[CQ-Contest] Callsigns and licenses
Ron Notarius WN3VAW
wn3vaw at fyi.net
Sat Oct 25 13:26:53 EDT 2003
Who would know? Probably no one, unless someone owned up to who the
operator was. However, should the word come out, then the owner of the call
might have to answer a few questions. Seems to me that this happened a few
years ago when a certain contester was using the station of a
then-unlicensed person down south of Florida, and said unlicensed person
operated when he shouldn't have...
The bottom line is, you as an FCC licensed amateur knows what you are
allowed & not allowed to do, and just as importantly, what someone borrowing
your station (be it the physical station, only your call, or anything in
between) is and is not allowed to do. You as the licensee has some measure
of responsibility, as the license holder, for the actions of anyone
operating (with your permission) with your call. (And of course, those
reading this who are NOT licensed by the FCC but by other authorities know
or should know the same things as required by your appropriate licensing
authority... you mileage may vary and void where prohibited)
Split hairs all you want over the details, but as they used to say on my
son's favorite wrestling show, "and THAT'S the bottom line!"
Any doubts? Then just check the FCC Enforcement letters on the ARRL web
page, find the phone number and give Riley a call. That's one of the things
he's there for. (No really, he's a very nice guy to talk to... especially
when it's NOT over an infraction you've already been alleged to have
committed!)
73, ron wn3vaw
"Spock!"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Be One with the Horse!"
"Yes, Captain!"
-- Star Trek V: Spock Had a Brother? Who Knew?
----- Original Message -----
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 10:48:17 -0700
From: "Alan C. Zack" <k7acz at cox.net>
To: Rex Maner <k7qq at netzero.net>
Cc: CQ-CONTEST <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Callsigns and licenses
What if a person holds a Tech license and uses an Extra Class's call.
Legally he should not be on the Extra Class freqs but who would know
the difference?
Rex Maner wrote:
>
> Quack's
>
> I do this almost ever WPX contest, with a common K7?? call I borrow
one
> from a friend who has a 220 repeter with the call WR7HE assigned. Its
his
> call and I can violate any of the FCC rules I want to and he has to answer
> the violation. He isn't a contester and won't even get on and give me a
Q.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kenneth E. Harker" <kharker at cs.utexas.edu>
> To: "CQ Contest" <cq-contest at contesting.com>
> Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2003 13:12
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Callsigns and licenses
>
> > On Wed, Oct 22, 2003 at 10:57:17PM -0700, Michael Tope W4EF wrote:
> > >
> > > As far as the FCC rules go, the commission appears to be
> > > silent on the all too common practice of people using there
> > > callsigns at other peoples stations...
> > > ...If I go to location X and set up my
> > > rig, I would of course sign W4EF. If location X happens to
> > > be the address of record for say W6UE, am I now obligated
> > > to sign W6UE, or can I sign W4EF if I so desire? I suspect
> > > the latter is the case.
> >
> > The latter is the case. You can use either callsign, as your
> > and the station owner's preferences dictate.
> >
> > In years past, the FCC would issue to Radio Amateurs both
> > "station licenses" (to which a callsign was assigned) and
> > "operator licenses." In the 1940's, if you went to your
> > buddy's house to operate, your operator license would give
> > you permission to transmit, but your buddy's station license
> > would dictate the callsign used. Today, the FCC no longer
> > distinguishes between an operator license and a station
> > license. With mobile and handheld radios being as pervasive
> > as they are, maintaining the distinction is too much hassle.
> > So, your modern Amateur Radio license is _both_ a station and
> > an operator license, and your callsign can be associated
> > with any operation made from your station or any operation
> > made by you (or where you are a control operator.)
> >
> > One practice that I've never been quite sure of myself is
> > something that I think is only really done in WPX contests.
> > I know of several WPX contest efforts that have "borrowed"
> > callsigns of friends who happen to have more WPX-desirable
> > callsigns. For example, W5xxx operates from his home
> > station but uses the callsign of AJ5yyy (not a club callsign,)
> > who is never anywhere near the operation of W5xxx all weekend
> > long. The callsign AJ5xxx is being used by an operation that
> > is neither at the AJ5xxx station, nor does it involve AJ5xxx
> > personally. This seems to be done often enough, and I've never
> > heard of the FCC or a contest sponsor complaining about it, but
> > it's never really seemed satisfactory to me. Perhapos I am the
> > only one who feels that way.
> >
> > --
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> > Kenneth E. Harker "Vox Clamantis in Deserto"
> kharker at cs.utexas.edu
> > University of Texas at Austin Amateur Radio Callsign:
> WM5R
> > Department of the Computer Sciences Central Texas DX & Contest
> Club
> > Taylor Hall TAY 2.124 Maintainer of Linux on
> Laptops
> > Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA
> http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> > The world's top contesters battle it out in Finland!
> > THE OFFICIAL FILM of WRTC 2002 now on professional DVD and VHS!
> > http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~jamesb/
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> > CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
> >
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> The world's top contesters battle it out in Finland!
> THE OFFICIAL FILM of WRTC 2002 now on professional DVD and VHS!
> http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~jamesb/
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
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--
__________________________________________________________________________
Alan Zack
Amateur Radio Station K7ACZ
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Quality Engineer, The Boeing Company, Retired
Aviation Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired
U.S. Coast Guard, Always Ready, Always There
Every hour, Every day, Around the Clock and Around the World
SEMPER PARATUS
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