Two different active FCC callsigns (licenses) to the same person ?

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radiomaniacc

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Hi, I was looking around for information on a vanity call sign site and by chance found something interesting: Two (2) different active call signs from different regions assigned to the SAME person (name) with two different addresses. This person seems to be hunting vanity call signs as it had multiple past applications history on the FCC. Can a Ham Radio operator licensed by the FCC have more than one license assigned at the same time ? There is something strange here..

Thanks!
 

AK9R

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Is it possible that one license is the individual's callsign and the other license is issued to a club where the individual is the trustee for the club callsign?

Are the callsigns issued to different FRNs (FCC Registration Number)?

The FCC tracks licensees by their FRN. I would like to believe that the FCC would not issue two amateur radio callsigns to the same FRN. OTOH, maybe there are no restrictions on this practice. I would also like to believe that the FCC would not issue two FRNs to the same individual. Again, maybe there are no restrictions on this.

I'm interested to hear what others who have knowledge of FCC licensing practices have to say on this matter.
 

vagrant

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Here, let’s resolve this thread with an answer, as there is nothing strange about it.

“John Smith“ probably has dozens/hundreds of call signs with different addresses. Persons with a less common name may only be two people. Other possibilities noted above are also reasons why It is not strange.
 

W5lz

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A long time ago a person could hold more than one amateur call sign. But! That's no longer true and hasn't been for some time (I have no idea how long ago).
 

bill4long

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Re: Club Callsigns:

In my experience, the name on a club license will be the club's name, not the trustee's. But who knows.

Post the callsigns please.
 

royldean

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Also, make sure the status of one of the callsigns isn't "cancelled'. If I look up my old callsign, it's still listed as belonging to me (but further details show that it is "canceled").
 

K9RPL

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The ability to own two calls for different locations was dropped by the FCC way back in the late 60's.

Jim

Not quite that far back. I had two call signs back in the late 70's when the FCC allowed you to have one for home and another for a vacation home or something similar. I had a second call sign for my family's vacation home.
 

JerryX

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Lots of people like to "hoard" call signs, especially desirable ones like 1x2s. They do this by "creating" a bogus club (themselves and a few friends) and applying for the call sign on behalf of the club. One guy had over twenty 1x2 call signs acquired this way.

Another thing that's fairly common is to use the same method described above to get a so-called "contest" call sign. The WPX contest awards multipliers based on call sign prefix, so having a call sign with a rare prefix is very desirable. So guys with common prefixes like W6 or N2 will apply for a club call with a prefix like NQ6 or KY2. Since there are only 26 call signs with the NQ6 prefix, for example, that call sign then becomes very popular during the WPX contest.
 
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