"...Mobile"

[newsphotog]

It also gives the person listening the information that your transmission may change [fade in and out or other irregularities] due to change in location if your mobile or portable.

This is a reason I suffix my identification with mobile or portable. It also lets people know that I'm focusing on driving instead of talking, so my responses may be delayed or limited. It also lets them know that I may be on the air only briefly, so they don't expect any long conversations with me.

 

[radioalbany]

Out-of-district callsigns

Yep, a ham station can be ANYWHERE now, regardless of the district their original call is in. Please keep this in mind when you work NO6E in contests starting next year. When I say the section is "OR", that really IS "Oregon," not someone in Orange section of California ("ORG") who's just too lazy to send it all. It's a problem when there's a reasonable-but-wrong assumption of the location based on the call sign.

73,

Andy NO6E

 

[w2txb]

Be sure to pronounce it "Mo-biel" .
People love that.

Or, "Mo' Bile", as in, "until the ERCP, I had mo' bile than I needed." :lol:

 

[kb2vxa]

Interesting point pronunciation, originally "mo-bile" was British and "mo-beel" American but it crossed the pond in a westerly direction. Still we have Mo-beel, Alabama even though it's not going anywhere.

"Oh, mama, can this be the end? To be stuck inside a mobile with a busted mic again."
Bob Dilly

Timtron WA1HLR - YouTube

 

[k3td]

Interesting point pronunciation, originally "mo-bile" was British and "mo-beel" American but it crossed the pond in a westerly direction. Still we have Mo-beel, Alabama even though it's not going anywhere.

"Oh, mama, can this be the end? To be stuck inside a mobile with a busted mic again."
Bob Dilly

Timtron WA1HLR - YouTube

Love the video! Here is the Spurious Emissions Band from Dayton Contest University 2011
Spurious Emissions Band - Dayton 2011 (1 of 7) - You Can't Always Work What You Want, Big Powers - YouTube

Enjoy!

 

[kb2vxa]

It would be nice if I could understand the lyrics, oh well. A little background on that song, among others it's from the heyday of 3885 yay emm, the original written and performed by Steve "HUZ Man" WB3HUZ. Unlike Tim who can't carry a tune in a bucket Steve plays and sings well, his version is a bit more "hard core" Blues. Tim inspired it, the song includes WA1HLR mobile off air clips and what comes around goes around like a boomerang years later. Another, PW Hotel is the ham version of Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel with the same bathroom echo and a heavy bass line.

So where did I get these songs? The AM Gangstas have been amusing me since 1965 and many times I was in the audience with tape rolling. Unfortunately the funniest H Yell ARRR production was lost in a flood, the only tape made of The Night Of The Slimatron, December 31 1970, a date that will live in infamy...

I leave you with this thought, like the man said once upon a time a mobile had to add the district number as a suffix when operating outside the home district. With that in mind after the rule was dropped still I was KB2VXA mobile 3 in Pennsylvania. Just for fun it was KB2VXA mobile two and a half crossing west and KB2VXA mobile 3 minus a half headed east. (Is this guy for real?)

 

[scannerboy01]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A523 Safari/8536.25)

When I'm traveling, I try to say "mobile" the odd time I forget, but the most important thing is that I give my call sign. If I don't say "mobile," I can just say that I'm just in the road on Highway 123 near XYZ town.

 

[ab3a]

Identifying with "Mobile" doesn't really convey very much information. It's sort of like that awful thing we say "Rodger" for "I heard you." It doesn't mean you'll do what they ask. It just meant you' heard them. It doesn't even mean you understand what they said. It just means you heard them.

Likewise "Mobile" doesn't say anything about where you are. You could say "Mobile in Delaware" for those hunting WAS awards, or "Mobile on Interstate 64, crossing US 250" if you want to be really precise.

It's all a matter of taste, but do try not to say useless things.

 

[Lifesaver2000]

I realize this thread is a bit old, but I just came across it.

First, I realize that none of the old "Mobile" or "Portable" identifiers are required anymore, but I wanted to point out that there seems to be a misunderstanding here about what was required "back in the day." If I missed where someone else pointed this out, I apologize.

I dug out my 1978 License Manual to confirm this, so as not to rely on my foggy memory.

Definitions: Portable Operation: Radiocommunication conducted from a specific geographical location other than that shown on the station license.

Mobile operation: Radiocommunication conducted while in motion or during halts at unspecified locations.

Based on these definitions, and my memory of how we used to do these things, the "Portable" designator is NOT used just because you are using a portable radio / HT. In most cases, the HT user who is say, out walking his dog, would still use the "Mobile" designator, because he is in motion or stopped at a random location. If you were in your own house, at the location specified on your license, no designator is needed even if using the HT.

The "Portable" designator is properly used when you have a station set up at a specific but perhaps temporary location. A good example would be a vacation home where you have a station that you only use a few weeks or months of the year. This is the type of situation where you would use the "Portable" designator.

Update: In re-reading this thread, I see that a couple of others did point this out correctly. But it was fun digging out the old license manual anyway.

 

[dksac2]

One other reason, if the mobile radio is having problems, someone can let them know it's not their base unless they re using the same radio for both, but you also have the antenna system in your vehicle which can cause problems. I think there is more thn one reason for people to anounce when they are in their mobile and the practice does not bother me.
Frankly, some mobiles put out one heck of a great signal.

John

 

[bill4long]

Does it simply mean they are mobile and not transmitting from a base station?

Yes

If so, is there a reason we may want to know they are mobile

I usually say "mobile" after my callsign when I'm running mobile. Or "HT" if I'm walking around with an HT. Some people like to know that information and may be decide to talk to me partially based on that information. It often piques their curiosity to know that I am mobile and they may ask, "where are you heading, Bill?" Etc. In short, it can be a conversation starter. Plus it just feels natural.

and is this required?

No.