[CQ-Contest] Call sign history

[Joe]

yup when Novice Roundup was Fun and had participation.

Joe WB9SBD
Sig
The Original Rolling Ball Clock
Idle Tyme
Idle-Tyme.com
http://www.idle-tyme.com
On 1/8/2017 10:23 AM, W0MU Mike Fatchett wrote:
> What someone had common sense?  No way!  HI!
>
> I got licensed in 1978, so I missed that window and had to wait till 
> the vanity program.  I can't recall anymore if W0MU was my 1st choice 
> but I don't think so.  I want to say it was my 4th?
>
> My first taste of contesting was the novice round up which lasted 7 
> days or more.  I have the certificate around someplace that I got.  I 
> recall battling it out with another young ham at the time we were both 
> around 13.  Good times.
>
> W0MU
>
>
> On 1/8/2017 7:28 AM, James Cain wrote:
>> 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)
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>
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