Original Novice Call?

KB4MSZ

Billy
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Joined
Mar 12, 2018
Messages
982
Location
Tampa, Florida
I’m curious how many others still have their original FCC issued Novice callsign (January 1985 for me). A couple of years ago I filed a request with the FCC to change it to a vanity call but backed out at the last minute. Glad I did.
 

AK9R

Lead Wiki Manager and almost an Awesome Moderator
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Jul 18, 2004
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9,948
Location
Central Indiana
I have three friends who were issued WN calls as Novices that were converted to WA calls with the same suffix when they upgraded.

I would venture a guess that just about any WA, WB, KA, or KB 2x3 callsign you hear on the air is someone who kept their original callsign. I also know some with K and N 1x3 callsigns who are using their original callsign.
 

Marcy57

Active Member
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Joined
Dec 7, 2021
Messages
840
Location
Long Island...NY
I was KA1CWK it was really cool callsign since I only
operated CW but went and got a vanity in 97 I was
HL9WK in Korea when I was stationed there in 83/84
kinda miss my novice callsign to be truthful!
73,s Marcy
(sure everybody is going on line looking it up now?? )
 

drdispatch

What's the frequency, Kenneth?
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Messages
1,349
Location
Fightin' River, Michigan
It's not a Novice call sign, but it is my original call sign. I got my "No-Code Tech" license within a year of the FCC changing the rules. (Yeah, I'm one of those "slacker" hams! lol) The vanity call that I want would require upgrade to General, and I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon (maybe after I retire for the final time in another year-and-a-half).
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

N8VEI
 

WA8ZTZ

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Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
1,021
Location
S.E. MI
Having passed the 5 wpm test and written, was issued and concurrently held both a Novice WN call and a Tech WA call.
Let the Novice expire without ever using it. Got on VHF with the Tech call and remained a Tech for 46 years before taking the
paper upgrade to General.
 

Token

Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2010
Messages
2,421
Location
Mojave Desert, California, USA
I’m curious how many others still have their original FCC issued Novice callsign (January 1985 for me). A couple of years ago I filed a request with the FCC to change it to a vanity call but backed out at the last minute. Glad I did.

My original WN2 automatically changed to a WB2 when I upgraded. But then I moved to the 6 call area, and the requirement back then was new call area = new callsign, so I got a 6 call. After that I drifted away from the hobby for a while (military, life, children, etc) and did not come back to it until 15 years later, and my callsign was gone, had to get a new one. I kept that one a few years until I grabbed a Vanity ~25 years ago. The vanity I grabbed is one that one of my mentors had.

T!
 

ladn

Explorer of the Frequency Spectrum
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Oct 25, 2008
Messages
1,462
Location
Southern California and sometimes Owens Valley
I was first licensed as a Novice in '88 only because it was the first VE exam session available and I wanted to get the Code requirement out of the way. Got a 2 x 3 callsign. Upgraded shortly thereafter to Technician and gladly traded up to a 1 x 3 callsign, then upgraded to General and have kept my 1 x 3 thru Extra (never was an Advanced). No 30+ years later, it's too late to change, even if it wanted to.
 

nd5y

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Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
11,725
Location
Wichita Falls, TX
I had a KA 2x3 novice callsign in 1981 for a few weeks. I changed calls two times in 1981-82 when I upgraded to tech and advanced and changed my advanced call once when I moved.

In 1988 I upgraded to extra and put in for another change. I got a AA 2x2 and kept having stupid morons on HF tell me you can't use MARS callsigns on amateur frequencies.

I decided to get a vanity in 1998. I think that was when they first opened it up for anybody to pick any callsign. (For the first year or two you could only change to a previous callsign you held.) I wanted a 1x2 but at the time I applied was about a month before the FCC changed the ULS and there was no way to tell which callsigns were still within the 2 year window so I got stuck with ND5Y which was the last one on my list if I remember right.
 
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sld

Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2011
Messages
12
Location
Thomasville, NC
5 WPM novice call, then technician, general and now extra, still have my novice KB4JIF call ( just kind of liked it). My XYL still has her novice call ( now a general).
 
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