Congratulations and welcome to amateur radio.
What you were told is not true. You hold a Technician license that was issued very recently. The FCC assigned you KN6KPV and they expect you to identify with it.
Many years ago, the FCC issued 2x3 callsigns with N as the second letter, i.e. WN9CIF. Those callsigns were only issued to Novice license holders and you had 1 year to upgrade your license. When you upgraded, the N would be changed to another letter, i.e. WB9CIF.
But, that's all ancient history. Until the FCC assigns you a new callsign, keep signing with KN6KPV and politely ignore the folks who tell you different.
Thank you everyone for your help. I just read that the FCC is considering charging $50 to apply for a vanity call. Since I am brand new I was going to wait to apply for one as it seemed a little hubristic to do it immediately. But to avoid the possIbility of a fee I applied for one today. Getting off subject so I’ll quit here.
I just received my Tech license KN6KPV and made my first contact over a repeater. One of the operators told me I could drop the N in the callsign. I don’t remember hearing anything like that. Is it true?
Thanks,
Jim
And it's now a moot point as he was issued K6JGA (his initials) as of September 19.My guess would be that the person was referring to getting a vanity call sign to "drop the N." That's all the rage now. You get a 6 letter call from the FCC and immediately "drop the N" by making it K6KPV with a vanity call. It's shorter, but you keep the same suffix. I see that all the time. So I'm almost 100% sure that's what they were referring to.
And it's now a moot point as he was issued K6JGA (his initials) as of September 19.