Jim, (at your superstation?)
Interesting discussion. I never knew the exact history of this "preferred
Extra Class call signs" history exactly, as it occurred
just before I was licensed.
On the CWops Yahoo group we recently had a bit of a discussion about
callsign weight, short calls, long calls, recognition and on/off keying
duration.
This started when Larry WB5EIN became NN5O (most believe he made an
excellent choice)
Also, there are good calls on SSB that are horrible on CW and vice versa.
In Canada, to the best of my memory, you had to be licensed 10 years before
applying for a 2 letter call. I went to 2 letters just a little bit after
10 yrs, but got one with lots of dahs, not unlike my original call. you had
to take what you were given back then. When new VE9 calls were made
available to New Brunswickers (and VY2 to PEI) in 1993, I applied and got my
second choice. VE9AA...as it turns out, my first choice had a
longer/slow-to-send callsign weight, so I was happy !
There are many good callsigns. Some 2x3's in the USA and Canada I would not
dream about changing, as recognition factors into it a lot as well.
Thanks for bringing up a most interesting discussion !
Mike VE9AA VO1TTT VE1TTT VO2DX
http://www.radioqth.net/CWWeight/ShowWeights?CallSigns=ve9aa%0D%0A
What's in a name?
40 years ago this week a very large group of us were applying to the FCC for
the long-awaited "preferred Extra Class call signs." The FCC opened the
gate
on January 1, 1977. Decisions, decisions. You were told to list four desired
call signs. That sent everybody to the latest Callbook to see what was
available. It depended on what Call Area you lived in. 1X2 call signs
starting
with the letter K had never been issued in most Call Areas. Some had been
issued in Call Areas 2, 4, and 6.
Lots of call signs starting with the letter W were available but all would
be
"re-issues." I don't think a 1X2 call sign starting with the letter N had
ever
been issued.
Some of us had waited many years to dump our 2X3 call signs. We had been
Extras
for nearly 10 years. The prospect of fewer characters was exciting. But
choosing a new call sign was agonizing! A lot of us chose a new call sign
that
had some connection with our checkered past. For many, the choice was
mode-oriented. If you liked phone, phonetics were a big consideration. For
CW
operators, bauds mattered. And, if you prefer CW, do you really want a call
sign ending in K?
A lot of us operated the first of two weekends of the 1977 ARRL DX CW
Competition with our 2X3 call signs. What happens if our shiny new call sign
arrives in the mail before the second weekend? (In those good old days,
children, each mode of the contest was two weekends, a month apart.)
Somebody I
know really, really well, enquired about this, and the unofficial word from
the
FCC was if your new call sign/license arrives before the second weekend,
just
pretend it didn't.
Jim Cain, K1TN (ex-WA1STN, WA9AUM)
___________________________________
Mike, Coreen & Corey
Keswick Ridge, NB
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|