NC Amateur License Plate owners:

[KX4KDH]

Wirelessly posted (BB8330: BlackBerry8330/4.5.0.186 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

I want to get an Amateur Radio plate. I know NC had those ugly flat plates for a while. Then the state said last year they were switching back to embossed plates. Has anyone recently gotten theirs in NC, and can confirm this? If they are still the flat plates, I will wait.

 

[KX4KDH]

Nobody has gotten an Amateur Radio plate in NC recently?

 

[kb2vxa]

Have you considered asking the DMV?

 

[KX4KDH]

Have you considered asking the DMV?

Indeed, I have... I sent an email Friday. I do not expect a reply anytime soon, if at all...

 

[KX4KDH]

I got my answer from DMV....

Here is the response I got:

Comment:
The Amateur Radio license plates are being manufactured flat.

If I can assist you further, please let me know

Thanks,
Name Removed

 

[rescue161]

Just saw this. I can confirm that they are indeed flat. I ordered one because I was assuming that since they switched back to embossed, that my ham tag would be as well. It arrived as flat as it could be and even has a darker blue than the original embossed tag.

I hate flat tags. They look cheap and fake.

 

[KX4KDH]

Yeah... You should post a pic of it just to show everyone what we are talking about. I am still going to order one, I guess. But I am waiting on getting a vanity call, as I am not crazy about mine. It just doesn't have a nice "ring" to it.....

 

[W2NJS]

If you're afraid of the non-embossed plates' paint falling off you probably shouldn't be. Here in DC the District Government switched to flat plates about eight years ago and the paint seems to last just fine. I got new flat plates about three years ago and they've held up 100 percent okay.

 

[rescue161]

Here are two shots of my NC ham tag. You can see how flat they are and how the blue is darker than before. The "4" looks strange to me as well.

Here is my other vehicle that has an SC ham tag. The thing that really makes me mad is I had an SC embossed tag that the DMV made me turn in when we moved to Spain back in 2003. They kept telling me that I had to turn it in so they could issue that plate number to someone else...:roll: I expressed to them that they could not do that because that was my amateur license number. They said if I did not turn it in, that I would be fined and my DL could be suspended. We moved back in 2006 and I got another ham tag, but this time it was flat.

 

[rescue161]

If you're afraid of the non-embossed plates' paint falling off you probably shouldn't be. Here in DC the District Government switched to flat plates about eight years ago and the paint seems to last just fine. I got new flat plates about three years ago and they've held up 100 percent okay.

It's not paint. It's printed into the 3M material at the 3M manufacturing facility. It'll fade with time, but it won't come off. They don't paint these like they did the embossed tags back in the day.

 

[KX4KDH]

Uggh... Even South Carolina does it? Yuck.... Thanks for the pics, Scott!


And yes, the 4 looks like an A...

 

[rescue161]

Uggh... Even South Carolina does it? Yuck.... Thanks for the pics, Scott!


And yes, the 4 looks like an A...

Yep, they sure do. Maybe I'm biased because I'm from SC, but I think the SC tag looks better... :lol:

Did you catch what the DMV in SC told me about reissuing my license to another SC tag? Silly, silly stuff I tell ya.

 

[KX4KDH]

Yeah, I saw that.... I would have asked them if they were a frigging moron.... Some DMV folks aren't too bright.

 

[KG4INW]

Move up one state to Virginia! Our ham plates not only have your call embossed but so are "Virginia" and "Amateur Radio". Seriously though, I know that many states are going to the flat 3M plates because they're cheaper but when I lived in Iowa (where all new plates are flat) all the sand and salt in the winter completely obscured the flat plates while you could still read the embossed ones (I know, clean your plates right!).

 

[KX4KDH]

Move up one state to Virginia! Our ham plates not only have your call embossed but so are "Virginia" and "Amateur Radio". Seriously though, I know that many states are going to the flat 3M plates because they're cheaper but when I lived in Iowa (where all new plates are flat) all the sand and salt in the winter completely obscured the flat plates while you could still read the embossed ones (I know, clean your plates right!).

Yeah.... I wish I could move back to VA.... And yes, I am aware of how they make their plates... I see lots of Amateurs here from VA quite frequently!

 

[newsphotog]

Seriously though, I know that many states are going to the flat 3M plates because they're cheaper but when I lived in Iowa (where all new plates are flat) all the sand and salt in the winter completely obscured the flat plates while you could still read the embossed ones (I know, clean your plates right!).

Agh! I hate our plates! Not only does the salt, sand, and dirt obscure the plates in the winter, but the front plates get all bent up and sometimes folded in the wintertime. My front plate looks like it's been to hell and back. I miss the embossed plates.

 

[dwh367]

I don't think the problem is that the plates are flat. I think the problem is the plates are plain

 

[AK9R]

I think the problem with these flat plates is that they are made from thin aluminum and, with no embossing, they have little structural rigidity. The embossing makes the plate stiffer and less likely to bend. But, I understand that the flat plates are much less expensive to make.

Indiana went to flat plates several years ago. I don't care for them, but it is what it is. More annoying is that our amateur radio plates say nothing about amateur radio. You can't distinguish them from a regular or vanity plate.

 

[KX4KDH]

Wirelessly posted (BB8330: BlackBerry8330/4.5.0.186 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

I don't think the problem is that the plates are flat. I think the problem is the plates are plain

No kidding. Put a picture of an antenna tower, or a lightning bolt or something. Geez.

 

[KG4INW]

I have a small collection of plates from various states and the embossed ones are always thicker and sturdier overall.

As for plain, yeah the VA plates at least say amateur radio but in Iowa they were indistinguishable from regular plates. The only advantage was they were a lot cheaper than vanity plates.