Amateur radio call signs are allocated to
amateur radio operators around the world. The call signs are used to legally identify the station or operator, with some countries requiring the station call sign to always be used and others allowing the operator call sign instead.
The
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
(ITU) allocates
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
prefixes
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy''. Particu ...
for
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
stations of all types. Since 1927 these have been used to uniquely identify operators and locate amateur stations within a geographical region or country of the world. Call signs meant for
amateur radio follow the ITU's Article 19, specifically 19.68 and 19.69.
Prefixes are assigned internationally, and a separating numeral plus suffix are added by a national body to produce this unique identifier. These prefixes are agreed upon internationally, and are a form of
country code
Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes (geocodes) developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The term ...
. Each country must only assign call signs to its nationals or operators under its jurisdiction that begin with the characters allocated for use in that country or its territories.
In some countries, an operator may also select their own "vanity" call sign that conforms to local laws.
Some jurisdictions require a fee to obtain such a vanity call sign; in others, such as the UK, a fee is not required and the vanity call sign may be selected when the license is applied for. The FCC in the U.S. discontinued its fee for vanity call sign applications in September 2015.
Formation of an amateur radio call sign
An amateur operator's call sign is composed of a prefix, a separating numeral and a suffix.
The prefix can be composed of letters or numbers, the separating numeral is between 0 and 9, and a suffix is from one to four characters, usually letters.
Examples of call signs and their constituent parts are as follows:
Call signs begin with a one- two- or three-character prefix chosen from a range assigned by the ITU to the amateur's country of operation or other internationally recognized jurisdiction. This is not necessarily always the amateur's country of citizenship. An individual operator is assigned a unique call sign beginning with this prefix and then completed with a separating numeral and suffix.
A unique international prefix
Beginning at the left of the call sign block, the country chooses one, two or three characters from within the range assigned by the ITU, enough to distinguish its call signs from other jurisdictions.
A "letter range" always first refers to the first letter of a block, meaning that in the letter range "AAA–ALZ", the "A" is the letter range-designator.
Factors for a country to consider when choosing within its assigned range:
* When a one-letter prefix is enough This is possible only when the whole letter range is assigned to one jurisdiction. For example, KAA–KZZ is assigned to the United States. The
U.S. Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
(FCC) (the American national body) can assign a single letter 'K' prefix as the US is assigned the whole 'K' block. As numbers warrant the US can also assign prefixes 'KA', 'KB', 'KC' and so forth as needed. A single-letter prefix is also possible for block ranges beginning with B (China), F (France), G (United Kingdom), I (Italy), K (USA), M (UK), N (USA), R (Russia) or W (USA) as each are also assigned by the ITU to single jurisdictions
** When assigning from the KAA–KZZ block, the FCC could assign three letter prefixes (e.g. KAA, KAB, KAC, etc.) but this produces cumbersome call signs, and one- and two-letter prefixes produce more than enough than needed as it is.
** None of the B, F, G, I, K, M, N, R, and W ranges are issued with a numeral as a second character, so the first digit in a call in those ranges is always the separating numeral.
* When two characters are needed Two character prefixes are needed when the letter range is divided among two or more jurisdictions. For instance, AAA–ALZ is assigned to the USA; but Spain, Pakistan, India and Australia are assigned other portions of the 'A' block, so at least two characters from the left need to be assigned by each country to produce unique call signs. Letter-number prefixes 'A2' through 'A9' are also assigned to eight other jurisdictions, so a callsign prefix with a single 'A' does not uniquely distinguish any of them.
** Korea has issued a special event callsign of D9K. The 'D9' is the ITU prefix for South Korea, so they have issued a call with no separating numeral.
**
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
issues call signs without a separating numeral. They are assigned the C6A–C6Z block, and the '6' is part of the 2-character prefix. Examples are as found on QRZ.COM (C6AFO, C6AGB, etc.).
** Cyprus has issued H2T as a special event call sign. Whereas Cyprus is assigned the H2A–H2Z block, there is then no numeral separator, just a one-letter suffix.
* When a three-character prefix is needed This is an unusual situation and occurs with callsigns in the 3DA–3DZ block range. Fiji and Eswatini are assigned 3DN–3DZ and 3DA–3DM respectively, so they should choose also the third character from the left to produce unique call signs, but in practise do not.
** Fiji has issued many call signs with a '3D' prefix and a '2' numeral separator. In theory this does not distinguish their call signs from Eswatini which is issued the 3DA–3DM block.
*This situation also could arise with the SSA-SSZ range as it is shared between Egypt (SSA-SSM) & Sudan (SSN-SSZ). However, both countries use other prefixes for amateur stations.
* Jurisdictions frequently adopt one or only a few of the prefixes allowed to them within a block-range, reserving the others for other occasions. Canada has 24 possible, two-letter prefixes from its assigned ranges, but assigns only CY, VA, VE, VO, and VY for normal operation.
A unique internal numeral and suffix
The jurisdiction then assigns a single digit (a numeral to separate prefix from suffix) as well as a suffix of from one to four characters (the last being a letter) and appends them in that order to their assigned prefixes. The resulting call sign must uniquely identify a ham radio operator within that jurisdiction.
Sometimes the prefix plus separating numeral is together referred to as the prefix.
This produces internationally recognized, unique call signs to identify licensed operators.
General formats
In general an amateur radio callsign is of one of these forms where:
* ''P'' prefix character (letter or numeral, subject to exclusions below). Prefixes can be formed using one-letter, two-letters, a digit and a letter, a letter and a digit, or in rare cases a digit and two letters. There is no ITU allocation of digit-only prefixes. Letter-digit-letter prefixes are possible but there are no known cases of them being issued by national bodies.
* ''N'' a single numeral which separates prefix from suffix (any digit from 0 to 9). Often a cross-hatched Ø is used for the numeral zero to distinguish it from the letter O.
* ''S'' suffix character (letter or numeral, last character must be a letter). Digits are in practise used sparingly in suffixes and almost always for special events. This avoids confusion with separating numerals and digits in prefixes in regularly issued call signs.
Call signs almost always have one of the following forms:
* ''PNS'', 1×1 call sign
** usually for a special event, the prefix is always a single letter character, as is the suffix. Can only be assigned in the B, F, G, I, K, M, N, R or W prefix range. ''(See discussion on the D9K call sign issued by Korea above 'when 2 characters are needed'.)''
* ''PPNS'', 2×1 call sign
** prefix can be letter-letter, letter-digit, or digit-letter. A call sign composed of a letter, two digits, and one-letter is always a 2×1 call sign, meaning it has a letter-digit prefix and a single-letter suffix.
** for all letter-digit-digit-letter callsigns, if the first character is other than B, F, G, I, K, M, N, R or W then it is a 2×1 call sign
* ''PNSS'', 1×2 call sign
** prefix always a letter, suffix almost always two letters to avoid confusion with 2×1 call signs.
** As a precaution, the ITU has issued no prefixes in the B, F, G, I, K, M, N, R or W block ranges with letter-number possibilities, meaning that the first digit would have to be the separating numeral anyway.
** for all letter-digit-digit-letter callsigns, if the first character is B, F, G, I, K, M, N, R or W then it is a 1×2 call sign
* ''PNSSS'', 1×3 call sign
** these have the same precautions as 1×2 call signs to prevent confusion with 2×2 format
* ''PPNSS'', 2×2 call sign
** these have the same precautions as 2×1 call signs to prevent confusion with 1×3 format
** confusion might seem to arise with letter-digit-digit-digit-letter call signs, however in that case the second digit would be the numeral separator. ''(see 2×1 above)''
* ''PPNSSS'', 2×3 call sign
** by far the most common format
* ''PPNSSSS'', 2×4 call sign, or more
** four-character suffix (or more) assigned by some countries (e.g. Australia to designate operator class), or five or more characters for special events. In New Zealand the first character of the ''SSSS'' suffix is sometimes a digit for special events
* ''PPPNSS'' or ''PPPNSSS'', 3×2, 3×3 or more
** assigned when two characters of the prefix are not enough to distinguish jurisdiction (eq. Fiji 3DN–3DZ and Swaziland 3DA–3DM)
Suffix assignment
Since suffixes can also contain digits, some countries issue suffixes (usually temporarily) beginning with enough digits to produce a number, usually associated with the special event (for example the number of years, see New Zealand below).
In normal call sign assignment, if a call sign has two digits (e.g. S59DSC or 2S4LGR ''PPNSSS''), the first digit is almost always a prefix character (e.g. S5 indicating Slovenia, or 2M indicating Intermediate License holder in Scotland).
Call signs with more than one digit
Call signs with two (or more) digits in them can arise a number of ways. When the digits abut one another, it is important to distinguish which digit belongs to the prefix, which is the separating numeral, and which may belong to the suffix.
In every case (Bahamas being an exception), a jurisdiction assigned a letter-digit prefix by the ITU will have a second digit as their internally assigned prefix/suffix separator. An example is A33A, a Tongan call sign; the first '3' is the second character of the prefix and the second '3' is the numeral separating 'A3' from the single-letter suffix 'A'. There are no single letter prefixes allocated by the ITU with an 'A', so the first '3' must be part of the prefix.
Neither New Zealand's nor the Republic of Ireland's prefixes have numerals as prefix-characters. However, both allow a second numeral as the leading character of the suffix and is not to be confused with the sign's separating numeral. As the first character of the suffix, the two digits can be taken together; for instance, to represent a two-digit number of significance to the operator.
A New Zealand amateur who has been active for 30 years and currently is assigned call sign ZL1xxx can operate as ZL30xxx for up to three months. Technically, the '3' is the separating numeral and the '0' is the first character of the suffix.
Similarly a club with call ZL4xxx which has been established for 23 years can operate as ZL23xxx for up to three months.
The New Zealand operator substitutes their identifying separating numeral with another, so long as a second digit is added to the beginning of their normal suffix. This may result in call sign confusion in the rare case of two amateurs in differing numeral-areas also both having the same number of years of operation and suffix.
Ireland also takes advantage of the ITU standard to allow digits as suffix-characters. The Irish Radio Transmitters Society operates as EI75IRTS celebrating 75 Years of incorporation 1932–2007.
Ofcom in Great Britain also allows numerals in special event call signs. For instance GB75RD was a special event sign for the 75th anniversary of the Reading and District Amateur radio club.
Numerous other cases of multiple numeral prefixes exist. An example occurred in 1987 when the "200" was used in place of district numbers for the many stations that celebrated the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.
Exclusions
The 26 letters of the English alphabet and ten digits may be used to form call signs, accented letters excluded.
Letter combinations which can be confused with distress calls or which are reserved as abbreviations for radiocommunications services are excluded (e.g.
Q codes).
The ITU Article 19 exclusions are those found in ITU-R M.1172. In practice, no prefix begins with the letter 'Q', but 'Q' can be the second letter (eq. Malawi assigned the 7QA–7QZ block).
Double- or single-digit prefixes are excluded. A callsign with a leading digit in the prefix always has a second character which is a letter and in rare cases a third character which is also a letter.
Currently, no allocated prefix has 0 (zero) or 1 (one) as one of its characters as they can be confused with the letters O (Oscar) and I (India).
All ten digits from 0 to 9 are allowed to be used as a separating numeral at the discretion of national allocating bodies.
Secondary prefix or suffix types
Ancillary prefixes or suffixes further identify the location and/or operating condition of an amateur operator.
According to the Canada/United States Operating Agreement treaty amateurs from one country operating in the other sign with their home call sign, but attach the call area prefix where they are operating to their call. For instance, an amateur from British Columbia (VE7 in Canada) operating in Washington State (K7 in the USA) would amend their home-call with a trailing /K7 (e.g. VE7xxx becomes VE7xxx/K7).
Radio amateurs from countries that apply the CEPT recommendation T/R 61-01 operating as a visitor in countries that apply the same recommendation are required to use the appropriate host country's prefix before their home call sign (in the case of Peru, after the home call sign) and may use the appropriate operating suffix (see below). For instance a British (English) amateur holding a call of G3xxx operating in France would sign as F/G3xxx, a Swiss amateur operating from a car in Germany as DL/HB9xxx/m. Similar rules apply in cases when bilateral agreements on visitors licenses exist, or a visitor is permitted to operate without being assigned a local call sign.
When a country's separating numeral denotes a geographic area within, an operator from one region operating in another region can affix a secondary suffix indicating so. For instance an amateur from Queensland, Australia, operating in Tasmania can sign as VK4xxx/7 or VK4xxx/VK7.
Other secondary operating suffixes can be attached such as /P (for
portable operation), /M (for mobile operation), /AM (aeronautical mobile), /MM (maritime mobile), or /A (for operation from an alternative location that is registered with the licensing authorities). Depending on the jurisdiction, the use of these five suffixes may be required for these types of operation. Occasionally self-assigned operating suffixes such as /QRP for operation at low power are heard.
Some
repeater
In telecommunications, a repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it. Repeaters are used to extend transmissions so that the signal can cover longer distances or be received on the other side of an obstruction. Som ...
s have automatic call sign transmission at regular intervals and use the secondary suffix /R at the call sign's end. Some jurisdictions discourage this practice on the grounds that it could be confused with an amateur from the repeater's location working portable in Russia. Similarly, some
beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...
stations use the self-assigned secondary suffix /B.
Callsigns within a country
General issuing practices
Each national authority has some options in relation to the form of the prefix, as long as enough characters are selected starting from the left of their assigned block to produce a prefix unique to its jurisdiction.
Each country has authority over which numeral separates the prefix and suffix. The prohibition of the use of the digits 0 and 1 in land mobile stations does not apply to amateur stations. The ITU however does not issue prefixes with either a 0 or 1 as one of the characters.
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
issues call signs without a separating numeral. They are assigned the C6A–C6Z block, and the '6' is part of the prefix. Examples are as found on QRZ.COM (C6AFO, C6AGB, etc.)
INDIA
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
In India the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has divided all countries into three regions; India is located in ITU Region 3. These regions are further divided into two competing zones, the ITU and the CQ. Mainland India and the Lakshadweep Islands come under ITU Zone 41 and CQ Zone 22, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands under ITU Zone 49 and CQ Zone 26. The ITU has assigned to India call-sign blocks 8TA to 8YZ, VUA to VWZ, and ATA to AWZ.
VU call-signs are listed according to licence grade: for General (formerly the Advanced Grade and Grade–I) licence holders, the call-sign prefix is VU2; for Restricted (formerly Grade–II and Grade–II Restricted) licence holders, the prefix is VU3. The VU3 prefix has also been granted to foreigners operating in India. As of 2011, call-signs consist of only letters, not numerals, and can be either two or three characters long. Examples of Indian amateur radio call-signs are "VU2XY" and "VU3EGH".
The suffix can be from one to four characters subject to ITU exclusions (above).
On special occasions, for temporary use, administrations may authorize use of call signs with more than four suffix-characters.
Allocation options within a country
Whereas for ITU purposes the prefix does not include the separating numeral, for country purposes often the separating numeral is included when the prefix is referred to. Thus for Canada VE6 or VA6 are the prefixes for Alberta, while VE2 or VA2 are the prefixes denoting Quebec.
* The most common suffix has three characters. The ITU requires only that the last suffix-character be a letter, although with XE21 Mexico broke this rule in 1995, as did Spain in 2014 when it issued EF6 to commemorate the ascension to the throne of King
Felipe VI
Felipe VI (;,
* eu, Felipe VI.a,
* ca, Felip VI,
* gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and ...
, and Canada in 2017 with VX7150 to commemorate its 150th anniversary (the "7" indicated the operator was in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
). In practice, suffixes are frequently composed of one to three letters. Portugal uses four-character suffixes for repeater stations. Long ones have also been used for commemorative events, such as Canada's VE9COAL.
* Most countries select permanent or renewable calls from a narrow, specific range of possible assigned prefix alternatives. For instance, the Philippines is allocated the DUZ–DZZ and 4DA–4IZ blocks 12 possible two-character prefixes in all, but almost all Philippine amateur callsigns are issued with the DU prefix.
* Some countries add or reserve an allowable second-character letter to the prefix to indicate the internal region of the operator (e.g. G3xxx in England becomes GD3xx for the Isle of Man; or for KL6xxx, the L indicates Alaska).
* Some countries reserve their separating numeral to indicate the internal region in which the individual operator resides (e.g. the United States: 6 California, 4 The Southeast, 3 Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, etc. although in the U.S. licensees can change districts and retain their original calls). Callsigns may also indicate where within a country a person is operating; thus a VE3 (Ontario) operator would add "/VE4" to the callsign when transmitting from Manitoba.
* Some countries reserve the first letter of the suffix to indicate the internal region in which the individual operator resides (e.g. Argentina assigns LU#N to Santiago del Estero where # is any numeral, or Russia where the separating numeral plus the first letter of the suffix denotes the
Oblast
An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of ...
of the call sign).
* Some countries issue call signs meant for use in
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
(e.g. South Korea assigns HL8 to stations at its Antarctic base).
*
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
is the only jurisdiction which issues a call sign prefix for use in
international waters
The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed region ...
VE0, although
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
has allowed "HP/" without a district number to be temporarily used by persons on
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
s registered in that country. Similarly, Germany reserves the prefix DP for German stations that operate from outside German territory, such as DP0GVN for the
German research station in Antarctica and DP0POL for the
Polarstern research vessel.
* Some countries reserve allowable prefixes to indicate the operating class of the amateur (e.g. China issues the BA prefix to 1st class operators).
* Some countries limit two- or one-letter suffixes to operators with advanced privileges (e.g. the Republic of Georgia limits one-letter suffixes to "extra" class licenses). As noted above, beginning in 1977 this was generally the practice in the United States, and many operators holding the highest class license took 2×1 or 1×2 calls.
* Some countries reserve allowable prefixes for foreigners licensed in their jurisdiction (e.g. Japan reserves the 7J prefix for foreigners).
* Malta reserves the 9H5 prefix for VHF-use and up.
* Some countries reserve amateur radio prefixes for
shortwave listeners (e.g. Germany officially does not issue DE callsigns, but the
DARC association inofficially issues the DE prefix for SWLers. 'DE' is also a
Morse code abbreviation amateurs use meaning "from" when one station contacts another e.g. VE7xxx de WB4xxx means, "calling station VE7xxx from my station of WB4xxx". Thus Germany has eliminated any potential confusion in the use of DE as a prefix, as opposed to it being used as an abbreviation).
* Belarus reserves some of its prefixes for WWII veterans.
* Belarus reserves suffixes YAA–YZZ for female operators.
Rare ITU prefixes/DXCC Entities
A country can consist of many DXCC entities depending on its geographical make-up. Some islands which are separate
DXCC
An amateur radio operating award is earned by an amateur radio operator for establishing two-way communication (or "working") with other amateur radio stations. Awards are sponsored by national amateur radio societies, radio enthusiast magazine ...
entities are uninhabited and can only be worked when a
DXpedition
A DX-pedition is an expedition to what is considered an exotic place by amateur radio operators and DX listeners, typically because of its remoteness, access restrictions, or simply because there are very few radio amateurs active from that pl ...
travels there. The following are countries and/or entities which appear perennially on various listings of rare countries:
Countries which are rarely heard, roughly in this order:
*
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
The ITU-issued P5 prefix is rare, as
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
does not issue amateur radio licenses to its citizens, and very rarely to foreign nationals.
*
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
The ITU-issued 7O (note: letter O) prefix is rare as Yemen does not issue amateur radio licenses to its citizens, and rarely to foreign nationals.
*
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
E3 prefix.
*
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
XZ prefix.
*
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
S2 prefix.
*
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
EP prefix.
*
Nauru C2 prefix, an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific.
*
Equatorial Guinea 3C prefix.
*
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
T5 prefix.
*
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
9N prefix.
*
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
A5 prefix.
Islands which are rarely heard DXCC entities:
*
Bouvet Island
Bouvet Island ( ; or ''Bouvetøyen'') is an island claimed by Norway, and declared an uninhabited protected nature reserve. It is a subantarctic volcanic island, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic R ...
3Y/B, uninhabited Antarctic volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, Norwegian dependency.
*
Navassa Island
Navassa Island (; ht, Lanavaz; french: l'île de la Navasse, sometimes ) is a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. Located northeast of Jamaica, south of Cuba, and west of Jérémie on the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti, it is subject ...
KP1, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory of the United States, Haiti also claims the island
*
Prince Edward Islands
The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...
ZS8, Antarctic islands of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. The only human inhabitants of the islands are the staff of a meteorological and biological research station run by the South African National Antarctic Programme on Marion Island.
*
Heard Island
The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size ...
or
Macquarie Island
Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 197 ...
VK0, Australian possession, among the most remote places on Earth between Australia and South Africa, but closer to Antarctica.
*
Île Saint-Paul
Île Saint-Paul (Saint Paul Island) is an island forming part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (''Terres australes et antarctiques françaises'', TAAF) in the Indian Ocean, with an area of . The island is located about south of the la ...
FT5Z, part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the Indian Ocean.
*
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
4W prefix, belonging to the state of
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
.
Prefix reassignment
As political boundaries change through treaty or warfare, sometimes call sign prefixes are reassigned by the ITU to the new controlling government, or are reassigned by national governments for other reasons.
* the block range VRA–VRZ (Hong Kong) was reassigned to China from Britain in 1999 following the end of the UK's lease over the territory.
* VTA–VZZ once was a range meant for use in the British Empire now VTA–VWZ is assigned to India, VXA–VYZ to Canada, and VZA–VZZ to Australia. Because of the influence of Great Britain throughout the Mediterranean, Middle East and Pacific regions, there have been many call sign adjustments since WWII.
* In 1947 the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
was assigned the whole U-block (UAA–UZZ). Upon the USSR's break-up in 1991 the block was reassigned UAA–UIZ (Russian Federation), UJA–UMZ (Uzbekistan), UNA–UQZ (Kazakhstan), and URA–UZZ (Ukraine).
* prefix 8Z used to be used for the
Iraq/Saudi Neutral Zone (8Z4) and the
Kuwait/Saudi Neutral Zone (8Z5), both of which no longer exist so the prefixes were withdrawn.
*
San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
dropped prefix 9A and M1 and was assigned T7.
*
Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...
used to use AC3 (an American prefix) but when the country became a state of India in 1975 it adopted VU.
*
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
under
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
used CR8 or CR10; when part of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
had the prefix YB9; and, as noted above, as the independent state of
Timor-Leste
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...
has the prefix 4W. 4W (or 4W1) was formerly allocated to the Yemen Arab Republic before its 1990 merger with the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen to form the Republic of Yemen.
* The US FCC used KS4 for Swan Island but abruptly stopped issuing KS4 licenses when it was pointed out that the "commercial" Radio Swan / Radio Americas transmitters were operating without a license. Later the US dropped its disputed claim to Swan Island and Honduras began issuing HS6 calls to amateur operators on Swan Island.
* The
Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terri ...
in Panama used NY1, NY2, K4 or KZ5 when it was a territory of the United States, but now uses a
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
prefix based on HO or HP.
* US Military personnel in
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
used to use prefix KG1 and XP1, but now use OX.
* Americans at
Guantánamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base ( es, Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by members of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military) is a ...
used to use prefix NY4, now use KG4, followed by a two letter suffix (one or three letters indicate regular US callsign allocations)
* For various nations the
Amateur radio call signs of Antarctica are frequently differentiated from those used in their parent countries. For example, American stations in Antarctica are assigned the prefix KC4, and suffix blocks of three letters beginning with "A" or "U".
* The Territory of
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
used to use VK9 and now uses P2.
*
British Honduras
British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973, used to use VP1 and now uses V3 as
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
.
* VX9 used to designate both
Sable Island
Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island ...
(now CY0) and
St. Paul Island (now CY9) in Canada.
* YZA–YZZ and 4N–4O used to belong to
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
before its break-up in 1992,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
is now YT–YU and other successor countries have their own prefixes.
*
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
inherited the
Dominion of Newfoundland VO prefix on April 1, 1949, when Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada. The Canadian government continues to assign VO1 and VO2 to
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...
.
* After their annexation in 1940 the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
inherited the respective prefixes of
Lithuania,
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, and
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, LY, YL, and ES. Following their independence fifty years later these countries resumed these calls.
Call signs used in unassigned ITU block ranges
![QSL 1X5AA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/QSL_1X5AA.jpg)
Some call sign block ranges are unassigned by the ITU, e.g. the 1AA–1ZZ and QAA-QZZ blocks. Any call sign used by an amateur in these unassigned block ranges usually had it assigned to them by a group with an unrecognized national claim. Unless otherwise noted, they have no value for
DXCC
An amateur radio operating award is earned by an amateur radio operator for establishing two-way communication (or "working") with other amateur radio stations. Awards are sponsored by national amateur radio societies, radio enthusiast magazine ...
awards, nor are they valid under UK license conditions.
* 1A is used by the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
, a Roman Catholic order based in Rome, Italy. This entity is recognized by ARRL for the DXCC program.
* 1B is used by the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Reco ...
, a
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
country recognized internationally only by Turkey, as such this has not been allocated by the ITU. Contact with 1B stations can lead to revocation of amateur operators' licenses outside the northern Cyprus.
* 1C and 1X are occasionally used by separatists in the
Chechnya, a
federal subject
The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...
of Russia.
* 1L is being issued by
Liberland Amateur Radio Association and is referred to as temporary prefix of
Liberland
Liberland, also known as the Free Republic of Liberland, is a micronation in Southeast Europe claiming an uninhabited parcel of disputed land on the western bank of the Danube, between Croatia and Serbia (locally known as Gornja Siga). It was p ...
.
* 1S is sometimes used on the
Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed ...
in the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
, as the islands are the subject of international dispute over ownership. Without taking a position on the claims involved, this entity is recognized by ARRL for the DXCC program, although prefixes from claimant nations are often used instead.
* 1Z has been used in
Kawthoolei
Kawthoolei ( ksw, ကီၢ်သူလ့ၤ, ; my, ကော့သူးလေ) is the endonym for a proposed state that the Karen have sought to establish in Myanmar since the beginning of the Karen conflict in the late 1940s.
Kawthoolei rou ...
, an unrecognized breakaway region of
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
* D0 and 1C were used in 2014, allegedly from the unrecognized
Donetsk People's Republic. D1 has also been used on occasion.
* O19 was used in 2015 by an operator (Khussar Iryston) showing a license from unrecognized
South Ossetia
South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...
.
* S0 is a prefix used in the
Western Sahara
Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...
note that the unofficial issuer has used 0 as a prefix-character contrary to ITU practice. Without taking a position on the claims involved, this entity is recognized by ARRL for the DXCC program.
* S1A is used by the
Principality of Sealand
The Principality of Sealand () is an unrecognized micronation that claims HM Fort Roughs (also known as Roughs Tower), an offshore platform in the North Sea approximately off the coast of Suffolk, as its territory. Roughs Tower is a Mauns ...
six miles off the eastern shores of Britain.
* T1 has appeared as a callsign from
Transnistria
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
, a breakaway region of
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...
.
* T0, as well as 0S, 1P, and T89, have occasionally been used by operators in the
Principality of Seborga
The Principality of Seborga ( it, Principato di Seborga) is an unrecognised micronation that claims a area located in the northwestern Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the French border, and about from Monaco. The principality is ...
, an unrecognized
micronation
A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified ...
.
* Z6 was chosen by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the
Republic of Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Europ ...
as an international prefix in September 2012. The assignment is not currently approved by the ITU.
In addition, during their period of independence from the
Republic of South Africa, which lasted in some cases from 1976 to 1994, the
Bantustan
A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now ...
s had prefixes not recognized by the international community. These were:
* H5 for
Bophutatswana
Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...
* S4 for
Ciskei
* S8 for
Transkei
Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...
* T4 and V9 for
Venda
Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the ...
DXCC entities and IOTA
Amateur radio call sign prefixes almost always locate an operator within one of the 300+ DXCC entities in the world.
Any country or ITU prefix assignment can have many entities within it. For example, in the United States Hawaii (with 'H' as the second character of the prefix and '6' as the separating numeral) and Alaska (with 'L' as the second letter of the prefix) are considered different DXCC entities, as are Sable Island and St. Paul Island in Canada.
The
DX Century Club
An amateur radio operating award is earned by an amateur radio operator for establishing two-way communication (or "working") with other amateur radio stations. Awards are sponsored by national amateur radio societies, radio enthusiast magazine ...
(DXCC) is an amateur radio operating award given by the
American Radio Relay League
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the United States. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was co-founded on April 6, 1914, by Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska o ...
(ARRL) to operators making contact with 100 or more geographic entities around the world. As such, the ARRL keeps a list of DXCC entities (not necessarily a country) for this purpose. This list includes deleted entries and prefixes and the dates in which contacts with them will be counted towards the award.
The DXCC List is based upon Clinton B. DeSoto's landmark 1935 QST article defining a "country" as a discrete geographical entity. A geographical portion of one country can be a separate DXCC entity if it is non-contiguous with or significantly distant from the main part of the national entity.
IOTA is a radio amateur abbreviation for "
Islands on the Air
An amateur radio operating award is earned by an amateur radio operator for establishing two-way communication (or "working") with other amateur radio stations. Awards are sponsored by national amateur radio societies, radio enthusiast magazi ...
". It refers to a list of saltwater islands worldwide maintained by the
Radio Society of Great Britain
The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) is the United Kingdom's recognised national society for amateur radio operators. The society was founded in 1913 as the London Wireless Club, making it one of the oldest organisations of its kind in the ...
, which assigns a unique code to an island or group of islands, like EU-005 for
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, OC-001 for
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
etc. IOTA codes are not part of the callsign, although some callsign blocks correspond uniquely to an IOTA code, like EA6: EU-004
Balearic Islands, SV5: EU-001
Dodecanese Islands, etc. In many other cases there is no direct relation between the callsign and the IOTA code.
Vanity call signs
Individual amateurs may want a callsign with their name or initials embedded, callsigns that had been held by family members or friends, or callsigns that they themselves formerly held (and gave up for whatever reason). Some people want a callsign that is shorter, or easier to pronounce, or just "fits their personality" better. CW (
Morse code) operators might want a callsign that "sounds good" or is short when sent in Morse. (This is referred to as "CW weight".)
Radio amateur clubs will sometimes request specific callsigns in memoriam of deceased members (silent keys); G5RV is held by a British club in memory of the inventor of the
G5RV antenna
The G5RV antenna is a dipole with a symmetric resonantHF Antennas for all locations (L. Moxon, G6XN) feeder line, which serves as impedance matcher for a 50 Ω coax cable to the transceiver.G5RV multi-band antenna (Louis Varney, G5RV) htt ...
. Some request callsigns which reflect specific interests or modes of operation (such as VE3QRP for a low-power radio club in Ontario). The
USS ''Batfish'', a
museum ship in
Muskogee, Oklahoma, has callsign WW2SUB; the
USS ''Oklahoma'' is commemorated as WW2OK.; The Battleship
USS ''Missouri'' has the call sign KH6BB; VO1TAP is a callsign belonging to the Grassroots Amateur Radio Club, commemorates the anniversary of the USS Truxtun and USS Pollux Naval disaster off the coast of Newfoundland; VO1MCE the callsign of the Irish Loop Amateur Radio Club at the
Myrick Wireless Interpretation Centre in Newfoundland, commemorates
Cape Race
Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", mean ...
Marconi station
A list of early wireless telegraphy radio stations of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. Guglielmo Marconi developed the first practical radio transmitters and receivers between 1895 and 1901. His company, the Marconi Wireless Telegraph ...
MCE as the first point of radio contact in the New World for ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
''. The
National World War I Museum and Memorial
The National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri was opened in 1926 as the Liberty Memorial. In 2004, it was designated by the United States Congress as the country's official war memorial and museum dedicated to World War ...
, at the
Liberty Memorial
The National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri was opened in 1926 as the Liberty Memorial. In 2004, it was designated by the United States Congress as the country's official war memorial and museum dedicated to World War ...
, in Kansas City, Missouri, has the call sign WW1USA.
Various "special event" callsigns are issued for periods ranging from a day to a month, either for individual radio contest days or commemoration of specific current or historic events. GB100MGY commemorated the 100th anniversary of the sinking of
''Titanic'' (Marconi station MGY); 2O12 and 2O12L commemorated the
2012 Olympic Games in the United Kingdom.
Occasionally, a radio club will obtain a shorter callsign for a day; the U.S. FCC issues calls as short as 1 × 1 (with "K1D" being a popular choice) for individual events. These callsigns are not permanent and are quickly reassigned to other stations for subsequent events.
A well-known short callsign is JY1, which belonged to
Hussein of Jordan
Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...
, who served as that nation's king.
Ham radio operators in the United States may apply for a specific callsign, including calls from other zones, so long as they have the appropriate license class for the desired callsign format.
The callsign must conform to the prefix standard assigned to that area. The U.S. also ties callsigns to license class: an Amateur Extra might have W0OL (which is a "1 × 2" call), but a General-class licensee could not, because 1 × 2 calls are reserved for the Amateur Extra class. Likewise, a ham on the mainland could not get a callsign beginning with the KH6 prefix, which is assigned to Hawaii, although a radio amateur who moves to a different call sign district within the same country is able to keep his or her original callsign.
In Canada, a "2 × 3" call (a format with two letters, a number, three letters, like VE1ZZZ) may be freely requested from a list of available calls; the shorter "2 × 2" call has a waiting period in many provinces.
Callbooks
VE Callbook (Canada)YU Callbook (Serbia)ZS Callbook (South Africa)
See also
*
Amateur radio international operation
Amateur radio international reciprocal operating agreements permit amateur radio operators (hams) from one country to operate a station whilst traveling in another without the need to obtain additional licenses or permits.
When no agreement exi ...
*
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
*
Amateur radio license
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency comm ...
References
External links
Article 19 ITU - Identification of stations
{{Telecommunications
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
International telecommunications