[CQ-Contest] 1977 vanity calls (was Watch your dits this weekend)

[hank.k8dd]

In the second round of the "2 letter call" program they were free and
you could put in for up to 26 choices.
No VanityHQ web sites.  No web sites, so all we had to go by was the
call book and QST Silent Keys to make a choice.
When you could apply depended on when you got your Amateur Extra
license - I think there were 4 or 5 dates, spaced 6 months apart and
if you had your Amateur Extra before that date you could apply.
Before that program you could get a 2 letter call by having your
Amateur Extra for 25 years or more and apply.  You would get the next
call off the computer - no choices.  Unless, of course, you lived
driving distance from Gettysburg and then you could drive there on
Amateur day and they would tell anyone there what was currently
available.  At least this what I heard on 2M years ago when I was
visiting my folks in Harrisburg.
73    Hank    K8DD   (third choice)


On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, you're right. And those of us who got them didn't have to pay anything
> extra and do not have to pay any vanity call fees. I don't recall the words
> "vanity call" being used by anyone back then.
> I'm still curious about the requirements for the varions "gates" that were
> set up by the FCC for availability. My memory ain't what it used to be ...
>
> 73, Zack W9SZ
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 9:58 AM, James Cain <jamesdavidcain at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> PULLEEZE!
>>
>> Those 1977 call signs were NOT *vanity* call signs. They were issued on
>> request to those who had passed the Extra Class exam when the exam still
>> meant something. As far as I am concerned, the vast majority of us got them
>> to have a shorter, more efficient call sign for operating, particularly
>> contesting. It had nothing to do with vanity.
>>
>> Look up the definition of *vanity*.
>>
>> Jim Cain, K1TN
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> CQ-Contest mailing list
>> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>



-- 
"I knew that God put me on this earth to be on the radio."    Ed Bradley

"Me too!"    K8DD
-