Ham radio call signs question

skelly · Mar 1, 2008

Any fellow amateur radio operators out there?

I'd like to equip my three ghost-hunting characters with ham radio licenses so that they can use 2-meter simplex frequencies to communicate when they split up. Also, I can think of several interesting story lines that stem from their interest in the hobby.

For added realism, I'd like to give them each a call sign, or at the very least, a club station license that they could all use. Obviously I don't want to just make one up, as it may be in use. I could try to find a list of unused call signs, I suppose, but I think those are eventually recycled. As well, with the new (and unwelcome, imho) "vanity" call signs, I also run a risk of stepping on someone's toes.

I have considered just changing the call sign format to one not actually used...AB34Z, for example (and understanding that different formats are used in different countries), but then I have to deal with every ham operator that reads the book writing to lecture me on call signs.

Anybody have any ideas. or know of any "dummy" call signs that people use for this purpose?

Thanks

Puma · Mar 1, 2008

Ages ago, and I mean ages ago, my brother was a ham operator. Back then, if I understood correctly, all the call signs (probably only in the US) started with W8. Could you use something like that and then tack on a CB radio type handle - one that could carry over into conversation like W8Lady or W8Wolf? You'd want to keep the number of letters after the W8 the same length (and yes, call signs were 5 characters long back then.)

Hope that helps a little bit - interesting question. Puma

kristie911 · Mar 1, 2008

I don't think they're 5 characters anymore. When I was a kid my grandpa was a ham radio operator and his was WB8ZFE (one of those things I'll never, ever forget!) and my dad's was NC-something, I can't remember his...I didn't spend hours listening to him like I did my grandpa.

benbradley · Mar 1, 2008

My father was WA4TLJ, he got his license in the early-mid sixties, and went SK in 1999. Mother then GAVE AWAY his classic tube HF rigs, worth somewhere in the $500-$1000 range (in the last 15-20 years since older stuff became collectible), but at least she didn't need the money - he originally had a Heathkit SB400 transmitter and a National NC300 receiver as his rig, then built a SB301 receiver and put the NC300 on a separate table - I did a lot of listening on that thing when I was a teen.

But I've been wondering if I'm ever going to get a license, and if his callsign were still available, I vaguely recall something that I'd be able to get it...

I don't think they're 5 characters anymore.
People who've had their licences for years and decades surely still have their 5-character callsigns, and last I read about calls maybe ten years ago, there were lots of new rules about them (the OP mentions vanity callsigns), there was one about if your father had an early four-character sign such as W1XY, you could apply to get it. So they COULD be different lengths.

But to the OP's question - surely there are other novels in which amateur radio is featured, it might be informative to see how other authors handle it. With Internet domains there is one that is used as an "example" that isn't available and will never be sold: example.com. I doubt there's such a thing with radio callsigns, as there doesn't seem to be a need. It should be easy enough to research unused or expired callsigns, but would it really be so horrible if you accidentally used a callsign that later became active?

There are amateur radio newsgroups you could ask this on. To be helpful, I just looked at what might be appropriate groups, rec.radio.amateur looks almost dead, and rec.radio.amateur.policy appears to have an active troll population. Usenet continues to go downhill, so I wouldn't even try... wait, there's a rec.radio.amateur.moderated that's precisely what it says and appears active, I'd try asking there.

skelly · Mar 1, 2008

benbradley said:
My father was WA4TLJ, he got his license in the early-mid sixties, and went SK in 1999. Mother then GAVE AWAY his classic tube HF rigs, worth somewhere in the $500-$1000 range (in the last 15-20 years since older stuff became collectible), but at least she didn't need the money - he originally had a Heathkit SB400 transmitter and a National NC300 receiver as his rig, then built a SB301 receiver and put the NC300 on a separate table - I did a lot of listening on that thing when I was a teen.

But I've been wondering if I'm ever going to get a license, and if his callsign were still available, I vaguely recall something that I'd be able to get it...

I don't think they're 5 characters anymore.
People who've had their licences for years and decades surely still have their 5-character callsigns, and last I read about calls maybe ten years ago, there were lots of new rules about them (the OP mentions vanity callsigns), there was one about if your father had an early four-character sign such as W1XY, you could apply to get it. So they COULD be different lengths.

But to the OP's question - surely there are other novels in which amateur radio is featured, it might be informative to see how other authors handle it. With Internet domains there is one that is used as an "example" that isn't available and will never be sold: example.com. I doubt there's such a thing with radio callsigns, as there doesn't seem to be a need. It should be easy enough to research unused or expired callsigns, but would it really be so horrible if you accidentally used a callsign that later became active?

There are amateur radio newsgroups you could ask this on. To be helpful, I just looked at what might be appropriate groups, rec.radio.amateur looks almost dead, and rec.radio.amateur.policy appears to have an active troll population. Usenet continues to go downhill, so I wouldn't even try... wait, there's a rec.radio.amateur.moderated that's precisely what it says and appears active, I'd try asking there.

Funny you should mention it...in The Hardy Boys novel The Short-Wave Mystery, Frank Hardy's call sign is given as K2XEJ, and their friend Chet Morton is K2XOB. I've since learned that those call signs are now reserved for experimental stations.

Sorry to hear about your father gone silent key, and your mom giving away all his rigs. Mom's are bad about that sort of thing

Thanks for the leads, and thanks to all who offered suggestions. It's not the sort of detail that will keep me from getting the thing written, but I'm gonna have to deal with it eventually.

HeronW · Mar 1, 2008

try Google and other search engines for 'ham radio call signs' and similar phrases.

skelly · Mar 1, 2008

HeronW said:
try Google and other search engines for 'ham radio call signs' and similar phrases.

Yup. Did that first. Thanks Heron

Ham radio call signs question

skelly

Kickin it old school, posers beware

Puma

Retired and loving it!

kristie911

Happy to be here

benbradley

It's a doggy dog world

skelly

Kickin it old school, posers beware

HeronW

Down Under Fan

skelly

Kickin it old school, posers beware