[Hallicrafters] Bill Halligan And The FCC

[Roger K8RI]

" Based on all comments so far, this was a voluntary call sign change and 
'not' an
 automatic one done by the FCC whether one asked for it or not.

 Now the first time the special call sign was made available, the stock of
 available calls was quickly exhausted and the FCC stopped the policy. It 
did not
 resume until what, 1994? "
(end quoted text)

It was well before that.  I requested mine when I took the exam at Detroit 
and that was the next to last session where they did that.  It had to have 
been in the mid to late 70s.

They had a period where those passing the Extra could request a specific 
call (think it was just 1 X 2) some time in the 70s.  It was later that they 
went to the vanity calls.  You had a choice of three calls in order of 
preference.  My initials were already gone and I thought RI would make a 
great call on CW. So, I selected K8RI as primary choice and left my old call 
(K8ZKF) as the second choice.

"As I recall" which is from a pretty foggy memory, they used all the 1 X 2s 
and then went to 2 X 2s.  Then there was a lapse between the end of that 
program and the vanity call system.

I don't even remember when I initially received my license other than it was 
in April or May of 61. It took me about a year to make General.    I took 
the Advanced after incentive licensing came about (have no idea what year) 
and I passed the Extra some time in the mid to late 70s.

I was off CW for some years and when I got back on my hand kept sending 
K8ZKF instead of K8RI even though I'd had the call for years.  I had to 
really slow down and it took several weeks of concentrated work to get to 
the point where I could sign without having to look at K8RI written down.

Last year at Field Day I shot a series of photos of five club members who 
had over 40 years in as hams.  There was over 200 years of experience in 
those photos.  Later I got to thinking, that I'd been licensed longer that 
at least one or two of them.   Sadly, two of them have since passed on.

Roger Halstead (K8RI and ARRL Life Member)
N833R - World's oldest Debonair CD-2
www.rogerhalstead.com