[Elecraft] Signing /QRP

[David Y.]

As for legality, for FCC licensed stations, signing "/QRP" is perfectly 
legal. FCC Regs 97.119(c) allows for "self-assigned indicators." There is an 
interesting gotcha to the rule. The last sentence of the regulation says "No 
self-assigned may conflict with any other indicator specified by the FCC 
rules, or with any prefix assigned to another country." Q signals, including 
QRP, pose no such conflict. However, as W3BE points out, other popular 
"self-assigned indicators" are illegal, particularly "/M," commonly used by 
mobile stations, a prefix assigned to the UK, and "/R" commonly used by 
repeaters, a prefix assigned to Russia, and used for special ham callsigns 
for Russian WW2 veterans.


73,

Steve Kercel
AA4AK
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Interesting what you find when reading the rules!  However, I wonder if your 
illustration of signing "/M" for mobile really is a problem.  It's my 
understanding that when operating from a foreign country you would place 
that country's prefix in front of your call, not at the end as a suffix.  In 
other words, in the U.K. I would sign M/W7AQK (or G/W7AQK?) rather than 
W7AQK/M.  So, using the "/M"  as a mobile designator wouldn't really be in 
conflict with the rules would it?  It's being used as a suffix, and not as a 
prefix.  Maybe that's not a correct interpretation, but I've never heard of 
anyone being "dinged" by the FCC for signing "/M" when operating mobile.  Of 
course, I don't think FCC listens much any more to what goes on in the ham 
bands anyway!

Dave W7AQK