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Author Topic: What's Your Callsign History  (Read 74376 times)
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WB2RJR
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1st BCT, 10th Mountain, returned from Iraq 11/2008


« Reply #25 on: April 14, 2007, 10:30:17 AM »

WN2FEH  2/63

WB2RJR my novice expired so was off the air a few months (held this for 27 years or so), took the General exam on the second floor of the Ellicott Square Building in Buffalo, N.Y.

N0JYS in Colorado (got tired of explaining why I was a WB2 in Co.)

KG0KO also in Colorado

TA1ZJ (really liked that call, made about 6000 contacts with it)

K7RKR when I moved my legal residence to Wyoming(no income tax)

WB2RJR, I really like this call for CW, where I spend 99% of my time. It sounds great on CW with a little Lake Erie swing, and I no longer give a damn if someone knows if I'm in Wy or Co.( when I'm there).

73

Marty WB2RJR

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W1UJR
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« Reply #26 on: April 14, 2007, 12:39:56 PM »

First licensed as a tech with the ungodly call of KB2VKJ, try that on CW!
Then upgraded to Extra and earned KG2IC.

When I moved to Portland, Maine in January of 2001, I replaced the KG2IC call with a suitable old buzzard "W1" call to reflect the call district.
To honor my elmer, Dick Haungs W2UJR, now a silent key, I took the "UJR" suffix.
In fact the Amplitude Modulation Society of Buffalo - AMSOB - now holds the W2UJR call as the formal club callsign.

I'm still a strong believer that your callsign should reflect your call district.

One thing what would be interesting, perhaps its already been done and I don't know about it, is a method to look up the history of your call.
Something like QRZ but working backwards, so you can see who were the previous holders.
I'm always digging up old call books at the hamfests, but much before the 1940s is in pretty sorry shape.


73 Bruce W1UJR

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W1QWT
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« Reply #27 on: April 14, 2007, 12:52:55 PM »

Kinda boring but....
When I got out of the Navy as a Radioman in 1971 I became WN1QWT
Then when I passed the General a year later at the Customs House in Boston I got WA1QWT. ALso took a 2nd Phone test there.
Well as my memory began failing when the vanity calls came along I dropped the A.
One less character to remember.
So now I am just a W1QWT (It ain't dark yet---but it's getting there)
I also shortened my name from Bob to Q so I could remember it.
Now if I only knew where I was.

Q
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Regards, Q, W1QWT
Ed W1XAW
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« Reply #28 on: April 14, 2007, 03:54:40 PM »

Novice:  WB1GYC
Lapse:  Off da ayah
KA1VPX 2nd Novice
W1XAW: Treat for upgrading to extra.  I actually upgraded slightly after so I was W1XAW as a general for a bit.

W1XAW was an experimental call at Tufts College in the late 20's.  I have volunteered for the Tufts (now a University) and won a 2 volume history at one of our events where I saw a reference to W1XAW.  I had some misgivings about being a fake old buzzard but KA1VPX is a bit long for CW work and I was very active at W1KN as a grad student so I  decided to adopt the clubs old secondary call in tribute.  I think all of the experimental calls had the X. I don't know why it was not W1XKN and I have often wondered if there was some tie to W1AW. I'm not a member of the league so it would be funny if I had a call connected to them. 

Best,

Ed

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David, K3TUE
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« Reply #29 on: April 14, 2007, 04:25:33 PM »

With each change, the 1X2 took on less and less of a special significance, until to-day it is practically meaningless.

While it no longer has imposed meaning, I suspect many who acknowledge the historical significance still actually try to not get callsigns indicating a license greater than they have.

Like many keep the call zone number indicating their home even though now they don't seem to have that imposed on them either.

HISTORY:
1983   KA2TUE   novice
2002   KB3IPE   technician
2005   K3TUE   general
2007   ?3??   extra (still studying)
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David, K3TUE
Joe Long
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« Reply #30 on: April 14, 2007, 04:59:21 PM »

FCC offices in the custom house were at 1600. In 1961 the office was headed up by Nathan Hallenstein who was a ham himself.His #1 "Goombah" was Jerry Sarno.He was not a ham. His claim to fame was being an ex-narcotics cop in Boston. He did not like me and I liked him less. Long story.  JOE
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WA1GFZ
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« Reply #31 on: April 14, 2007, 08:30:53 PM »

I was at the customs house taking a test one day and Jerry was tearing this JN a new AH over TVI. he almost threw the poor guy out the window behind his desk when the poor kid told him that he had moved his dipole to the other side of the yard.
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Pete, WA2CWA
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« Reply #32 on: April 14, 2007, 09:03:35 PM »


One thing what would be interesting, perhaps its already been done and I don't know about it, is a method to look up the history of your call.
Something like QRZ but working backwards, so you can see who were the previous holders.
I'm always digging up old call books at the hamfests, but much before the 1940s is in pretty sorry shape.

73 Bruce W1UJR

Probably not an easy thing to do. Prior to 1990, probably most of the FCC archived data is either on punched cards or magnetic tape. Not sure if you could even get your hands on any of this stuff. I don't believe the original Call Book Company (closed their doors several years ago) used computerized data until late 70's or early 80's. Prior to that, it was type-set printing. Computerized data on CD's started appearing on the market in 1991. It's possible you might be able to extract this data or pull down from the FCC all the data they presently have in their database. So, going backward, for each year, you could scan, using an OCR reader, each page in a printed call book, and enter all that data in a database. You would go back as far in years as you feel is necessary. You would also have to merge all this data with the extracted CD data or current FCC data. You would then have to verify each line, delete duplicate entries (call, name, address, etc. didn't change from one year to the next). and in the end, you probably would wind up with a reasonable representation of a call sign history database. Lots of work with probably minimal appeal to the ham masses. Time and cost would also be a consideration.
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Pete, WA2CWA - "A Cluttered Desk is a Sign of Genius"
W3LSN
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« Reply #33 on: April 15, 2007, 02:56:02 PM »

My personal callsign history:

WN2AJM (1975) I think Novices still carried one year non-renewable tickets back then.
WA2AJM (1976) As was common practice, the FCC issued me WA2AJM when I upgraded to General the following year. My exam was conducted at the FCC field office in the Federal building at Houston & Varick Sts in NYC.

You can see that my call carries no special signficance except that it was issued to me before the mid-70's callsign plan after which call groups were established to generally reflect license class. I've always thought that AJM was tedious to tap out on CW and it doesn't roll off my tongue very well either. Lately I've given thought to changing it, but others insist that it carries an increasingly "buzzardly" like quality with each passing year.  I may stick with 'AJM only because of the thought of owning a "dead man's call" just doesn't sit right with me. 

The FCC only began to issue WA and WB, prefixes in the 50's, so I led myself to believe that I had a first issue callsign that was not recycled. For quite a number of years no new 1x3 callsigns were issued to licensees at all. If you think about it, we are the first ham generation to actively see old calls of previous generations recycled into general use.  As luck would have it, I since discovered that WA2AJM was issued to someone in NJ in the mid-50's who lost it a few years later when he moved out west. The call sat dormant until the mid-70's when it was reissued to me.

73, Jim
WA2AJM
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k3zrf
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« Reply #34 on: April 15, 2007, 07:03:38 PM »

1963   kn3zrf, novice

1964   k3zrf, general

1968   k3zrf, advanced

2007   k3zrf, still here, same call.
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dave/zrf
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W1GFH
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« Reply #35 on: April 15, 2007, 07:26:59 PM »

I was at the customs house taking a test one day and Jerry was tearing this JN a new AH over TVI. he almost threw the poor guy out the window behind his desk when the poor kid told him that he had moved his dipole to the other side of the yard.



When I took the General, the windows were open, you could see 8 16 stories down to a concrete sidewalk, and the FCC examiners were in full hazing mode. I recall one of them barking angrily at the small group of quaking applicants, "IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE MATERIAL YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING HERE".

Those were the days...
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Jim, W5JO
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« Reply #36 on: April 15, 2007, 07:44:52 PM »

N4MC who has the domain vanityhq is compiling data about your call sign history.  Many people have already entered their information.  You may do so at http://vanityhq.com/

In the left pane on the upper left is the call sign lookup.  If you put in my call, you will see the history of my different calls.  You may enter your information if you choose.
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W1RC
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« Reply #37 on: April 24, 2007, 06:47:54 AM »

To the best of my recollection it was at "1600 Customhouse" which was on the 16th floor wasn't it?  Warren W1LO had a T-Shirt years ago that had a picture of the Custom House that was captioned: "I did it on the Sixteenth Floor".



Back then we all "did it on the Sixteenth Floor".  If you never sat for an exam at an FCC office you missed an experience and rite of passage that can never be recreated.

I sat for the Amateur Extra exam at the Custom House in 1981.  Vincent Kajunski  was the FCC Engineer in Charge of the First Radio District in those years.  For those of you who don't know him, "Uncle Vinny" was the FCC Engineer-in-Charge of the New England FCC Office in Boston Massachusetts.  He served the FCC for 31 years remaining in the same FCC Field Office fhis entire career until his retirement in 2004.  Even Central Casting couldn't have produced a better example of a Federal bureaucrat.  


Whaddya think?

His stamped signature appears as the "Issuing Officer" on my unofficial but official-looking FCC Amateur Extra certificate which has been hanging on my wall for over 25 years now.



Gotta love that 10-1000 eatin' grin.  Wonder whose licence he just yanked!!!!

Now of course all exams are administered by VE Teams and there is no more unofficial FCC certificate.  There is no contact with the F.C.C. (hopefully) who consist of faceless names on official letters if you hear from them at all.  Guys like Vinny, Jerry Sarno, Joe Welch in Philadelphia, Larry Guy in LA and their confreres are no longer part of the culture as they were back when they were formidable figures we all knew and feared.

While on the subject of "Uncle Vinny" this picture taken at the 1998 Boxborough MA ARRL New England Convention with Vinny, Timtron and WBCQ owner Al Weiner is absolutely priceless and I thought you might enjoy it.  


The fourth gentleman in the photo is none other than Mike K1TWF, NEAR-Fest Director of Operations.  These pictures, and more, are still on the boxboro.org web site.  Lots of great pics of many of your favorite "One-Land" AM'ers.

73,

MrMike,  W1RC


For extra points does any 1 lander remember what floor the exams were on? I think it was the 8th.

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WA1GFZ
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« Reply #38 on: April 24, 2007, 03:47:51 PM »

I was at the customs house once when the windows were open. Wide and close to the floor. Sometimes you know it is time to shut up and keep a low profile.
I took my second class phone in S.F. Ca. another cool place

Jim,
how did you manage a WA2A call in '75 ? Was it a reissue.
The 2s were ahead of the 1s when I got my novice.
I thought the 2s were WB2s by early 70s
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WU2D
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« Reply #39 on: April 24, 2007, 05:55:18 PM »

Just like Frank Bad and Badder...

1973  WN2UID  - which drew lots of IUD jokes from local hams but I was too young to know what an IUD was!

1975  WB2UID - after two hellish trips to the federal building in Syracuse NY

2005  WU2D

Mike
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Bacon, WA3WDR
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« Reply #40 on: April 24, 2007, 11:28:46 PM »

August 6, 1966 - WB2YPE (General)
December 1967 - Passed Advanced; August 1968 - received Advanced
Expired 1972 or so, renewed in third district - WA3WDR
1990 or so - Extra
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WA1GFZ
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« Reply #41 on: April 25, 2007, 09:33:59 AM »

IUD is the recipical of an IED
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Herb K2VH
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« Reply #42 on: April 25, 2007, 10:14:59 AM »

October 1954    -- Novice       KN2JVM      age: 15
May 1955         -- Technician  K2JVM        age: 15
August 1955     --  General      K2JVM        age: 15
July 1964         --  Germany     DL5EN        age: 24
August 1964     --  Army MARS AE1ENE       age: 24
December 1968 --  Advanced   K2JVM         age: 29
April 2000         --  Extra         K2JVM         age: 60
May 2002          -- Vanity        K2VH          age: 62

I am the original holder of both K2JVM and K2VH.  I had K2VH researched, and  no one else has ever held that call.  Lots of my AM gear is used, but not my calls.

BTW, both my General and my Advanced exams were taken at the FCC Field Office at 328 Post Office Building, Buffalo, NY.  Scary place, and scary RIs.  Had to draw schematics too.  The Extra was much less scary -- taken at the Newark, NY Hamfest, and yes, code still at 20 wpm.

And, as a side note of interest, at the test sessions for my General (1955), Advanced (1968), and Extra (2000) most people there were approximately my age.  That should tell us something.

K2 Vanity Herb
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K2VHerb
First licensed in 1954 as KN2JVM  
On AM since 1955;on SSB since 1963

"Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar."
--Edward R. Murrow
Todd, KA1KAQ
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« Reply #43 on: April 25, 2007, 10:52:27 AM »

December 1968 --  Advanced   K2JVM
April 2000         --  Extra         K2JVM

Whoa! 32 years at Advanced? There's hope for me yet!! Cheesy

1983 - Novice     KA1KAQ
1984 - Tech       KA1KAQ
1985 - General    KA1KAQ
1986 - Advanced KA1KAQ

Self-imposed 1 year waiting period between upgrades to learn the ropes. Hopefully I'll be able to scarf up an appropriate 4 Land call when the time comes.
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W9GT
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« Reply #44 on: April 25, 2007, 10:54:11 AM »

BTW, both my General and my Advanced exams were taken at the FCC Field Office at 328 Post Office Building, Buffalo, NY.  Scary place, and scary RIs.  Had to draw schematics too.  The Extra was much less scary -- taken at the Newark, NY Hamfest, and yes, code still at 20 wpm.

And, as a side note of interest, at the test sessions for my General (1955), Advanced (1968), and Extra (2000) most people there were approximately my age.  That should tell us something.

K2 Vanity Herb


Several interesting comments have been made regarding the FCC "in person" testing at various locations.  The FCC came here to Fort Wayne (from Chicago) to the Post Office/Federal Bldg to give exams four times a year.  I recall taking the General test in 1960 (I was 15)and being very intimidated by the manner of the examiner.  It was a no nonsense, very serious environment with a very stern-looking bald fellow with little wire-rimmed glasses giving the tests.  He almost looked disappointed when he called me up after the code test and told me that I got 100%.  Wow!  I almost jumped out through the ceiling!  The theory exam seemed simple after that......but yes, we had to draw schematics and the whole shebang.  I took the Advanced in 1968 ? or so, along with my Commercial ticket exam, and took the Extra in 1977.  Both occasions were similar situations, but I remember the Extra was proctored by a older lady who was apparently a local Civil Service Employee drafted by the FCC for the task.  The Extra 20 WPM test was given under especially difficult conditions in that a small cassette recorder-player with lousy quality was utilized and it echoed through the room.  The lady had to grade the code-test, then again called me up for the written portion and told me that I scored 100%.... whoopie!!  That sure doesn't mean much these days, but I was proud of the accomplishment back then.  Taking those tests was sort of a right-of-passage.  We all seemed to really value the accomplishment after making it through a very stressful experience.

Tripping down old buzzard lane.............

73,  Jack, W9GT

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WA1GFZ
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« Reply #45 on: April 25, 2007, 10:59:41 AM »

I remember the first time I fired up my 6V6 rig on 3725 into a light bulb. I kept checking outside for the FCC. I was 14 and there was a real fear back then.
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Herb K2VH
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« Reply #46 on: April 25, 2007, 11:13:33 AM »

I remember the first time I fired up my 6V6 rig on 3725 into a light bulb. I kept checking outside for the FCC. I was 14 and there was a real fear back then.

Yeah, Frank.  We used to say, "The RI's gonna pull up to your house in the BLACK MORIAH and get ya'."
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K2VHerb
First licensed in 1954 as KN2JVM  
On AM since 1955;on SSB since 1963

"Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar."
--Edward R. Murrow
Bill, KD0HG
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« Reply #47 on: April 25, 2007, 05:17:35 PM »

WA9OZC, WB8FZZ (station license at my grandpa's Michigan farm) and WR9AMI.
Did I mention WPE9GPI?

The FCC gave me the option of keeping the WR9 repeater call OR my WA9 call when the repeater calls went away. Maybe I should have done that for the prefix hunters.

I'm keeping my 2x2 call beginning with K, I don't want an "A" call.
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wa1knx
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« Reply #48 on: April 26, 2007, 12:35:35 AM »

ha, frank you make me laugh. same thing, b4 I got my novice I had a HB
6aq5, popping a whopping dozen watts into a wire to test it. looked out
the window for vans, maybe 15yrs old (?)

wn1knx novice 1968
wa1knx adv     1970
wa1knx extra   1977
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W1GFH
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« Reply #49 on: April 26, 2007, 01:33:18 AM »

 
The Extra 20 WPM test was given under especially difficult conditions in that a small cassette recorder-player with lousy quality was utilized and it echoed through the room.

Yes! FCC office in Boston's Custom Tower had a crappy mono cassette player too, the kind with piano key buttons. From dents seen in the speaker grille, it looked like they kicked it around the office between exams. Sounded horrible, loaded with tape hiss.
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