I have read, I think in the QCWA Quarterly, a strong assertion by a
retired FCC employee (W3BE?) that the /M and /MM designators in common
use are illegal for FCC licenses now that England and Scotland are using
M and MM calls. This would mean a radical change in identification for
mobile and maritime mobile stations and I have not heard anyone adopting
any other designation. I suppose the answer is not to send either, but
I am pretty sure that FCC regs require Martime Mobiles using FCC issued
callsigns to identify as such and to give the ITU Region being operated
from. When I was first licensed, mobile stations had to identify
themselves as mobile and give the nearest QTH, AND had to notify the FCC
in advance in writing of the proposed mobile trip route and itinerary.
Of course, at that time and for years afterward, English stations
started with "G" and Scottish with "GM." For a brief period, stations
in San Marino signed "M" calls (I remember M1IN and others), before
being assigned "9A" as a prefix, which they later abandoned in favor of
the current "T77." Legal or not, I can't envision US mobile CW stations
not signing "/M." It would probably take prosecution or other
enforcement action against some of them (us) to bring about a change.
If the FCC is serious about this, they should put out some kind of a
press release other than an opinion column in one magazine.
73,
John, K4BAI.
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