Where do number handles come from?

[IC-R20]

Like for example I'll hear someone say '440 from southern california'.

Where do people get these hundred numbers or how do they come up with them? Is it their area code or last 3 or their zipcode or what?

 

[fordcobra04]

They make it up? Old timey ID from years ago? Hard telling...

 

[trentbob]

Way after my CB days of the mid-80's to late 90's I'm older so, had call letters in the 60s until they stopped giving them out, FCC didn't monitor CB at all.. you could call yourself anything you wanted even though we did have handles, we always had call letters in the 60s and 70s. Felt good being legit. Even though we broke every law in the book.😄.

 

[nd5y]

Porbably most are made up. There used to be national CB clubs that issued serial numbers to their members. I don't know if any of that still exists.

 

[w2xq]

When the FCC first issued licenses in the late 1950s, the licences were a number, a letter (mostly Q), and four numbers. The leading number referred to a district; they more-or-less followed -- to a large extent -- amateur radio call areas. If the licensee traveled outside his home district the licensee was required to notify the district FCC engineers in which travel/use would occur. The notification process was similar to that required of amateur radio licensees.

My call was 2Q3671 (issued in 1960). The "2" represented NY and NJ. Because I went to school in St Louis, I had to notify FCC engineers in districts from PA to MO. I also had to give a reason for wanting a license; I was an engineer at the university carrier current radio station, and the radio was required by each of us to set up and maintain transmitters around the campus.

Calls you hear could be someone using what was an original license/call. It is only a possibility, as the call format did not conform to ITU agreements. The FCC had to change user licenses as the 5-year license came up for renewal; my second license was KOG-2427.

By the time my second 5-year license expired the FCC had thrown in the towel on issuing licenses. In the following years, channel 19 and "shooting skip" were rampant... you know the rest of the story.

Users made up nicknames that could be anything, and enforcement of the rules were mostly non-existent.

Numeric-type calls? Invented in the minds of the users... 😀

HTH.

 

[trentbob]

Porbably most are made up. There used to be national CB clubs that issued serial numbers to their members. I don't know if any of that still exists.

I agree with that, there were a lot of older react members who operated on channel 20 and 21, obviously 19 and they would just give themselves three number designators, I guess this would have been in the early 80s mp0aybe, when did react really disintegrate?, they usually didn't have a whole lot to say or contribute but they were regulars on 20 and 21 in my area in the Northeast.

One thing is for sure they did monitor Channel 9.

 

[trentbob]

When the FCC first issued licenses in the late 1950s, the licences were a number, a letter (mostly Q), and four numbers. The leading number referred to a district; they more-or-less followed -- to a large extent -- amateur radio call areas. If the licensee traveled outside his home district the licensee was required to notify the district FCC engineers in which travel/use would occur. The notification process was similar to that required of amateur radio licensees.

My call was 2Q3671 (issued in 1960). The "2" represented NY and NJ. Because I went to school in St Louis, I had to notify FCC engineers in districts from PA to MO. I also had to give a reason for wanting a license; I was an engineer at the university carrier current radio station, and the radio was required by each of us to set up and maintain transmitters around the campus.

Calls you hear could be someone using what was an original license/call. It is only a possibility, as the call format did not conform to ITU agreements. The FCC had to change user licenses as the 5-year license came up for renewal; my second license was KOG-2427.

By the time my second 5-year license expired the FCC had thrown in the towel on issuing licenses. In the following years, channel 19 and "shooting skip" were rampant... you know the rest of the story.

Users made up nicknames that could be anything, and enforcement of the rules were mostly non-existent.

Numeric-type calls? Invented in the minds of the users... 😀

HTH.

Nice to see you on Tom! Hope all is well, hope you're feeling okay, I'm holding my own. Nice to see you on and yes, in our area, numbers were all self-designated amongst groups.😉

 

[prcguy]

The number handles are sent from the Ether, or the upper regions of air beyond the clouds. Just like most of the people who use them.

In my case my "special numbers" were issued by South Bay 4 of the South Bay Group out of Huntington Beach, CA in the late 60s. I had to find him on ch 22A (now ch24) request to be a member of the club and provide a reference who was a current member. I did this using a Pace 3ch walki talki from the top of a hill about 15mi from the guy and I became the 152nd member of the club.

 

[K6GBW]

If you're hearing numbers and locations you're probably on SSB above channel 35. The numbers are made up by the operator and are usually three or four numbers and a location such as 393 SoCal. There is a radio club called World Radio and they will give you a number such as World Radio 4226. You might also hear some other variations of call signs such as Needle Bender 77 or things like that. It's all made up to establish a presence on the air so you can pretty much call yourself whatever you want.

 

[vagrant]

I believe the OP is referring to the superbowl. I remember operators using three digit numbers 40+ years ago. I haven’t listened for some time and it may still be happening. OP, are you referring to people on channel six?

 

[steve9570]

My call sign was KCP-2441 issued 1972. called my self Unit 9570 ( the Roadrunner)

Steve

 

[MindenJoe]

Mine is my old telephone prefix.

 

[merlin]

Late 60s to late 70s, especially in large metro areas, there were a lot of 'clubs'
And people that long since quit using their FCC call had 'handles' for themselves they made up.
That was after FCC threw CB band under the bus.
A buddy pilot crashed his nice racer at Reno air show, the plane named 'Starduster II'
That name became my handle. I annexed it with my location, so Starduster/Redondo was it.
I had SSB then, and joined a local SoCal SSB club. 'SSB-140' and truncated it to 'Unit-140'
5000 CBers in LA, Orange, and SanBernardino counties heard me very well and got a little popular what with my CB shop and all and what my equipment was.
So that his how much of this comes about.
I did have two FCC issued licences, one was Civil Air Patrol/MARS. Never used them except on the nets.

 

[merlin]

My call sign was KCP-2441 issued 1972. called my self Unit 9570 ( the Roadrunner)

Steve

Mine began with KB and the last 4 digits of my zip code. Never used that after '66
(KB-2721,,Unit 140 / Starduster Redondo (beach)

 

[merlin]

I believe the OP is referring to the superbowl. I remember operators using three digit numbers 40+ years ago. I haven’t listened for some time and it may still be happening. OP, are you referring to people on channel six?

Channel 6, the 2 top power mongers was 'Quarter horse' and ' Son of a preacher man'
Not counting myself, 1 KW+

 

[jhooten]

1 KW? That is QRP power on the Superbowl.

 

[smittie]

What is "the Superbowl"?

 

[mmckenna]

What is "the Superbowl"?

Take all the worst parts of CB, add idiotic amounts of power, mix it up in a big bowl, pour it over a steaming pile of horse ****, and you have the superbowl.

 

[smittie]

Channel 35?

 

[mmckenna]

Channel 35?

Superbowl is channel 6.