[ARC5] Call Letters

[Mike Morrow]

Dave wrote:

> 1977 or 1978... somewhere in there.
> I went for my Extra when the FCC came to Shreveport, LA
> for a testing session...They had started issuing the 2x1 calls
> for Extras and I was hoping to get issued one of the "W" or "K" 
> calls, but was a little late for those.

I was still on active duty during that time, and I wasn't paying a
lot of attention to ham regulatory matters.

The first hint I had of something changing was in 1975 when I
received notice that my long-held USN-USMC MARS call had been changed
for some mysterious reason from N0LTD to NNN0LTD.  I learned later
that was just setting the stage for the new N#xyz ham calls a couple
of years later.

I was surprised to begin hearing ham 2x1 ham calls starting with
"A" in 1978.  I had considered "A" and "N" calls to be military and
naval calls.  What really shocked me just after I left active duty
in 1979 was to have a CW QSO with a W0xx who told me he was 18 years
old.  In earlier times, one had to be a ham for two years to sit
for the Extra exam, then had to be licensed for 25 years to apply
for a W#xx or K#xx call.  I could not understand how such a call
was assigned to an 18 year old.  I learned that the 25-year requirement
was dropped in 1977 as transition to the new call sign system took place.

Personally, I was very disappointed by the dropping of the 25 year
requirement for a W or K 1x2.  Years later, when vanity calls became
the rage, I regret that re-issue of 1x3 calls beginning with W or
K did not have a similar 25-years licensed requirement.  I miss the
day when one could still find many 1x2 call sign holders on the air
that were not Extra holders.  Those were the real old timers.  Today,
one is very likely to hear someone holding one of the old 1x2 calls
asking something bizarre...like "are RF chokes polarized".  Sad.

I kept my original WA5WGJ call until 1980, when I attended the
semi-annual FCC examining session in Tulsa to upgrade to Extra.
Good luck was mine...the systematic sequential call sign assignment
process gave me my current call of KK5F.  That is way better than
WA5WGJ on CW or voice.  I propose to never change it.  In truth,
I had waited to upgrade until the monthly QST notice of recently
assigned calls showed that the 2x1 calls were about to pass the
KJ5x block.  I disliked Morse J, Q, Y characters in a call.  I just
hoped I wasn't testing too early, getting KJ5Q or KJ5Y instead. :-)

Mike / KK5F