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When I got my first ham license in 1968 you got your call sign and that was it. If you were a Novice (introductory level licensee) like I was you probably learned what your call sign was when you got a couple of pieces of promotional literature (aka junk mail) with your new call on it. In my case in early August of that year, after taking the license test just before school let out in June, I got an envelope from "The Little Print Shop, Pflugerville, Texas" addressed to me with the magic letters "WN7KPK" in the corner of the address label. Unfortunately I had to wait two more weeks for the license to arrive in the mail before I could transmit, and even then there wasn't much I could do because I didn't have a transmitter at home. I had to wait for school to start before I could run, license in hand, to Mr. Clayton's room at my junior high to fire up the Heathkit transmitter he had in the corner of the science lab and get on the air before and after school.
Someday I'll tell the story of how I got my Advanced class license. I was glad I upgraded because the Novice license had a two year term and wasn't renewable, and I upgraded after fourteen months. However when I got my envelope from the Little Print Shop this time it had the call letters "WA7KDK." When you upgraded from a Novice to a higher license you were supposed to get the same call you had before, with the "N" changed to an "A". Someone in the Licensing Bureau screwed up, though, and gave me a call that should have gone to someone else. What could I do? The government issued me the call sign, I had to stay with it.
I was WA7KDK for a couple of years until we moved to New Jersey and I had to do a change of address. Because I no longer lived in Washington, I had to change out the "7" in my call sign for a "2" (the number in your call sign indicated in what general geographical area you lived) and ended up with the call sign WA2CDK. I never really got an antenna put up in New Jersey and never used the call sign much.
In 1974 I moved back west and was eligible for a "7" call sign again. Soon after that the FCC decided to allow people who had had a call sign previously apply to have it reinstated. I wrote them a letter, explaining what had happened back in 1969, and asked if I could please be reinstated as WA7KPK. To my surprise and pleasure, they did. I've had that call sign ever since; even when I was in Texas I used "WA7KPK/5" as my call sign. Going on 40 years now. (Wow.)
Some time back the FCC created a program called the Vanity Call Sign Program, where for a fee you could apply to receive a specific call sign (with certain restrictions - no one gets a call sign with "SOS" in it, for instance). I've occasionally thought I might like a vanity call. Ever since I was a Novice I've been in awe of the old timers with what are called "1x2" call signs, like W1AW or K6ZI, and thought how cool it would be to have one of those. The 1x2 calls are all assigned now and only become available when someone dies or gets out of the hobby, and are thus very very rare. I doubt I will ever have one. But there are plenty of 1x3 call signs available, and I occasionally toy with the idea of getting one of those. There are two questions involved:
1. Should I change my call? In some ways it's a lot like changing your name. I don't think everyone sees it that way, but for some reason I do. Everyone knows me as WA7KPK. I have awards I've won that say "WA7KPK" on them. And if I gave up WA7KPK and later wanted it back, it would be just like getting any other vanity call.
2. If I do change, what would I change it to? Really, I think there are only three possibilities here. K7KPK (based on my current call sign) is available. So is K7LCL (my initials - it's very common for people to request their initials as a vanity call sign). And third, there is K7CVI.
Wait, where did that come from?
Well, you remember at the beginning of this little narrative where I mentioned the station tucked away in the corner of Mr. Clayton's science lab?
The call sign of that station was K7CVI.
My license is up for renewal anytime after September 15th, so I have a while to decide.
Someday I'll tell the story of how I got my Advanced class license. I was glad I upgraded because the Novice license had a two year term and wasn't renewable, and I upgraded after fourteen months. However when I got my envelope from the Little Print Shop this time it had the call letters "WA7KDK." When you upgraded from a Novice to a higher license you were supposed to get the same call you had before, with the "N" changed to an "A". Someone in the Licensing Bureau screwed up, though, and gave me a call that should have gone to someone else. What could I do? The government issued me the call sign, I had to stay with it.
I was WA7KDK for a couple of years until we moved to New Jersey and I had to do a change of address. Because I no longer lived in Washington, I had to change out the "7" in my call sign for a "2" (the number in your call sign indicated in what general geographical area you lived) and ended up with the call sign WA2CDK. I never really got an antenna put up in New Jersey and never used the call sign much.
In 1974 I moved back west and was eligible for a "7" call sign again. Soon after that the FCC decided to allow people who had had a call sign previously apply to have it reinstated. I wrote them a letter, explaining what had happened back in 1969, and asked if I could please be reinstated as WA7KPK. To my surprise and pleasure, they did. I've had that call sign ever since; even when I was in Texas I used "WA7KPK/5" as my call sign. Going on 40 years now. (Wow.)
Some time back the FCC created a program called the Vanity Call Sign Program, where for a fee you could apply to receive a specific call sign (with certain restrictions - no one gets a call sign with "SOS" in it, for instance). I've occasionally thought I might like a vanity call. Ever since I was a Novice I've been in awe of the old timers with what are called "1x2" call signs, like W1AW or K6ZI, and thought how cool it would be to have one of those. The 1x2 calls are all assigned now and only become available when someone dies or gets out of the hobby, and are thus very very rare. I doubt I will ever have one. But there are plenty of 1x3 call signs available, and I occasionally toy with the idea of getting one of those. There are two questions involved:
1. Should I change my call? In some ways it's a lot like changing your name. I don't think everyone sees it that way, but for some reason I do. Everyone knows me as WA7KPK. I have awards I've won that say "WA7KPK" on them. And if I gave up WA7KPK and later wanted it back, it would be just like getting any other vanity call.
2. If I do change, what would I change it to? Really, I think there are only three possibilities here. K7KPK (based on my current call sign) is available. So is K7LCL (my initials - it's very common for people to request their initials as a vanity call sign). And third, there is K7CVI.
Wait, where did that come from?
Well, you remember at the beginning of this little narrative where I mentioned the station tucked away in the corner of Mr. Clayton's science lab?
The call sign of that station was K7CVI.
My license is up for renewal anytime after September 15th, so I have a while to decide.
