Radio call signs

[tspainiv]

What is the basis for having to call out the agencies call sign?? Like with Memphis and SC they just will randomly call out the call sign. Something like this, 425 Delta show you in service at 1400 hrs WPAH881. Just wondering about it. Do they just call it out whenever or is there a certain time they have to say it?

 

[memphislawenforcer]

I don't know but they have done it for years may be an FCC thing. Trivia question, does anyone remember what the old callsign was. Not you RAY.

 

[matthewtomek]

WPAJ881, We do it every 15 minutes, starting at the top of the hour. I think the FCC requires it. Our repeaters back home did it automatically in morse code every 30 minutes.

 

[BoxAlarm187]

FCC calls for it every thirty minutes. As Matthew said, a lot of places do it now with morse code automatically. When I dispatched, our agency was required to do it after every transmission. KIC-365 was often shortened to "65" in the heat of battle. :-D

 

[tspainiv]

Cool deal thanks guys!

 

[dsbyrd]

I don't know but they have done it for years may be an FCC thing. Trivia question, does anyone remember what the old callsign was. Not you RAY.

When I was about 10 and got my first VHF receiver, Memphis Police was, if I am not mistaken, KIC-306. This would have been about 1971.

 

[Ray-D-O]

Merry Christmas, I will leave you guessing per memlaw's request but I hope he doesn't mind this one. Many years ago (may have been first official callsign) the callsign was WPEC. It was even painted on squad cars back then and there were the phonetics "We Protect Ed Crump", the mayor back then.

The callsign is transmitted on one frequency automatically to satisfy the FCC. We let the dispatchers do their thing-announcing the time verbally is good for tape playback timing backup even though it is encoded on recordings. It also helps when the officers and fire personnel jot down the time for the calls, the console time is the cities official time and is GPS referenced. During some of my scanner listening I've noticed some of the surrounding agencies are minutes off.

 

[jalexand69]

When I was about 10 and got my first VHF receiver, Memphis Police was, if I am not mistaken, KIC-306. This would have been about 1971.

Up until about 7 years ago, I used to hear two VHF frequencies sign KIC306 on Morse code. I believe one of them was 158.XXXX (forget the last four digits). I looked up that call about 2 years ago, and it no longer exists.

The UHF system was KUO-982, I think. I only remember the call being given after an announcement was given out on air, like once a missing persons report was filed on a neighbor.

Something that I have found odd, though, is that many trunked systems send out Morse IDs, while the Coast Guard, US Navy, commercial radiotelegraph licenses, and amateur radio (depending on license) have abandoned Morse knowledge. j c

 

[memphislawenforcer]

It was KUO982. Now can anyone explain why it starts with a K and not a W?

 

[W4EMS]

The reason for the ID via voice or morse code is to identify a station should it interfere with other communications due to technical glitch.

We had a repeater in Nashville begin interfering with the FAA freq's. They used the callsign to find the operator and shut it down until repairs could be made to correct the spurious emissions.

 

[Randall]

What is the basis for having to call out the agencies call sign?? Like with Memphis and SC they just will randomly call out the call sign. Something like this, 425 Delta show you in service at 1400 hrs WPAH881. Just wondering about it. Do they just call it out whenever or is there a certain time they have to say it?

call signs are station identifications which can be used to find stations that cause interference or excede bandwidth limitations, so basically they just identify the transmitter.

 

[firemedic2150]

OK hold the phone here...we are talking about a trunked radio system that ID's itself as per FCC requrments, or at least I hope it would so why give out the call sign on the air again? As an aside a local hospital who has a TG on the Chattanooga-Hamilton county system loves to use its VHF call sign to ID on the TRS TG all the time.

 

[dsbyrd]

I believe this is the applicable regulation, if anyone is bored:
----------------
47 CFR
Sec. 90.425 Station identification.

Stations licensed under this part shall transmit identification in
accordance with the following provisions:
(a) Identification procedure. Except as provided for in paragraphs
(d) and (e) of this section, each station or system shall be identified
by the transmission of the assigned call sign during each transmission
or exchange of transmissions, or once each 15 minutes (30 minutes in the
Public Safety Pool) during periods of continuous operation. The call
sign shall be transmitted by voice in the English language or by
International Morse Code in accordance with paragraph (b) of this
section. If the station is employing either analog or digital voice
scrambling, or non-voice emission, transmission of the required
identification shall be in the unscrambled mode using A3E, F3E or G3E
emission, or International Morse, with all encoding disabled.
Permissible alternative identification procedures are as follows:
(1) A mobile relay stations call sign may be used to identify the
associated control and mobile stations, except in the Public Safety Pool
where the stations operate on frequencies below 450 MHz. Alternatively,
a base station (including a mobile relay station) which is controlled by
radio may be identified by the transmission of the call sign of the
station at which communications originate.
(2) One or more fixed relay stations may be identified by the
transmission of the call signs of the stations at which the
communications originate.
(3) When a mobile station transmits on a different frequency than
its associated base station, the assigned call sign of either the mobile
station or the base station may be transmitted. Further, a single mobile
unit in the licensee's authorized geographic area of operation may
transmit station identification on behalf of any other operating mobile
units in the fleet.
(4) Use of an identifier other than the assigned call sign. (i) In
the Public Safety Pool, mobile units licensed to a governmental entity
and which operate on frequencies above 30 MHz may use an identifier
which contains, at a minimum, the name of the licensee if the licensee
maintains at the station a list of the special identifiers to be used by
the mobile units.
(ii) In the Industrial/Business Pool, licensees may request the
Commission's local Engineer-in-Charge to approve the use of special
mobile unit identifiers in lieu of the assigned call sign. Such
requests, however, will not

[[Page 414]]

be granted where it appears that harmful interference to international
operations may be caused by stations below 50 MHz, or by stations
operating in areas within 80 km (50 miles) of an international boundary,
or where it appears that the proposed method of identification will not
adequately distinguish the mobile units of the applicant from the mobile
units of other licensees in the area.
(iii) In the Industrial/Business Pool, railroad licensees (as
defined inSec. 90.7) may identify stations by the name of the railroad
and the train number, caboose number, engine number, or the name of the
fixed wayside station. If none of these forms are practicable, any
similar name or number may be designated by the railroad concerned for
use by its employees in the identification of fixed points or mobile
units; Provided, That, a list of such identifiers is maintained by the
railroad. An abbreviated name or the initials of the railroad may be
used where such are in general usage. In those areas where it is shown
that no difficulty would be encountered in identifying the transmission
of a particular station (as, for example, where stations of one licensee
are located in a yard isolated from other radio installations), approval
may be given to a request from the licensee for permission to omit the
station identification.
(5) Use of identifiers in addition to assigned call signs. Nothing
in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the transmission of
station or unit identifiers which may be necessary or desirable for
system operation, Provided, That, they are transmitted in addition to
the assigned station call sign or other permissible form of
identification.
(b) Use of automatic Morse code identification equipment.
Automatically activated equipment may be used to transmit station
identification in International Morse Code pursuant to the following
conditions:
(1) The signal output of the automatic identification equipment
shall be connected to the transmitter at the microphone input or any
other manufacturer-provided signal input terminal and shall be adjusted
to produce 40 percent 10 percent of the maximum
permissible modulation or deviation level. This adjustment shall be
performed when all other modulating signals are absent.
(2) The Morse code transmission rate shall be maintained between 20
and 25 words per minute.
(3) The frequency of the keyed tone comprising the identification
signal shall be 1200 800 Hz. A licensee may be
required to change the frequency in order to prevent interference to the
operations of another co-channel licensee.
(4) Should activation of automatic Morse code identification
equipment interrupt the communications of another co-channel licensee,
the Commission may require the use of equipment which will delay
automatic station identification until such co-channel communications
are completed.
(c) Special provisions for identification in the Radiolocation
Service. (1) Stations in the Radiolocation Service are not required to
identify except upon specific instruction from the Commission or as
required by paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
(2) Stations in the Radiolocation Service operating on frequencies
above3400 kHz that employ spread spectrum techniques shall transmit a
two-letter manufacturer's designator, authorized by the Commission on
the station authorization, at the beginning and ending of each
transmission and once every 15 minutes during periods of continuing
operation. The designator shall be transmitted in International Morse
Code at a speed not exceeding 25 words per minute, and the spread
spectrum mode of operation shall be maintained while the designator is
being transmitted. The identifying signal shall be clearly receivable in
the demodulated audio of a narrow-band FM receiver.
(d) General exemptions. A station need not transmit identification
if:
(1) It is a mobile station operating on the transmitting frequency
of the associated base station.
(2) It is a mobile station in the Public Safety Pool using F1E or
G1E emission.
(3) It is transmitting for telemetering purposes or for the
activation of devices which are employed solely as a means of attracting
attention, or for

[[Page 415]]

remote control purposes, or which is retransmitting by self-actuating
means, a radio signal received from another radio station or stations.
(4) It is any type of radiopositioning or radar station authorized
in a service other than the Radiolocation Service.
(5) It is used solely for automatic vehicle monitoring or location.
(6) It is a paging station authorized in accordance with the
provisions of Sec. 90.20(a)(2)(v).
(7) It is a mobile station employing non-voice emissions and the
associated base station identifies on behalf of the mobile unit(s).
(8) It is a base or mobile station in the 220-222 MHz band
authorized to operate on a nationwide basis in accordance with subpart T
of this part.
(9) It is a wireless microphone station operating in accordance with
the provisions of Sec. 90.265(b).
(e) Special provisions for stations licensed under this part that
are classified as CMRS providers under part 20 of this chapter.
(1) Station identification will not be required for 929-930 MHz
nationwide paging licensees or MTA or EA-based SMR licensees. All other
CMRS stations will be required to comply with the station identification
requirements of this paragraph.
(2) CMRS stations subject to a station identification requirement
will be permitted to use a single call sign for commonly owned
facilities that are operated as part of a single system. The call sign
must be transmitted each hour within five minutes of the hour, or upon
completion of the first transmission after the hour.
(3) CMRS stations granted exclusive channels may transmit their call
signs digitally. The station licensee must provide the Commission with
information sufficient to decode the digital transmission to ascertain
the transmitted call sign.

[43 FR 54791, Nov. 22, 1978]

 

[jalexand69]

It was KUO982. Now can anyone explain why it starts with a K and not a W?

It has to do WHEN the call was issued & type of service.

The most obvious example is broadcast media. Generally (with few exceptions) "K" and "W" refer to stations west and east of the Mississippi River, respectively. I'm not aware whether the Commission followed this standard with public safety stations.

Normally, callsigns are issued in sequential order (except when filed for a specific request if available). So in 1951, KIC306 was issued to the MPD. In 1974, it was KUO982. You could go to the FCC general menu reports or ULS at http://wireless.fcc.gov/ and check on other calls. Unfortunately, historical call searches are difficult, and the Commission contracted with a private firm to do research. You can go to my callsign history page at http://web.pcu.net/jalexand/hobbies/callsign.html to read more about callsign history.

Somewhere along the line, though, the Commission begin issuing WXXX### format callsigns for public safety agencies. I assume because they were running out of all permutations of WXX### and KXX###.

Over the years, callsign procedures changed, for KUO982 was the repeater call. Mobiles and base stations had a different call for the same frequencies! Now I think the Commission only issues one call to the agency, and it usually goes through a frequency coordinator, such as APCO.

Hope this helps...j c