AMATEUR RADIO VANITY CALLSIGNS
==============================

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
==================

The FCC offers amateur licensees the opportunity to request a specific
call sign for a primary station and for a club station. A call sign is
selected by the FCC from a list of call signs requested by the licensee
or license trustee. Military recreation stations are not eligible for a
vanity call sign.

WHAT IS A VANITY CALLSIGN?
==========================

A Vanity call sign is a special Amateur Radio call sign specifically
chosen by a person or club who is currently an Amateur Radio licensee
(similar in purpose to Vanity license plates on cars). Vanity call signs usually include alphabetical characters of personal significance (e.g., licensees initials, parts of names, hobbies, etc), or sometimes are
simply chosen because they are shorter calls, or sometimes they have
double or triple duplicate characters (e.g., W1WWW).

A Vanity call sign is a call sign that the licensee wants assigned by the
FCC for use in place of an existing call sign (or for an Amateur Radio
club, it is a call sign assigned to replace the existing FCC-assigned
club license call sign).

CHOOSING A VANITY CALLSIGN:
===========================

Whether you are applying as an individual or a club trustee, there will
be some limits on the types of vacant Vanity call signs that may be
available to you, depending on your license class or mailing address.

First, the FCC does not limit the Vanity call sign choice numeral (0-9).
For example, you can be a W1-land addressee, and have a W6 (California)
type call if you so desire.

Also, aside from a very few FCC-limited choices, Extra class licensees
can choose virtually any vacant but valid US call sign -- FCC call sign
Groups A, B, C or D. Although Advanced class licensees cannot seek the
special 1x2, 2x1 or 2x2 (beginning with letter "A") Extra class type call signs, they can seek a 2x2 or 1x3 call sign (beginning with prefix N, K
or W), or a 2x3 call sign (beginning with prefix letter K or W) -- FCC
call sign Groups B, C or D. General or Technician class licensees can seek
a 1x3 call sign (beginning with prefix N, K or W), or 2x3 call sign
(beginning with prefix letter K or W) -- FCC call sign Groups C or D.
Novice licensees also have access to the Vanity program. Novices can seek
a 2x3 call sign (beginning with prefix letter K or W) of their choice --
FCC call sign Group D.

Unless you have a mailing address specific to Alaskan, Pacific or
Caribbean areas, you would not be able to obtain certain call signs where
the second prefix letter is an L, H or P in conjunction with certain call
area numbers (e.g., KL7??? is limited to Alaskan addressees only, KH6???
to Pacific Island addressees only, KP4??? to Caribbean addressees only,
etc).

Club call signs are limited per above and also are limited based on the
class of license held by the trustee at the time of application. Should
the club trustee change and the trustees license class is of a different qualifying class, the clubs' call sign will not change.

Even when a call sign does not appear on the FCC database, it may not be available for assignment.

CALLSIGNS NOT AVAILABLE FOR VANITY CALLSIGNS: =============================================

According to the FCC's Vanity web page on Call Sign Availability, a call
sign is normally assignable two years following license expiration,
surrender, revocation, set aside, cancellation, void ab initio, or death
of the grantee. However, there are exceptions to this two year waiting
period. Please see "FCC Rules" section below.

Where a vanity call sign for which the most recent recipient was
ineligible is surrendered, cancelled, revoked or voided, the two-year requirement does not apply.

Refer to the Sequential Call Sign System for how call signs are
sequentially assigned and the grouping and geographic region attributes
of each call sign.

The following call signs are not available for assignment:

1. KA2AA-KA9ZZ, KC4AAA-KC4AAF, KC4USA-KC4USZ, KG4AA-KG4ZZ,
KC6AA-KC6ZZ, KL9KAA- KL9KHZ, KX6AA-KX6ZZ;

2. Any call sign having the letters SOS or QRA-QUZ as the suffix;

3. Any call sign having the letters AM-AZ as the prefix (these
prefixes are assigned to other countries by the ITU);

4. Any 2-by-3 format call sign having the letter X as the first letter
of the suffix;

5. Any 2-by-3 format call sign having the letters AF, KF, NF, or WF as
the prefix and the letters EMA as the suffix (U.S Government FEMA
stations);

6. Any 2-by-3 format call sign having the letters AA-AL as the prefix;

7. Any 2-by-3 format call sign having the letters NA-NZ as the prefix;

8. Any 2-by-3 format call sign having the letters WC, WK, WM, WR, or WT
as the prefix (Group X call signs);

9. Any 2-by-3 format call sign having the letters KP, NP or WP as the
prefix and the numeral 0, 6, 7, 8 or 9;

10. Any 2-by-2 format call sign having the letters KP, NP or WP as the
prefix and the numeral 0, 6, 7, 8 or 9;

11. Any 2-by-1 format call sign having the letters KP, NP or WP as the
prefix and the numeral 0, 6, 7, 8 or 9;

12. Call signs having the single letter prefix (K, N or W), a single
digit numeral 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and a single letter suffix
are reserved for the special event call sign system.

Even when a call sign does not appear on the FCC database, it may not be available for assignment.

LOCATING AVAILABLE CALLSIGNS:
=============================

For Extra class licensees seeking the rare 1x2 or 2x1 Extra class type
call signs, some on line databases exist that attempt to list the
potentially vacant calls. These web sites are of great service to Extra
class hams.

For Advanced, General, Technician or Novice class amateurs, the number
of possible choices (in the tens of thousands) is so great that it has
been impractical for a data base to attempt to provide all of the
possibly vacant call signs available to these amateurs.

Several databases can be found on the World Wide Web to assist you.

AE7Q (http://www.ae7q.com)
FCC (http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp)
QRZ (http://www.qrz.com/directory.cgi)

Even when a call sign does not appear on the FCC database, it may not be available for assignment.

For individuals looking to develop their list of possible choices, we
recommend the following approach:

1. Write down the types of suffixes, the call area number(s) and the
prefix types you may desire;

2. Assemble some call signs using your desired components and then check
on line databases to determine if your choices have already been
assigned;

3. For those choices that are not apparently assigned (FCC accepts
up to 25 call sign choices), arrange them in your desired order
from most desired (#1) to your last choice (#25).

FCC RULES:
==========

Exceptions to the Two Year Waiting Period =========================================

Former Holders of the Call Sign:
================================

A former holder of the call sign is exempt from the general rule that a
call sign shown on an expired, surrendered, revoked, set aside, canceled
or voided license is unavailable to the vanity call sign system for two
years.

"Close Relatives" of the Licensee:

The term "in-law" includes ONLY a parent, step-parent, sibling, or
step-sibling of a licensees spouse; and the spouse of a licensees
sibling, step-sibling, child, or stepchild; or the spouse of a
licensees spouses sibling or step-sibling. The other "close relatives" are
the deceased former holders spouse, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, brothers, sisters, stepbrothers, stepsisters, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

"In Memoriam" Call Signs:

One exception to the two year waiting period applies to licenses for club stations who request the call sign of a deceased licensee when the club
station trustee has the written consent of a close relative of the deceased. The FCC codified that the decedents club membership need not be current at
the time of his or her death, as long as the decedent was a bona fide
member of the club at some time during his or her life.

Availability of Call Signs Assigned to Stations of Deceased Licensees: ======================================================================

The FCC has codified that a signed request for license cancellation
accompanied by a copy of a death certificate, an obituary or data
from the Social Security Death Index [SSDI] that shows the date of
death is necessary to cancel the license of a deceased amateur. The
FCC clarified the rules to provide that the two year waiting period
starts on the licensees date of death.

A call sign that is canceled due to the death of a licensee more than
two years earlier, or within 30 days before the second anniversary of
the licensees death, will remain unavailable to the vanity call sign
system for 30 days following the date the staff takes action to cancel
the license.

Ineligible Applicants:
======================

When a vanity call sign for which the most recent recipient was ineligible
is surrendered, cancelled, revoked or voided, the two year requirement
does not apply; however, the call sign will not be made available to the vanity call sign system for 30 days after information regarding the acknowledgement or determination of ineligibility is posted to the license
in the Commission's licensing system.

Fees:
=====

Effective Sept. 3, 2015, there is no longer a fee required for a vanity callsign.

TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN APPLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE: =====================================================

There is normally a 21 day waiting period from the time your application
for a vanity callsign is submitted, to when it is granted...but that date
may change, especially around a holiday period. If you change the status
of the callsign during this time, or decide to apply for a different one,
the waiting period starts all over again.

Once your new vanity callsign shows up in the FCC ULS, your previous
callsign is NO LONGER VALID, and it can NO LONGER BE USED on the air.

NEW PART 97 RULES REGARDING VANITY CALLSIGNS POSSIBLE: ======================================================

There are currently some NPRM's (Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking) from
the FCC, that have received public comments, and reply comments. Now
that these comment periods are closed, there is no telling how long it
will take the FCC to rule on them.

But, there is a possibility that the following CHANGES could be made
to the rules regarding vanity callsigns:

1) If you request and receive one, you MUST keep it for the ENTIRE 10
YEAR TERM. This is because some "20 WPM Extra Class Hams" were "locking
up" all the 2x1 and 1x2 calls, so that none of the "No Code Extras"
could get them. Once a callsign has expired or has been cancelled,
there is a WAITING PERIOD of 2 years and 1 day, before that callsign
can be again requested.

2) You would be RESTRICTED to a Vanity Callsign ONLY within your current callsign district. See the bulletin on "Latest Callsign Updates" for the geographic locations. Data for that page is from www.hamdata.com

Daryl Stout, WX4QZ, UALR Ham Radio Club VE Team Liaison
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