(full text available at www.arrl.org)
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 15, No. 11
November 8, 1996
__________________________________
* Electronic edition circulation, Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO,
(kcapodicasa@arrl.org)
* Editorial, Rick Lindquist, N1RL, (rlindquist@arrl.org)
__________________________________
IN THIS EDITION:
* Gate 2 call signs issued!
* IARU club station NU1AW
* Update: SAR threat on 70 cm band
* IOY nominations open
* Ukrainian packet network
* "The Phantom" jailed
* In Brief: ARRL National Exam Days;
ARRL catalog on Web; ARRL/VEC test fee to rise;
New Outgoing QSL Service fee; Electronic processing;
DXCC processing status; Another H-T QSO with Mir;
Youngest Extra redux; Happy Birthday, Walter;
W1B; Shannon Lucid plugs ham radio; STSORBIT PLUS
Ver 9643; SAYLARC Net; Aurora '97
__________________________________
BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES: GATE 2 CALL SIGNS FINALLY ISSUED!
After an approximately six-week wait, most of the hams who got their
applications to the FCC on the opening day of vanity call sign Gate 2 were
rewarded with one of their new call sign choices. The logjam broke on
Election Day, just before the close of business at the FCC's Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, office, where the amateur computer system had been down for
more than a week. A spokesman at the FCC said the computer system was
finally fixed that morning, and most of the approximately 4500 first-day
vanity applications were successfully run. According to the KI4HN (now K4MA)
call sign database, 3790 new call signs were issued.
For the most part, hams were ecstatic. "The wait is over. I, for one, am
very pleased with the results!" said Joe DiPaolo, W2DI (ex-AA2LZ), in a
message of thanks to the ARRL. "Christmas came early," messaged Lawrence
Macionski, W8LM (ex-WA2AJQ). Several other enthusiastic hams--eager to tell
the world about their new Amateur Radio identities--posted their new call
signs to various Web groups and broke them in on the air. But one veteran
Midwestern ham--apparently bitter that he did not get one of his three
choices and that the FCC did not base its selection system on seniority in
the hobby--wrote HQ to say he was getting out of the hobby altogether.
While some applicants got their initials for call sign suffixes, others
obviously applied their imaginations. For example, W4FEZ was issued to the
Yaarab Shrine Temple Communications Unit in Atlanta, Georgia (get it?). The
call sign NS4DX went to the North Shenandoah DX Association in Boyce,
Virginia. NU1AW is the new call sign of the International Amateur Radio
Union club station (see NU1AW story below). As of Thursday, November 7, some
200 first-day vanity applications were being held up due to unspecified
problems or errors on the application. The FCC indicated it would process
these soon. A spokesman in Gettysburg estimated that "between 500 and 550"
applications were dismissed because the FCC was unable to grant a new call
sign. Applicants who did not get one of their choices will have to apply in
writing for a refund of the $30 filing fee. The FCC will mail to all
unsuccessful applicants a copy of the application (including FCC processing
numbers) and a copy of their check. To request a refund, applicants then
must send a letter to the FCC, 1270 Fairfield Rd, Gettysburg PA 17325-7245,
along with their taxpayer ID number (Social Security number).
Applicants can check for their new call signs via the ARRLWeb page at
http://www.arrl.org/fcc/fccld.html. The site has proved to be extremely
popular with the Amateur Radio community, and it recorded more than 12,000
call sign lookups within seven hours after word hit the streets that the
first batch of Gate 2 call signs had been processed.
The earlier computer problems had not only affected the vanity program but
caused the FCC to rescind all call sign grants after October 24 because of
widespread errors. In some cases, the FCC's Gettysburg office had reissued
call signs that had already been issued. An FCC spokesman said that the
unspecified computer problems were not related to the vanity call sign
program.
The FCC says it wants to see how the day-one processing fared before it
attempts to process vanity call sign applications for subsequent days. This
should happen within "a few days," a spokesman at Gettysburg said this week.
Day-one applicants also can check the popular database programs on the
Internet to find out if they got one of their call sign choices. Check the
WM7D call sign server, http://www.rdatasys.com/~mdowning/fcc/callsign.html
or the CallBook Server (CBS) Summary at
http://www.lantz.com/htbin/cbs_today. The KI4HN/K4MA call sign server is
moving to a new system, and the new address is not yet available.
The FCC has not announced opening dates for vanity Gates 3 and 4.
NU1AW: INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO UNION CLUB STATION
Anyone who browses for interesting vanity call signs may spotted the one for
NU1AW, the International Amateur Radio Union club station. Trustee and ARRL
Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, relates the story behind this
call sign:
Last year, when the FCC resumed issuing club call signs, IARU Secretary
Larry Price, W4RA, and I thought it was time for the IARU to have one of its
own. I applied for and received a "plain vanilla" KB1 call for the IARU.
When Gate 2 opened, I submitted an application for a vanity call to replace
the original call, paying the fee out of my own pocket. Why NU1AW? Glad you
asked. When transoceanic amateur communication became commonplace by 1924, a
problem immediately became apparent: typical call signs consisted of one
numeral and two or three letters and no built-in means of determining who
was where. At first, hams used an informal system of prefixes (called
"intermediates" at the time), where "A" stood for Australia, "B" for
Belgium, "C" for Canada, "F" for France, "G" for Great Britain, "J" for
Japan, "U" for United States, "Z" for New Zealand, and so on. The
single-letter system worked fine until it became apparent that Amateur Radio
was spreading to too many countries for this system to accommodate. The
January 1927 QST unveiled a new intermediate list--the work of the Executive
Committee of the International Amateur Radio Union. It was a two-letter
system with the first letter indicating the continent ("E" for Europe, "A"
for Asia, "N" for North America, "F" for Africa, etc.) and the second letter
indicating the country (mostly following the old system). Thus, stations in
the 48 United States used the intermediate "NU." The new system was soon
overtaken by events. Regulations adopted by the Washington International
Radiotelegraph Conference later that same year included the allocation of a
series of "call signals" such as K, N, and W for the United States, and
mandated that stations have a call signal from the series. August 1928 QST
noted that Canadian amateur calls had changed to VE in April, and September
1928 QST announced the effective date of October 1, 1928, in the US for the
W prefix (K outside the 48 states). Thus, United States amateurs sported
voluntary NU prefixes for just 20 months before they became Ws. The founding
president of the International Amateur Radio Union was, of course, Hiram
Percy Maxim, 1AW, who remained in that office until his death in 1936. The
call sign NU1AW commemorates HPM and the IARU's creative--if
short-lived--solution to the problem of international identification of
stations.
Sumner said that he intends NU1AW to be a "permanent special-event station,"
operating in connection with World Telecommunication Day, significant IARU
anniversaries, the IARU HF World Championship, and other events that will
call attention to the contributions of the IARU to organized Amateur
Radio.--David Sumner, K1ZZ
[stuff deleted]
IN BRIEF:
* New Outgoing QSL Service fee: The fee for the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service is
going up. Effective January 1, 1997, the fee for the Outgoing QSL Service
will be $4 per pound or any portion of a pound. The fee remains at $1 for
ten cards or fewer.--Joe Carcia, NJ1Q
* DXCC Processing Status: The DXCC Desk reports that the number of
unprocessed applications at the end of October 1996 was 604 (46,284 QSLs).
It received 340 applications (25,602 QSLs) for endorsements and new awards
during the month. Applications being sent out at the end of October were
received less than a month earlier. A few applications received prior to
that time were in the process of being audited, and so had not yet been
completed. For more information, contact Bill Kennamar, K5FUV, tel
860-594-0291; e-mail bkennamar@arrl.org.
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Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444
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