[CQ-Contest] Watch your dits this weekend

[James Cain]

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