60 year old call sign

[KK4JUG]

I was a radio station "chief operator" (FCCspeak for chief engineer) in the mid 80's when they shifted the legal responsibility for the technical compliance of a broadcasting station with the FCC rules from the chief operator to the station licensee, making me redundant. About the same time, they replaced the First and Second Class Radiotelephone Licenses with the General Radiotelephone Operators License, which grandfathered them. The only advantage was that the GROL was lifetime issue. Their field offices started to close about that time and if you call one outside of D.C., your call will be forwarded to D.C. The FCC is nothing more than a dozen field monitoring vans that run around checking out interference reports, and offices full of out-sourced bureaucrats.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

 

[KI7HYI]

Your Tax Dollars At Work

I've gotten over being made redundant, so I'm cool with the reduced FCC operations.

 

[Gniederb]

I was a radio station "chief operator" (FCCspeak for chief engineer) in the mid 80's when they shifted the legal responsibility for the technical compliance of a broadcasting station with the FCC rules from the chief operator to the station licensee, making me redundant. About the same time, they replaced the First and Second Class Radiotelephone Licenses with the General Radiotelephone Operators License, which grandfathered them. The only advantage was that the GROL was lifetime issue. Their field offices started to close about that time and if you call one outside of D.C., your call will be forwarded to D.C. The FCC is nothing more than a dozen field monitoring vans that run around checking out interference reports, and offices full of out-sourced bureaucrats.

okay, so basically they are way to understaffed now to bother with cb broadcasts unless you are doing something so ridiculous that you're interfering with other coms. I bet it even takes a min or two to catch an illegal ham operator. Am I right?

 

[TheSpaceMann]

okay, so basically they are way to understaffed now to bother with cb broadcasts unless you are doing something so ridiculous that you're interfering with other coms. I bet it even takes a min or two to catch an illegal ham operator. Am I right?

From what I hear on the ham bands lately, they don't seem to be enforcing the rules very much on there either.

 

[KK4JUG]

From what I hear on the ham bands lately, they don't seem to be enforcing the rules very much on there either.

Yeah. It's like CB on 2m.

 

[rfradioconsult]

The first CB calls issued by the FCC started with a number corresponding to the FCC district then a W and the then four digits, the next group had a Q instead of a W. The FCC then changed to a call sign foremat that complied with International regulations. My Dad's call was 10Q1395, later my call was KEG3541. Got my HAM ticket in 1967, been in radio a really long time.

 

[KK4JUG]

17W3288 then KGI3126

 

[KI7HYI]

okay, so basically they are way to understaffed now to bother with cb broadcasts unless you are doing something so ridiculous that you're interfering with other coms. I bet it even takes a min or two to catch an illegal ham operator. Am I right?

About all one has to do to observe a illegal ham operator is tune into a licensed shortwave broadcaster.
Given the convoluted spectrum assignments and the arrogance of the average ham, very few of them are caught or reported.

 

[KI7HYI]

60 years ago i had my first cb radio, received my call letters my question is in all those years do i still retain those call letters. are they reassigned if not used or inactive . just curious

If I remember correctly, the original CB calls were only two and/or only three numbers.
Mine was KFK8036, and I'd been CBing for about a half year before I became legal and applied for it. In those days, one's call rarely got used on air. Sometimes there wasn't one and they just ran by their skip handle.

 

[KI7HYI]

Yeah. It's like CB on 2m.

Having listened to truckers on 2 meters on a scanner, the differences are simple. On 2m, they use their calls and don't use the Carlin vocabulary.

 

[kruser]

I think the FCC today is more likely to go after those with business licenses who are expired these days or the ones that are interfering with public safety than they are to go after illegal CB operators.
At least it seems that way when you read enforcement actions.
The guys with money where they stand the best chance of collecting seems to be the norm for them today.
I do still see enforcement activity in the CB bands for those causing interference that generate lots of complaints though so they do still act on some of them.
The common ham bands seem to be enforced about the same by the FCC. The ham bands seem to be self policed more by the legal users than anything these days. The same guys seem to police the CB band more than anyone as well. I'm not sure what they can do legally to an illegal operator other than record them and supply the FCC with the recordings and other evidence like the illegal persons address info if the illegal operator does not comply.

I always wondered if people still stick a push pin or needle through a CB'ers coax when they are causing interference and/or running ungodly amounts of power.
I never knew if that was true or not but you heard of a lot of people claiming they did it back in the mid 70's and so. I guess that could fry the finals in a low power transmitter while one running a KW or so may just burn the needle out leaving a hole in the coax for the weather to ruin over time.

 

[KI7HYI]

There are too many variables to say that a low power or high power transmitter would be more susceptible to VSWR damage. Having worked in broadcasting, FM transmitters will trip off in self-protection, AM transmitters usually see mismatches that allow them to continue, using the feedline and matching components as dummy loads.

 

[gadgetguru63]

I remember mine from the 70s. It was KAMP1229. I was thinking about this yesterday. Funny.

 

[599]

The first CB calls issued by the FCC started with a number corresponding to the FCC district then a W and the then four digits, the next group had a Q instead of a W. The FCC then changed to a call sign foremat that complied with International regulations. My Dad's call was 10Q1395, later my call was KEG3541. Got my HAM ticket in 1967, been in radio a really long time.

You are right !

Here are a few examples of QSL's with the first generation callsigns:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/146107474@N07/albums/72157674681557934/with/31624636240/

 

[DJ11DLN]

I may not remember this correctly but it seems like license application instructions said you could operate with K+initials+zip code as a temporary callsign until you received your license. I think I remember hearing people do that in the late 70's.

The FCC callsign table in 47CFR2.302 still says:
Personal radio, temporary permit - 3 letters, 5 digits - KAA00000 through KZZ99999.
General Mobile Radio Service, temporary permit - 2 letters, 7 digits - WT plus business or residence telephone number.

That is correct. It occurred well after my license was issued; prior to that you were supposed to wait until you received your official call sign before transmitting. Mine was KHT-7738.

I recall thinking at the time that it wasn't fair...I'd waited all that time to first key the mic and then the rules changed and newbies could just make up a call sign and get on the air.

 

[BushDoctor]

My old call sign

That is correct. It occurred well after my license was issued; prior to that you were supposed to wait until you received your official call sign before transmitting. Mine was KHT-7738.

I recall thinking at the time that it wasn't fair...I'd waited all that time to first key the mic and then the rules changed and newbies could just make up a call sign and get on the air.

I got mine in 1958 it was different 4W0693 the 4W was for the area and i guess the rest for the number of licenses my brother was 5W1169