New Hams...anyone else apply for a vanity call?

jim/boston

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Out of the 23 new hams from the last CAARA exam I know that Darkgriffin and myself applied for and received vanity calls....anyone else? Any of my classmates that want to know our new calls (so you know it is us) drop me a pm.
 
New licenses getting vanity calls? Are you folks Techs or higher? I was under the understanding that you had to be General or above to get a vanity. Being only a Technician I've never applied for a vanity though I've wanted one. Am I out of date on my regs?
 
New licenses getting vanity calls? Are you folks Techs or higher? I was under the understanding that you had to be General or above to get a vanity. Being only a Technician I've never applied for a vanity though I've wanted one. Am I out of date on my regs?
I'm a General but Techs can apply too I found this website handy but there are several
N4MC's Vanity HQ
 
With a higher license you have a better selection of calls.

Not necessarily, nearly all the 1x2's and 2x1's are taken, you just got lucky. [wink]

I have a vanity call too, and yeah I also got lucky, couldn't believe it wasn't taken.

A former NES'er I know has "N1WTF", he got that as a Vanity Call.
I guess the original owner didn't like it. [laugh]
 
Not necessarily, nearly all the 1x2's and 2x1's are taken, you just got lucky. [wink]

I have a vanity call too, and yeah I also got lucky, couldn't believe it wasn't taken.

A former NES'er I know has "N1WTF", he got that as a Vanity Call.
I guess the original owner didn't like it. [laugh]

You know your vanity call didn't quite click for me until I got home to enter it into QRZ. It was one of those "oh well that makes sense" moments.
 
Not necessarily, nearly all the 1x2's and 2x1's are taken, you just got lucky. [wink]

I have a vanity call too, and yeah I also got lucky, couldn't believe it wasn't taken.

A former NES'er I know has "*****", he got that as a Vanity Call.
I guess the original owner didn't like it. [laugh]

The current possesser might not want his real id associated that way (as one of those filthy gun owners).

That said, it would be an awesome callsign!

Sent from my chimney using smoke signals.
 
I have a vanity...what's better than W1CFR? I mean, being that I'm C-pher...figured I'd make it my call.

Though, had I known I could have picked anything, I would have chosen W4 as I'm from the South....

But I was new and thought that I had to choose a sign from my Area...
 
I have a vanity...what's better than W1CFR? I mean, being that I'm C-pher...figured I'd make it my call.

Though, had I known I could have picked anything, I would have chosen W4 as I'm from the South....

But I was new and thought that I had to choose a sign from my Area...

Hmmmm....

Is IB4TL taken?

(yeah, yeah - I know. Just kidding. IB4TL Over and Out)
 
In fairness, it was that or ham radio dies.
And of all the operating modes, CW was the only one they required proficiency testing. 75 years ago verifying Morse proficiency made sense. Lately all it served to do is keep out the people that weren't super serious about it. I know a brilliant electrincal engineer and a great operator who never got his Extra just because he couldn't get past the 20wpm "code barrier".
 
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Out of the 23 new hams from the last CAARA exam I know that Darkgriffin and myself applied for and received vanity calls....anyone else? Any of my classmates that want to know our new calls (so you know it is us) drop me a pm.
Not yet. Still KB1WWM and soon going for General. Any heads-up about licensing exams happening soon in the North Reading area?
 
A former NES'er I know has "N1WTF", he got that as a Vanity Call.
I guess the original owner didn't like it. [laugh]

I had dinner with him & his family a few weeks ago; he doesn't get on the air much these days. Hope he'll change his mind as I'll be driving past him on a semi-regular basis soon.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
In fairness, it was that or ham radio dies.

Tragically true. I missed my general exam by one question on the CW portion back in 92 or 93 and never bothered following it up. Even back then hardly anybody was testing past Tech Plus because the code portion was difficult to learn. Not to downplay the value of knowing how to send/receive code, but most hams don't do it and don't want to do it. They do want access to the bands, though.

WRT call signs, I got my ticket when I lived in NV, and was all cool because I used my MA address as my station to get an N1 call. So I was the cool kid in the land of 7's. Then I moved back here and kind of wished I got the 7 call sign. I wouldn't bother changing my call. I don't care that much, and it's easy to key my current call - just a bunch of dashes and dots. [grin]
 
If you think you'll take up Morse some day you might want to avoid a vanity that ends in the letter K. When calling CQ, after you give your call sign you end with K which means "anyone please reply". I know one person that had problems with that.
 
How long do the vanity applications take to process? I applied for mine less than an hour after being granted my initial callsign!!

-JR
 
I forget how long it took. I want go say a few weeks at least but I really don't remember.

I went from KB1OUM (which looked like DUM on my license plate) to my current W1ZLX


Sent from my iPhone 5c using Tapatalk
 
I knew that AC1DC was coming up as a sequential issue in the Extra Class block, but it looks like someone grabbed it as a club call in Region 4.

That would have made a fantastic call plate in Mass with the lightning bolt character.

AC1/DC
 
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