Ken,
The FCC used to require a new callsign when changing districts, but the rule
changed at some point, probably due to our more mobile society.
The FCC WILL issue a W7 call to someone in NY. You can pick one appropriate
for your license class and subject to availability from any call area.
I've had my 7 call since 1977 when I lived in AZ and kept it for the four
years I was in NM and since moving to IL in 2006. I did operate as N7US/5
for a RTTY contest or two in NM in the 1990s, and it was a nuisance for
LOTW.
There are very, very few 1X2 calls available, and I worked hard to get this
one, so I won't give it up just because I'm living in the Midwest for a few
years.
I just skip any contests requiring the /9.
73, Jim N7US
-----Original Message-----
It's not archaic, it's logical.
Canada, Australia and the U.S. are large countries, so part of the challenge
of working all call districts means that you managed to hit all corners of a
country the size of Europe. As a non-U.S. ham looking for multipliers I
don't want to waste my time calling a W6 only to find he's NOT from
California. It's annoying (actually, it's annoying the rest of the year
too). You work a VK4 and you know he's in Queensland; you work a JA8 and
you know he's in Hokkaido; you work a VE1 and you know he's in Nova Scotia.
You work a W6 and he could be anywhere. In a contest that's a waste of our
time.
It baffles me why the FCC would let a ham move to a different call district
and keep their original call sign (I assume that's what is happening. I
hope that, for example, they aren't issuing W7 calls to new hams who live in
New York State). Regardless, it's a bed that someone down there made and
unfortunately a few times a year you have to sleep in it.
I hope BARTG keeps the rules just the way they are.
73,
Ken Alexander
VE3HLS
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