Ham Callsigns in Work of Fiction

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ladn

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I am working on a fictional short story involving ham radio, but I need some guidance on callsigns. I don't want to associate my fictional characters with valid FCC callsigns.

I'd did some searching in FCC rules and didn't find any specific information or guidelines.
 

SCPD

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call signs

I am working on a fictional short story involving ham radio, but I need some guidance on callsigns. I don't want to associate my fictional characters with valid FCC callsigns.

I'd did some searching in FCC rules and didn't find any specific information or guidelines.

Suppose what I would do is make up a few calls, and see if they are in the FCC database, or look on qrz.com, or eham.com. I would think calls no longer being used would be good enough to use. Start with early 2x3's. Like a 2x3 that would of expired years ago, and no one's gonna use it as a vanity.
Like WE8BLT.
 

QDP2012

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I am working on a fictional short story involving ham radio, but I need some guidance on callsigns. I don't want to associate my fictional characters with valid FCC callsigns.

I'd did some searching in FCC rules and didn't find any specific information or guidelines.

At the risk of stating the obvious, if you choose a valid, but currently unused, FCC callsign, then it could be assigned later by the FCC, which would basically result in the same situation as choosing a currently valid callsign. Maybe it would be safer to create an invalid callsign that does not match the valid patterns used by the FCC. Of course, a pattern that is invalid to the FCC is likely valid for some foreign country's callsigns. So, creating a "safe" but invalid callsign might not be easy.

Just a thought,
 

n5ims

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Contact the FCC and ask them if they have a group of call signs set aside for uses of this kind. They probably do and those should be safe for your use (although you probably won't have unique use of them). This would be somewhat like the special phone numbers that exist for fictional use (In the US they're 555-0100 through 555-0199 in most area codes) and are never to be assigned to any real customer.
 

ko6jw_2

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The late Walker Tompkins wrote several novels in which the main character was a teen aged amateur radio operator. His call was K6ATX - Walker Tompkins call. K6ATX is now reassigned.
 

KC0KM

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There are certain group D calls (2x3) that are not used, as they are they are "experimental" like the suffix "X". Also, certain "Q's are not used as well, since they could be confused with certain prosigns. I also like some of the others ideas -- using old expired -- long expired calls, or calls that are not yet assigned.
 

ko6jw_2

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I just looked at one of Tompkins' books and there is a statement to the effect that all calls used are with the permissions of the licensees and the FCC. He did use real calls of his friends, etc.
 

n9mxq

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You can use mine, I don't care.

I would think the standard disclaimer in most works of fiction:

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Would cover any accidental usages of active callsigns.
 

w2txb

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You could use some "made up" call signs that do not exist in "real life" (i.e., 6L6GC, IB4TL, etc.). ;)

A disclaimer, as posted earlier, may be a good idea, but consult with legal counsel before going too far. Maybe putting, "So there!" at the end of the disclaimer would help. :)
 

MeddleMan

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immortalized

You can use mine, the"American Radio,Xray!" Actually, I only dream of being a"ham radio hero,"and never see myself being one in the real world. Fiction might be the only place I could see myself living that out. I will begin driving for a living again real soon. Most of my time is spent on the CB, and the rest only listening to other spectrum. I just won't have the time to save the day as a ham, but perhaps only as a driver. That might be good for some on the television or big screen, yet again never reading the papers. It's only another of many dreams.
 
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vagrant

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I am working on a fictional short story involving ham radio, but I need some guidance on callsigns. I don't want to associate my fictional characters with valid FCC callsigns.

I'd did some searching in FCC rules and didn't find any specific information or guidelines.
Just use an extra number in the call sign. If the character is from California perhaps W66AW or W11AW if from the North East. Amateur radio operators will know its fake from the double numbers, but you might as well match up the number to the state/region, although that's not a requirement anymore. Keep the numbers together and the same. You can proceed it with a K, N, or W and just add two more letters after the numbers. Hell, you could even use the two letters that represent a particular state.
K33PA
N55TX
W77OR
N66CA - Actually avoid using the N as that could now be an airline tail number.
 

K4RMN

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Do what they did for Tim Allen's character on Last Man Standing:

Ham Radio in Hollywood: Comedian Tim Allen Stars as Radio Amateur on New TV Show

To make Mike a ham, Amodeo needed Mike to have a call sign. So he contacted ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, to help him out. “In film and TV, we create fictitious telephone numbers, addresses and brands,” Amodeo explained. “We do this mostly to avoid being sued by real brands and to avoid complications with advertisers. As a producer and a ham, I was torn between wanting the show to be accurate and needing to keep my studios out of trouble. An accurate and positive portrayal of ham radio on TV would be a good thing.” Many TV shows and movies use telephone numbers with a 555 exchange (such as 555-1212), as that exchange is not valid.

Together with Pitts, and with input from Tim Allen, Amodeo created a call sign for Mike Baxter: KA0XTT. Since the show is set in Colorado, they wanted Mike to have a call sign with a 0 in it. “We wanted a call sign that sounded real, but was not valid,” Amodeo said. “The call sign is a 2×3 format with an X suffix. A call sign in this format is an experimental call sign and is not assignable to a radio amateur except in special circumstances. We especially liked the suffix, as it is a play on Tim’s character from his former show, Home Improvement: ‘ex-Tim Taylor.’”
 

MeddleMan

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eliminate call signs

In your story, you can explain to the reader how things are done. If there are conversations on radio in the story, remind the reader that "after having contacting (the other station) using a ham radio call sign, the conversation carried on as..." And then continue your story. Occasionally you may have to remind your readers how things work. They'll get it.
 

Voyager

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The FCC has a web page describing callsigns that are not available for various reasons. Why don't you look there and see if you can come up with something you like.

FCC: Wireless Services: Amateur Radio Service: Call Sign Systems: Vanity

+1 on this one. Specifically, I would recommend:

Any call sign having the letters QRA-QUZ as the suffix
or
Any 2-by-3 format call sign having the letter X as the first letter of the suffix

A 2x3 ending in XYL would be a nice one for a married lady that hams would appreciate.
 

Token

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Do what they did for Tim Allen's character on Last Man Standing:

Ham Radio in Hollywood: Comedian Tim Allen Stars as Radio Amateur on New TV Show

Long prior to Last Man Standing this same technique was in use, an X in the suffix.

In the Hardy Boys book "The Shortwave Mystery", published March 1945, Frank Hardy originally had callsign VN16Y and his friend Chet Morton was VY84Y. These callsigns did not match the callsign format of the US at the time and were completely fictional. I might add that at the time the book was written and published there were no legal private Ham transmissions, due to wartime restrictions. Hams were not allowed back on the air for 8 more months after the book was published.

Sometime later the callsigns were changed to match the real format of US ham callsigns, with Frank's changing to K2XEJ and Chet being K2XOB. At that time X, Y, and Z were not allowed as the first letter of the suffix.

In the 1966 version of the book Frank's call changed to WB2XEJ, a callsign that cannot be issued to a ham. However, Chet's call was W2RBR in the same book, as far as I know a 100% legal callsign.

However, I have to wonder. If a writer today uses a legal but not currently assigned callsign, and later that callsign is assigned to a user, how is the writer at fault? If I invent a totally new name, one never used before, and have this person as a villain in a work of fiction, and later someone names their child that name, no case could be made that I was describing that person in my work.

To take it one step further, look at the Hardy example. When the second set of callsigns were used in the book they were NOT legal callsigns, and yet today a 1 x 3 with X starting the suffix would be legal. If you use a currently void callsign, such as a 2 x 3 with an X as the first letter of the suffix, who is to say at some point the FCC won't issue that?

T!
 
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