevant to USA hams, with some general application in other countries, this topic involves the number in an amateur radio call sign.  None of this info is included in the license exam questions, so no green test boxes here; it’s really just good basic info for all hams to know.

As related in our post What Will My New Call Sign Be?, amateur radio call signs are systematically generated by the FCC in the USA with the numeric portion (KJ5QST) assigned by geographic location of a new ham’s registered address following successful completion of their exam.

The USA is divided up into call districts 0-9 (or 1-0, as historically deployed) per the map below:

Call districts

Actually, it’s 13 districts when you include AK, the Pacific (including HI), and the Caribbean (including PR), but still only 10 numbers.

This is for administrative purposes so that the issuing agency (FCC in USA) doesn’t run out of  2 and 3 letter suffixes, and also give a general idea where the ham is located.

Generally speaking, a station with a 4 in its call (sometimes we say 4-land) is likely to be in a southeastern state, and so with other numbers 1 thru 0 per the map.  Before ~1978, you could count on a call with 2 in it to be located in NY or NJ, but times have changed. Back then if you moved out of your call district, you were required to get a new call assigned with the appropriate district number.

With FCC rules relaxing about portability, plus a generous vanity call system, a 2 call could very well be in California today.  So geographic link to the call district is now a general probability, no longer a certainty.  By one estimate, approximately 88% of all amateur radio operators have call signs that reflect the district in which those operators live (2011 data, likely changed since). Even today it’s good practice to avoid confusion by modifying your call when operating out of district by appending /X where X is the mobile/portable zone of operation different from your call sign.

All this means is that new hams testing for their initial license in Ohio, for example, will receive a sequentially assigned 8-land call  like KE8ABC.  If they don’t like it, or prefer a different number of special significance, or to help create a memorable call sign, they can apply for an available vanity call sign with a different number 0-9, and whatever letters they apply for, as available, and as eligible.

We hinted that things have changed over time. For reference, here are the USA call districts from the early days of ham radio:

USA districts 1937

Note no district 0; district 6 was rather large; this was long before AK and HI were states.

Also as suggested, some of this applies to other countries besides the US of A. Call districts for Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Continue reading →

License Expiration and Renewal

AF5NP Call (Call Sign), Expire, License, Renew(al), Vanity Call

Relevant to American hams only:  US amateur radio licenses are valid for ten years (10 year grant term).  License term or renewal rules are likely different in other countries.

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So a newly-licensed ham doesn’t have to worry about renewal for a long time to come. Various organizations will nag you via email, postal mail, and on QRZ when your license expiration is on the horizon (“This license expires soon.  Renew Now!”).  So if you intend to keep your license you should have plenty of warning and opportunity to renew.   You can renew within 90 days of expiration but no sooner.

If, for any reason, you let your license expire, you have a two year grace period during which you may file for reinstatement.

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However, you may not operate (transmit) whatsoever once your license has expired.

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Renewal or re-instatement (within the grace period) is simple and straight-forward.  No cost and no re-testing required.  Unlike the old days, you do not need to prove activity for renewal (showing log entries).  Make renewal application on the FCC ULS website.  If you have trouble navigating the process, there are renewal services eager to do the work for you (for a reasonable fee).

Direct renewal via ULS should be very fast.  Your status with new expiration date should show up on the ULS database shortly after processing.  If previously expired, do not transmit until you see a new expiration date a decade away (much like your original license experience).

After the 2 year grace period has passed, the FCC will cancel your license and make it available for reissue. If your license gets canceled, your call sign is lost and you must pass an exam again to get re-licensed. After you have obtained a new license and call sign, you may apply for your old call sign as a vanity call, if it is still available.

Not all new hams are brand new to the game.  Sometimes hams let their license expire due to neglect or lack of interest.  More commonly a ham will find that a career and family interrupt their interest in amateur radio and they just let it slide.  Then years— perhaps decades—later they catch the bug again and want to get back into ham radio.  In some ways they are a new ham because many things have changed (rules&regs, technology).  On the other hand, the basics are familiar so they aren’t totally green.

There is good news for previous holders of General, Advanced or Extra Class licenses.  If you can show Continue reading →

Change Your Call Sign

AF5NP Call (Call Sign), Change, Extra Class, FCC, General Class, Technician, Vanity Call

So you just passed the Tech license exam and your new call sign just appeared on the FCC ULS database.  Congratulations!

Let’s say you were assigned KG5ZXY, but that’s both hard to remember and hard to pronounce phonetically.  Or maybe you’ve been licensed for years but just don’t like the call sign you have.

Either way you would really like something different; maybe a catchy one or a call that has your initials or something shorter or easier to remember.  Don’t despair!  You can request a specific call sign if it is available, termed a vanity call.

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Vanity call signs typically include alphabetical characters of personal significance (e.g., licensees initials, parts of names, hobbies, etc), or sometimes are simply chosen because they are shorter calls, or sometimes they have double or triple duplicate characters (e.g., W1WWW).

Note: this information is valid for USA hams.  Many other countries have vanity call programs but the details and rules will be different.

Now there are limitations to call signs, of course.  This is a good time to review our call sign variations topic where you can learn about valid prefixes, suffixes, formats, and quantity of characters.

It goes without saying that you cannot request a call that is already issued (for two years Continue reading →

Call Sign Variations

AF5NP Call (Call Sign), FCC, Format, Vanity Call

New hams listening in on a repeater are likely to hear a wide variety of call signs.  They may be confused and question some of them.  Repeaters near an international border can get pretty interesting with call sign variations in both countries.   EchoLink and IRLP open many repeaters up to access from anywhere the internet can reach.  Call sign variations are even more evident on HF bands where communication distances can be much greater.  New ham KG5XYZ may wonder why not everybody else is a KG5 like them.

It is important for new hams to be familiar with call sign variations and legal call signs for logging, message handling and just scribbling down a call sign when communicating with another ham.  “Did I just hear KMG365?” Comment if you get this reference. 🙂

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First it is essential to understand that ham radio call signs (AKA call letters or just plain call) have a prefix followed by a numeric digit followed by a suffix.  The prefix is determined by the country in which the license is granted, most always one or two alphabetic letters. The digit following the prefix has significance within individual countries, such as geographic zones.  The alphabetic suffix following the number is generally meaningless other than to distinguish between calls sharing the same prefix and number.

There are variations in prefixes, not only by country but often also in number of alpha characters.  The number in a call sign is almost always a single digit.  The suffix may legally be anywhere from one to five alpha characters, depending on governing authority.

This arrangement of prefix-number-suffix is referred to as its format and is useful for describing a call sign. The format system counts the number of characters in both the prefix and the suffix.  It is usually termed the “p by s” system or pxs in writing where p represents the number of characters in the prefix and s is the number of suffix characters.  Using USA example call signs, W3MRC is a 1×3 call while KF5ZFD is a 2×3.  KL7AA and AF5NP are both 2×2 call signs.  NA6M is a 2×1 and W1AW is a 1×2.  One by three (1×3) and two by three (2×3) are by far the most common call formats in the US, followed by 2×2 and then 1×2 and 2×1.  Because they are relatively uncommon, even seasoned hams sometimes pause at a 2×1 call to register with their brain as legitimate.

1×1 call signs are legal in the US but are assigned only to organizations for special events and only for a limited time.  Details on special event call signs can be found at this FCC site.

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Valid prefixes in the USA are K, N, and W (one letter),  and AA-AL, KA-KZ, NA-NZ, and WA-WZ (two letters).  Complete details can be found here.

Below is a small sample of international prefixes a US ham might run across, mainly on HF bands: Continue reading →

QRZ

AF5NP Brevity, Call (Call Sign), Database, FCC, Q-Codes, QRZ, Reference

Old-timers are already familiar with it but new or prospective hams may not be aware of a wonderful online callsign reference called QRZ.

The ham radio brevity code QRZ means, “who is calling me?” if you’re not sure or didn’t catch their complete callsign.

QRZ is a very powerful and popular callsign database that is located at qrz.com  The QRZ site takes its name from the Q-code question, who is calling me?  It’s particularly useful to look up a fellow ham you’re having a QSO with or have heard about or met in person.

If they have a callsign, you can look up their FCC registered address, license class, license expiration, exact location including the important Maidenhead grid square and a map of their location with exact distance from your station.  It’s also useful for learning their previous callsigns if they have changed from what the FCC originally assigned them.

If the other ham has added info about themselves, you can see photos of them and their equipment, a biography, specific interests or whatever else they choose to share, including  an email address.  Hams can also use QRZ as a contact log if they choose to do so.

The database is updated daily from the FCC main file so it’s up to date and accurate.  You can search by call sign, partial call, name, address or grid locator.  If you look yourself up on the map you can see all the hams in your immediate vicinity; you might be surprised at how many there are.

I like to use QRZ to put a face to the name of people who are on Emcomm nets, the local repeaters, or during my HF QSOs and know a little more about them.

The QRZ database includes international hams so if you want to look up call signs around the world you can do that, too.  I found a distant relative fellow ham in Germany just by searching my family name.

By the way, QRZ is properly pronounced, “Cue Are Zed” as we  learned in the post on how to pronounce the letter Z.

QRZ has at least one major competitor, HamCall, plus a copycat with the confusing name of QRZCQ.

Before personal computers and the internet became common, hams relied on large printed books to look up the name and address associated with a particular callsign.  The main one was the Radio Amateur Callbook with the Pegasus (winged horse) mascot.  It is still available  on CD-ROM and/or USB memory stick.  Old print copies can be found on eBay and Amazon.

So check out QRZ and start using it.  I’m sure it will become a bookmarked browser favorite of yours.

What Will My New Call Sign Be?

AF5NP Amateur Radio, Call (Call Sign), FCC

Of particular interest to prospective hams just finishing their study and preparing for their license exam, there is a great way to get a basic idea of the call letters they will be assigned, at least in the USA.  First they must know the FCC region they reside in based on the address they gave on the license application form.  The FCC divides the US into ten geographic regions with a numeric designation for each one;  a quick reference is found here.  For example, the table shows a numeral 5 for Texas so all New Texas licensees will have a 5 in their call sign as originally assigned.  By the way, this can be changed later but that will be a future topic.

From here you can refer to the Hamdata FCC info website and look for the most recent sequentially assigned call signs in your numeric region.  You can estimate that your assigned prefix (the letters before the number) will likely be the same as the most recent one issued for your region (unless it is at the end of the alphabet already), and your suffix (the letters after the number) will be the next one or two alpha characters subsequent to the most recent one issued for your region. All of this applies, assuming you take your exam in the next two or three weeks. If you test further out, you will need to check the database again to see the current stats.