> When using another's station, which call do you use?
> Is there an established protocol for this or something
> that is worked out on a case by case basis?
Good question, Clint.
Absolutely case-by-case. There are a number of variations, and little, if
any, of it is regulated by law anymore. I'm not sure, but I imagine the
person who holds the call that is being used, whatever it is, needs to have
agreed to it, because using someone else's call without their
permission/knowledge is probably illegal. I would think.
If there is a somewhat established protocol, it's that the callsign of the
station owner is the one that gets used in the contest. You honor the
station owner by using his call - but there are station owners who care
about that and station owners who don't. There are plenty of times when
this doesn't happen for whatever reason.
In a contest where prefixes count as multipliers, it gets all mixed up -
you'll find people who have invented clubs for themselves so they can apply
for a fancy callsign with a valuable prefix (i.e. a 2x1), and they trot that
call out only under those conditions.
Another factor is that competitive types like to avoid long calls with
difficult letters like J,Q,and Y - letters with 4 code elements, three of
which are dahs, and that don't repeat or are not symmetrical. Competitive
types like to have calls with short easy letters made of dahs like T,M and
O. I'm talking code here but the same principal applies to voice. Short
calls that are easy to send and easy to copy are perceived as better contest
calls. Two-letter suffixes with double letters are considered pretty much
the top of the food chain.
It goes on and on. Point is, when you ask someone if you can use their
station in a contest, better be prepared to use their callsign unless they
have a less-than-optimal call and appear to be open to using a different
one, which happens frequently.
YMMV. Tremendously :)
73 - Mark, N5OT
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