[Hallicrafters] Calls, issued and vanity etc.

[Mark Shaum]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Bahr" <pulsarxp at earthlink.net>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 10:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Hallicrafters] Bill Halligan And The FCC


> I can tell you how I got my two letter call.  I was licensed in 1953
as
> WN9DRC then W9DRC.  Sometime later I got my EXTRA Class license.  The
rules
> back then were, once you had 25 years under your belt as a ham and if
you
> had an Extra class license, you could apply for a two letter call (K
or W
> 1x2).  You could also give them a list of calls of which they could
select a
> call for you.

I recall "timing" my taking of the Extra class exam (one of the last
actually administered by the FCC in Chicagoland, although it was in a
Holiday Inn meeting room and not a FCC office like with my General exam
in 1967 - then WA8YOQ, none of those silly WB8 calls for me!) so that I
could obtain an issued 2x1 call in the "NE9" range.  NE9 was as short of
a prefix for CW likely to be issued  in the given timeframe (no vanity
calls yet) so I became NE9G.  While nice and short in terms of code
elements, it seems it was rather difficult to copy either via CW or via
phonetics on fone.  November what nine? Echo Echo!  Apple? Echo!!

I'm currently happy to be K9TR, the K9x2 format matches the age of most
of my boatanchor equipment, although I was in diapers at the time real
1x2's starting with K were being issued.

73! - Mark K9TR