Can you transfer/buy/sell a vanity call sign?

[kb1ipd]

Hi all -

So this is a weird question, I know. As you might be able to tell from my handle, I am a ham... or rather, I was. I dumbly let it expire a few years ago because I was just too busy with life and I didn't translate either.

That said, I am going to get that ticket back this summer. I'll take the general and no doubt I'll pass it. Just have to get around to it.

Well, the thing is I'd really like a vanity call sign that is taken. W2XBS. This call sign belongs to an amateur and won't expire until 2028, and may well be renewed then anyway. It'd really like it... I mean... bigtime. I think that it's so meaningful and significant for me to have this call sign that some might support giving it to me just because of how I want to use it.

This call sign was used in the 1930's for the field tests of television. Also for a lot of radio stuff, because it was assigned to RCA/NBC and was the call sign used for various test public broadcasts. It was the one used when television was first demonstrated to the public, July 7 1936. It was used for the World's Fair TV.

I'd like to bring this call sign back home to where it belongs. I'd like to reestablish W2XBS transmissions where they started and haven't happened for 70 years (since switching to WNBT and then WNBC). I want to use W2XBS to transmit 343 line television using the OLD OLD OLD school analog format. I may even want to use it to transmit mechanical TV.

And I plan on doing it from my office, because:

1. It's totally possible to bring SDR radio stuff to an office and setup a temporary mini-shack.
2. I'm sure that my employer won't mind me doing it
3. You can register your ham license anywhere you can receive mail (So it can be your actual house, a vacation house, parents house if you're at college, PO Box, and YES WORKPLACE)

My work Address is:

Steve Packard - DDTL, RFA
41st Floor
30 Rockefeller Plaza
Radio City, New York, NY 10112


So you see why I so want this call sign that I would be willing to pay a lot for it? I want to bring this thing back home

 

[trentbob]

Hi all -

So this is a weird question, I know. As you might be able to tell from my handle, I am a ham... or rather, I was. I dumbly let it expire a few years ago because I was just too busy with life and I didn't translate either.

That said, I am going to get that ticket back this summer. I'll take the general and no doubt I'll pass it. Just have to get around to it.

Well, the thing is I'd really like a vanity call sign that is taken. W2XBS. This call sign belongs to an amateur and won't expire until 2028, and may well be renewed then anyway. It'd really like it... I mean... bigtime. I think that it's so meaningful and significant for me to have this call sign that some might support giving it to me just because of how I want to use it.

This call sign was used in the 1930's for the field tests of television. Also for a lot of radio stuff, because it was assigned to RCA/NBC and was the call sign used for various test public broadcasts. It was the one used when television was first demonstrated to the public, July 7 1936. It was used for the World's Fair TV.

I'd like to bring this call sign back home to where it belongs. I'd like to reestablish W2XBS transmissions where they started and haven't happened for 70 years (since switching to WNBT and then WNBC). I want to use W2XBS to transmit 343 line television using the OLD OLD OLD school analog format. I may even want to use it to transmit mechanical TV.

And I plan on doing it from my office, because:

1. It's totally possible to bring SDR radio stuff to an office and setup a temporary mini-shack.
2. I'm sure that my employer won't mind me doing it
3. You can register your ham license anywhere you can receive mail (So it can be your actual house, a vacation house, parents house if you're at college, PO Box, and YES WORKPLACE)

My work Address is:

Steve Packard - DDTL, RFA
41st Floor
30 Rockefeller Plaza
Radio City, New York, NY 10112


So you see why I so want this call sign that I would be willing to pay a lot for it? I want to bring this thing back home

You can't transfer, buy or sell a call sign that is already taken by someone else until it is canceled or not renewed by the holder and becomes available.

You can then apply for it but you could have competition.

 

[jwt873]

Can a holder of a US amateur call sign not give up a call that is currently assigned?

If they can, then it's just a matter of contacting the call holder and asking them if they will surrender it. A little cash might even assist in persuading them.

 

[K4EET]

Hi @kb1ipd,

In order to get the callsign that you want, W2XBS, that callsign has to somehow end up in the pool of available vanity callsigns. Since that callsign is currently held by a living person, I will not speculate on how that happens. In any event, however it happens, there will be a holding period anywhere from 30 days to 2 years before that callsign is actually released to the pool of vanity callsigns. Part 97 of the FCC Rules and Regulations covers that initial activity. Just search for the word "vanity" in the Part 97 document. Once the callsign is released to the vanity callsign pool, then a whole other set of activities happen pursuant to §97.19 Application for a vanity call sign. In the end, there is the possibility that you may not be issued the callsign and the callsign ends up being issued to another ham. The whole process is explained in detail in §97.19 as cited. This process of issuing vanity callsigns is done this way so as to make it fair to everyone. Bottom line? You are going to have to go about it per the FCC Rules and Regulations (Part 97) which you should have a copy of. If not, you can find the electronic up-to-date copy here.

73, Dave K4EET

 

[GlobalNorth]

Yes, a current licensee can surrender a call sign, but then it lies dormant for two years before you can apply for it with no guarantee of issuance to a specific person or entity. All call signs belong to the FCC.

 

[ko6jw_2]

You also need to be relicensed and issued a sequential call sign before you can apply for a vanity call.

 

[trentbob]

Can a holder of a US amateur call sign not give up a call that is currently assigned?

If they can, then it's just a matter of contacting the call holder and asking them if they will surrender it. A little cash might even assist in persuading them.

I was going to suggest this and I don't think there's any reason why that can't happen but I saw that the holder of the call sign replaced a vanity call sign to get it. Probably because he had serious designs on it and it would probably take more than a "few bucks" for him to give it up so I didn't bother to mention it LOL.

 

[footage]

@kb1ipd I'd wanted to change my call to W2XBS as well, to honor the early RCA experiments and Felix the Cat, but found the call in use. Instead I went for W6XBE, memorializing GE's international broadcast station at the Golden Gate International Expo in 1939-40, later KGEI.

 

[chrismol1]

That's the gentleman that runs This Week In Amateur Radio twiar.net. I can understand why he wanted it he's well aware of it. He's a gentleman involved in broadcast radio & television in Albany/Schenectady, NY General Electric/RCA area. https://www.qrz.com/db/w2xbs I'm sure he'd enjoy hearing about your endeavors

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

If you can somehow, legally, convince the license holder to relinquish it, perhaps you can file a waiver request with the FCC to permit it. Given your line of work, you should ask an attorney familiar with the wrangling at the FCC to write up the request. Be prepared for the FCC to turn you down, as they might fear a flood of similar waiver requests.

 

[kf8yk]

Have you considered just reaching out to the W2XBS license holder and asking permission to use his callsign when conducting your Amateur TV special events?

This would not be much different than a Field Day operation where everyone runs under one callsign: Regulatory FAQs. Once you have your own license/callsign W2XBS could designate you as a control operator for a specific event.

 

[k4sgt]

Have you considered just reaching out to the W2XBS license holder and asking permission to use his callsign when conducting your Amateur TV special events?

This would not be much different than a Field Day operation where everyone runs under one callsign: Regulatory FAQs. Once you have your own license/callsign W2XBS could designate you as a control operator for a specific event.

A control operator must be present and "in control". It is a different circumstance versus a club call.

 

[kf8yk]

A control operator must be present and "in control". It is a different circumstance versus a club call.

ARRL says different:

"My call is being used for Field Day, but I can't be at the station for the duration of the contest. (I like sleeping in my air-conditioned house, even during Field Day.) Do we have to take the transmitter off the air when I am not present?-

No, because your appointed control operator or operators should fulfill your duties as the station licensee. In fact, you don't have to be there at all, but you must make sure that your appointed control operator(s) is capable of carrying out your wishes (97.103(b) and 97.105)."

 

[AK9R]

The current holder of W2XBS has a Technician license. If the appointed control operator has a higher class of license, could you use callsign W2XBS to operate with the privileges of the control operator? Provide references and show your work.

 

[kf8yk]

The current holder of W2XBS has a Technician license. If the appointed control operator has a higher class of license, could you use callsign W2XBS to operate with the privileges of the control operator? Provide references and show your work.

The OP proposes to operate fast scan TV, where the bandwidth requirements necessitates UHF or higher bands. Technician class privileges are sufficient for the topic of this thread.

From the ARRL:

"I am an Extra Class licensee, but I am going to use a Novice class operator's station and call sign during Field Day. Can I legally operate her station and use her call outside the Novice subbands?-

You, the Extra, can be designated as the control operator. If you are authorized by the licensee, you may use the call sign of the Novice class licensee and operate only within the Novice class privileges. However, if an Extra Class control operator wants to operate outside the Novice class operator privileges, he may do so, but he must identify by appending his call to that of the Novice, such as signing "KA1UFZ/N1KB" on CW or separating the calls by the word "stroke" on Phone (97.105(a) and (b), 97.119(d)). True, this is a long identification procedure, but it is the only way to identify in this case. Why would an Extra want to use a Novice call, you ask. Well, that may not always be the case, but it clearly illustrates the point."

It appears that a control operator using a technician level callsign in a technician level band segment has no additional identification requirements.

 

[AK9R]

The OP proposes to operate fast scan TV, where the bandwidth requirements necessitates UHF or higher bands. Technician class privileges are sufficient for the topic of this thread.

Yup. That right there is a good answer.