I remember the gates somewhat. I think at one point you had to have been
licensed for 20 years. I think Ernie W9DE, who was a local in the club I was
in back then, got that call in that group. That was in the early 70's, much
earlier than 1976. I can remember we used that call on FD and had all sorts
of difficulties with it on CW. "Whats the rest of ur call?"
:-)
I think there was another gate before I got mine but I forget what it was. I
believe you had to have an Extra class license for at least two years to get
into the second gate in 1976. I'd had mine for 5 years at that time, so the
restrictions on the first gate must've been steeper than that. The third
gate was even more permissive.
73, Zack W9SZ
On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 10:34 PM, Robert Chudek - K0RC <k0rc@citlink.net>wrote:
> Does anyone remember the original "gates" that were setup (and the
> qualifications & dates)? I *think* I applied when gate 2 opened. I do
> remember pondering what call to request and deciding upon my initials. Then
> I recall driving down to the Minneapolis main post office and putting the
> envelope in the mailbox at 12:01 AM.
>
> >From Jim's description, it sounds like gate 1 was for "old" Extra Class.
> Again I *think* there were 3 gates but I don't recall the particulars. I
> was
> looking for this information a few months ago but did not find any
> reference
> to the process.
>
> Anyone?
>
> 73 de Bob - KØRC in MN
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "James Cain" <jamesdavidcain@gmail.com>
> To: <cq-contest@contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 3:57 PM
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Watch your dits this weekend
>
>
> >A lot of us here got our call signs during the First Great Rush at the end
> >of 1976. I'll bet every one of us has a story. Much gnashing of teeth over
> >what call sign to ask for. At that time, in most call areas only a handful
> >of "K" 1X2 call signs had ever been issued (exceptions being the second,
> >sixth, and maybe second call area, I think). No "N" 1X2 calls ever issued.
> >
> > There certainly was a "rush," because we knew that when the W, K, and N
> > 1X2s were gone, that would be that. A 2X1 call sign wouldn't have the
> > cachet of a 1X2. At least, that's what I thought.
> >
> > I've never regretted my own decision: K1TN. Never before issued. Not a
> > "W1" retread. A connection with the call sign I had then, WA1STN. Short
> > and sweet on CW.
> >
> > I remember really wanting to keep some continuity between my old call
> sign
> > and my new one. When the FCC first offered preferred call signs a few
> > years earlier, it was for Extra Class licensees with 25 years licensed
> > under their belts, and every month for a while QST ran a little box
> called
> > "Who The Devil is Who?" -- an old call vs new call table. QST didn't do
> > that during The Great Rush because, I think, there were just too many of
> > us.
> >
> > My switch didn't result in some horrible CW call sign so I didn't have to
> > think about that. But there's a reason why, for example, my friend WA1SSH
> > did not ask for W1SH. Although, a call sign that's also an English word
> > would be sort of cool.
> >
> > No call sign can be perfect for contesting. These days I get called K1AR,
> > K1TTT, K1TR, W1TN, K0TN, and worse. The one I really hate being called is
> > KA1TN (no offense to the real KA1TN).
> >
> > A funny thing happened on the way to those Great Rush call signs. The
> ARRL
> > International DX Competition was two weekends per mode then, and we were
> > all waiting for our new licenses/call signs to arrive between the two
> > weekends. What would I do if I operated as WA1STN the first weekend
> (which
> > I did) and the new K1TN license arrived before the running of the second
> > weekend? This was a real concern.
> >
> > In my semi-official capacity at the time I asked someone else to check
> for
> > us. The answer from the FCC was, tacitly, just don't sign the new license
> > and act as if it didn't arrive until after the second weekend.
> >
> > The point turned out to be moot, as the new call signs didn't arrive
> until
> > later. I always had a feeling that somebody at the FCC (the Gettysburg
> > processing office) got wind of this and put a mail tray of brand new call
> > signs aside for a while until the dust settled. "K1TN" showed up in my
> > mailbox about two or three days after the second weekend of the contest.
> >
> > What a thrill, at age 28, to get an original, 1X2 call sign! Especially
> > after laboring under 2X3 call signs for nearly 16 years. These danged
> Kids
> > nowadays don't know how lucky they are to be able to ask for any danged
> > call sign they want and they don't even have to learn the Code. Harrumph.
> > Get off my lawn.
> >
> > Jim Cain
> > The original, the one-and-only K1TN
> > _______________________________________________
> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> > CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
> _______________________________________________
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