[BARC-List] vanity calls of SK hams

[Ramon F. Kolb]

Hi guys,
=20
I'm struggling with the following issue. Yesterday, I finally took my US
HAM exams (passed all-- I'm an Extra now!) in order to "shed" the
W1/PA3EUG call, which is way too long for comfort here in the US :).  So
I started browsing for vanity callsign, and I found a few that I like,
and that seem to be available (either never assigned, or
canceled/expired/etc. more than 2 years ago).
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So legally, it is well possible to request any of these vanity calls,
but the question is ethical:
If an OM died in the last few years (say between 1995 and 2000), would
it be disrespectful or otherwise un-ethical to request that callsign? I
"googled" some of the callsigns, and found obituaries for the some of
the previous owners of the call. Some seemed to be "characters" within
the group of HAMs they hang out with, and most of them seemed to be
active until the end. I'd love to have the call, but I don't want to do
something that is frowned upon.
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Similarly, if a previous owner of a call isn't deceased, but requested a
different (vanity) call, can I -legally and morally- request that call,
or should I contact that OM first to "ask his permission", even though
the FCC just lists the call as "available".
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What do you think?
Thanks, 73s,

--Ram=F3n

Ram=F3n F. Kolb, W1/PA3EUG, Boston, MA, USA [FN42KI]
ICQ:77117744; MSNMGR:legalalien30@hotmail.com
http://pa3eug.webhop.org <http://pa3eug.webhop.org/>=20

=20


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