The AM Forum

 Is there a website where a licensed amateur can voluntarily terminate their amateur license ? Hard to find any info on the FCC web page . Otherwise , would a simple letter work ? Where to send it ?

why bother? just don't use it, and when it expires, don't renew it.

Yes, that part is understood. I have my reasons .

Go here:
http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/index.htm?job=filing_purposes

  Already tried that . Looks like a letter is the only way . Hope that works.

Wow, I don't know what the problem may be but, try to put some more time between whatever the problem may be and the act :) :) :)

Sounds like you might have been talking to some slopbuckets. They'll do that to ya.

Take a break, or take a different swing at it. That's what i do. I got away from race cars 10 years ago and now I'm starting to get a fresh interest again but doing things a little different.



"The reasons for quitting are the same reasons for evolving." Jared W1ATR (<This quote can be used as a sig line if one of you likes it.  ;))

A fellow I knew did that.   They required a letter for written confirmation.  As a side note, a few years later he regretted doing it.

That's why I spent 15 years on CW only.

If it helps any Gary, just ask to have your callsign taken off public listings. Same with QRZ. 'Course if it's time to get out Blaines idea requuires nothing but time.

I did a look-up on KG8LB and I need a sign in to see more info......so I guess you are Gary???
By the looks of your station you are having a bad radio day or something to trash your amateur ticket and not use that station of yours (in your avatar) ever again?????? Lotta time and money and dedication to toss out the window!!!!

PM someone you trust here and get it figured out. You don't want regrets later.

Yeah, OM, throw a towel over everything and let things cool for a while. Don't know the situation, but you can lay off ops for a while and still keep the call. Hope everything works out.

73, Phil

Or change your call. You can make that happen within a few days.

I've been following this thread and am unable to understand the logic behind bringing such a question to a forum where everyone likes ham radio.  I doubt if any of us have ever made a point of finding out how to become unlicensed.   I would search for some sort of forum frequented in part at least, by ex-hams.   Or is there some other point to your question.

  Yes, it is unusual .  Pretty simple, straightforward  question. No need to read any negativity regarding the activity into the question . It isn't about not "liking" ham radio.   The radios are fine , thanks. This is a ham radio forum .

  Not about me, other than I am trying to help a friend with "privacy" concerns . He is seeking to restore certain rights that are surrendered when the license is "granted".
  Thanks to the others

  Hi Jeff ,

  That is where I spend about 80% of my on air time now ! Not counting the R/C time on 6 Meters of course .

WOW all of this drama!!! You cudda said, "it is for a friend of mine"
We thought you were throwing in the towel......ok

Just have your friend get a PO box, file a change of address with the FCC indicating same, and yer done.

This subject has been beaten to death over on QRZ.com.  Some are uncomfortable with the fact that their name and address come up on all kinds of web pages, associated with their callsign.  This is the very least of his worries, since his property records, arrest history, etc., are all easily searchable.

There's nothing at all wrong with being concerned about this sort of thing, but it does seem to be a bit overboard to give up an enjoyable hobby... or so it seems to me.

Of course, another right that is forfeited when holding a ham licence is that federal agents may enter your premises without a search warrant at any time to conduct a station inspection, and they might be interested in certain plants they observe growing in the adjoining room, or the mummified body in the corner, in the course of checking out the radio station.

This even applies to CB, which requires no licence per se, something like the "implied consent" laws regarding your refusal to submit to a breath or blood alcohol test at a traffic stop while you are driving.

I am contantly amazed by those who think anyone cares about their personal information.
my privacy...my privacy...my privacy...my privacy...my privacy...my privacy...

Who cares unless you killed your child and got away with it, then someone might be looking for you

Not to seem dumb, but why worry about it? Just about anything you do these days is now a matter of public record. If you have done something "wrong", it makes it even more of a matter of public record. (arrest record, child molester, etc.) Just having a drivers lisence puts you in the hands of the idiots that work in state government.

Unless you have something really nasty to hide, it seems like "much to do about nothing." And even if you do have something to hide, sooner or later someone will find it out. If you have a ham lisence and you cancel / nullify it, I'm sure your info will stay in the computers for a long time to come before our lazy gubmit clerical workers get enough ambition to hit the "delete" key.

As the old saying goes: "You can run, but you just cant hide."

"Big Brutha is always watching"

 Your question has already been raised and explained.

  The question of the thread however remains "HOW" not "WHY".  ;)

Simply compose a letter requesting cancellation of the license and place it in an envelope with the license and send the letter to the FCC, amateur radio bureau at the Washington, D.C. address.

  Thank you, Will be doing that today.
Maybe again in the near future ;)

Ah yes, the old "nothing to fear if I've done nothing wrong" attitude.

The guy is probably just paranoid, but the Fourth Amendment guarantees him that right, by (theoretically) guarding against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. That Amendment was put there for a reason. I have read of licensed hams being levied fines for refusing timely entry to FCC inspectors. Maybe the agents just happened to arrive at a delicate moment that had nothing to do with radio.

Sometimes authorities just plain get it wrong, as in the case of the elderly lady in Atlanta who was gunned down when she fired a pistol at the cops who were busting her door down in a "no-knock" drug raid. Turns out they were at the wrong address.

Other times power trippers and control freaks are just feeling their oats and actively looking for likely victims.

Or the notorious I-10 through Louisiana, where the State Highway Patrol routinely pulls off "legal" highway robberies by stopping out-of-state cars, and seizing any substantial amount of cash the occupants have on their person, claiming "suspicion" that it may be drug money or other ill-gotten gains related to criminal activity. Imagine being caught up in one of those traps, which exist all over the country, while carrying a wad of cash with you on your way to Dayton.

Considering that media profit from sensationalism and that the average Joe Bloe gets 100% of his news from network or cable TV, or worse still, on-line from agenda-laden blogs, people have a reason (rational or irrational) to be paranoid. How often do you get those "forward to everyone on your mailing list" chain e-mails informing you that the sky is falling?

As for "how" vs "why", that reminds me of the time I posted a message on the Tower Talk e-mail reflector, thinking that some of the participants might have some expertise on tower issues that maybe I didn't have.  I asked for opinions on how to decide when EHS steel guy wires are rusty enough to need replacing.  I got several responses, but not a single one was even a feeble attempt to answer my question. They started out touting the advantage of Phillystran over traditional steel cable, followed by replies arguing why steel was preferable to Phillystran.  Not a single message offered any opinion whatever on my original question, when would it be advisable to replace rusting steel guy cable.

Happens here all the time, Don.


I think this is the best road right now. Good answer!!

  Worked perfectly,good to know !

 Thank you.