Remember your CB radio call sign?

[KB9NGJ]

KXS 2861

 

[KI5GDH]

KBHK0715

 

[rcarl]

KBK8500

 

[k2ds]

2Q4441 has a Lafayette Radio HE15 and then went to a HE20.

 

[k2ds]

Wow, you guys with the early "Q" prefix licenses have real collector items! After issuing a number of those calls at the beginning of the CB era, the FCC was called "on the carpet" by the ITU for issuing radio call signs against international regulations.
The U.S. was only allocated radio calls beginning with "A, K, N or W" The letter Q was not allowed since that series was only for internationally recognized Q-Signals.
The FCC complained that the CB identifiers were really not call signs but simply "serial numbers" but lost the battle! Thereafter, all U.S. CB licenses had to conform to internationally assigned prefix letters!
A buddy of mine in Raleigh, NC was assigned 5Q2013 around 1960 (I still have his QSL card) but by the time I got my Class D (23 Channel, 27 mHz) license in 1962, they were up to KCJ4033,
which was my first CB call sign. In 1963, I was assigned KAH8827 for a Class C (27 mHz) radio control license and KHG3368 for a 5-Watt Class B UHF (460 mHz) license. I was going to apply for a high power Class A (UHF CB) license, now known as GMRS, but got spooked by the requirement for a "construction permit" and inspection before a license could be issued! One confession, as the statue of limitations has run its course:
I got interested in CB radio as the result of being a ham operator FIRST! I was 15 years old then. When I found out that an applicant had to be 18 years old to fill out the old FCC Form 505, I figured that was somehow unfair since I had already passed the ham and commercial exams, so I just applied anyway and fudged my age! The good ol' FCC went ahead and gave me a Class D CB license and I was happy! Over the years, I kept renewing all of those CB licenses until the rules changed sometime in the 1970s or 80s when the requirement was dropped. I was sad to lose my precious call signs, as the licenses somehow legitimized CB radio operations but by that time it was too late, the 27 mHz band was lawless and worthless for any practical use. So, cherish those old CB licenses and enjoy the memories!
73, Bob KCJ4033 / WA4A

I kind of did the same thing. I was WV2UKP as a novice and then went to CB @ 14 2Q4441 (like you) got my Ham Tech and call went to WA2UKP which I kept for over 35 years and then changed it to K2DS which is still my call.

 

[N6TUJ]

KBJI 7010 from the 70s still have the big paper license and the sticker that went on the radio

 

[raylafrance]

50 years, yet most of us still remember where we were the day JFK was assassinated!

I believe that mine was also issued back in 1963: KQA2596. I wish that I would have kept the original FCC-issued license. I still have one QSL card left over from those days which is posted proudly on the wall of my ham shack.

 

[chip4185]

Lafayette KFL8892

 

[jimbrogers]

KCN 8006

 

[highwayman1224]

I'm probably wrong since it's been 41 years ago but I think it was KBNM9665.

 

[budevans]

KRS8129

 

[avmech]

KAER2734, wife was KACH0484, Daytona Beach area 1975-1987

 

[rweinkauf]

KHV1546 in Rome, NY.

 

[BF8609]

KEQ 2185 Chicago 1970

 

[geneantosh]

My dad's call sign was KCP 0414, late 60's-early 70's. He had an EF Johnson Viking Messenger One (White Face) in his 1965 GMC pickup with the 102" long whip. I had an EF Johnson Messenger 123A in my 1965 Ford Mustang with the 102" whip mounted to the bumper. We had an EF Johnson Viking Messenger Two (Black Face) as the base station with an Antenna Specialist Super Scanner antenna mounted on a homemade tower at about 40'. Those were days. I am now KB5JJW.

 

[KC4SM]

I operated under my dad's call, KTY6320.

Pace 3 channel (crystals!) walkie-talkie
Base radios: Realistic Navajo 23 CH AM, Realistic TRC-455 AM, Realistic TRC-457 AM/SSB w/Turner Super Sidekick mic
Archer 1/2 wave at 60' (CB antenna height limit at the time)
Johnson Messenger 123A mobile w/ Antenna Specialists base loaded whip in the family truck/camper

During the summer months (1972?) I made my first skip contact to Alaska from the mobile in the truck (5 watts) sitting in the driveway
at home in Southern California during the downside of solar cycle 20. Klondike Ike was the ops handle. I thought he was pulling my leg.
My dad confirmed it was skip due to season, signal fade and time of day. Legally, in those days, you were not allowed to make
contacts beyond 20 miles. LOL.

 

[motorcoachdoug]

I remember my first cb radio. It was a Kraco mobil unit with a mobile power mic instead of the D104 that I wanted to get at christmas time. My dad and I put up a base station on the side of our house and i thought i was a big cheese as well. I was in the 8th grade and I still remember my parents call letters. KKP-2770. Heck half a year later i ended up taking that Kraco and mounting it on my 10speed bike with a couple of 12v large flash light batteries and mounted the antenna behind me. I was all over the eastern part of my county and the county next door with that 10speed..

 

[Woodman75]

KKI2845

 

[KC4SM]

I remember my first cb radio. It was a Kraco mobil unit with a mobile power mic instead of the D104 that I wanted to get at christmas time. My dad and I put up a base station on the side of our house and i thought i was a big cheese as well. I was in the 8th grade and I still remember my parents call letters. KKP-2770. Heck half a year later i ended up taking that Kraco and mounting it on my 10speed bike with a couple of 12v large flash light batteries and mounted the antenna behind me. I was all over the eastern part of my county and the county next door with that 10speed..

I too wired up my 10-speed before I had a driver license/car. Flipped the handlebars over and wedged a Realistic Navajo AM base/mobile in between the bars. Mounted a 9' whip on the rear axle bolt and hung a 12 volt NICAD battery under the seat (my father worked for Gould Battery at the time so as many batteries as I needed). I rode down to the nearby McDonald's where a T-hunt was going on. Couple of the guys from the White Front (warehouse/K-Mart style retail store) T-hunt group taught me how to transmitter hunt and I was hooked! I so wish I had pictures. What's really funny is I ran into one of the guys from that group while beach camping in the RV in Ventura, CA. roughly 6 years ago. I had an HF rig setup with a dipole and he came over to chat about it. We talked about the old CB days eventually realizing who the other was by our CB handles... 41 years later!

 

[foreverRich]

Mine was KSL7844, unless I was working with REACT, then it was KCO5638. Strange what you can remember at 76.