Vanity Call; should I change?
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| Dec 3rd 2013, 14:09 | |
K1TATotal Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
I've been a ham for 40 years and I've held several calls over my lifetime starting with a WN1 call in the 1970's. Currently I am K1TA which I thought would be my last callsign. Recently my wife and I built a house in North Carolina and eventually I will move there full time. I should be happy that I have a cool 1x2 call but lately I have been thinking about changing my call to a 1x3 call in the 4th district. I've never gotten attached to my present call and I was wondering if I am crazy for considering letting my 1x2 go? Has anyone else ever felt this way? Comments.... anyone? LOL Tom - K1TA |
| Dec 3rd 2013, 14:17 | |
W1VTSuper Moderator Total Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
Why not? Not only will you let someone else get that cool callsign, but you can choose call that means something to you. Zack W1VT |
| Dec 3rd 2013, 14:52 | |
K1TATotal Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
I never got attached to it and I know someone has been bootlegging my call because I keep getting QSL cards from people since I changed years ago, so.... |
| Dec 4th 2013, 03:46 | |
aa6eTotal Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
Tom, I got my AA6 callsign back in 1978, when I lived in Pasadena. (No, it's not a vanity call.) I've lived in 1-land (CT) since 1989, however. This leads to occasional "interesting" situations, when an op decides to point his beam to 6-land and his signals go way down. Sometimes it helps, as when a DX station who is strong here is calling CQ W6, and I get to work him nicely. For the most part, people don't seem to care, because there are so many folks operating now with a "foreign" district number. It's a mixed bag. I'm not sorry to have kept the callsign. It's a conversation starter, if nothing else. Prior to the AA6 call, I was WB6YBQ. That was definitely more of a mouthful, on CW or phone. I get "bootleg" QSLs, too, once in a while. It could be someone using my call, but I think it's more likely that the sender just mis-copied a callsign close to mine. 73 Martin AA6E |
| Dec 5th 2013, 13:33 | |
N0NBTotal Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
For many of us a vanity call only makes sense to us. Asking someone else who has no vested interest in your choice of call, unless they covet your current call, probably won't be all that helpful in your decision making process. :-) That said, all sorts of things will need to be changed from QSL cards, any apparel sporting you call, club memberships, etc., etc. In some cases these things will be done anyway to reflect your new address. Changing your call concurrent with your move is probably as good of time as any. Not to worry, though, your current call will likely be snapped up shortly after it is available. I will say this, I changed my call once. That was enough! :-D 73, de Nate >> N0NB.us |
| Jan 15th 2014, 15:34 | |
N2LJTotal Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
Well, Tom, it appears you've made your decision! I do agree with N0NB, though, that a vanity call simply makes more sense to many of us, especially once one receives your Extra. I started my Ham "career" as N2REB as a Technician. Not a bad call, but it didn't mean anything to me. My friends kept prodding me with "Rebel Radio", but as a guy from the suburbs of NJ, it just didn't fit... I kept that call for 12 years, before I upgraded from Advanced to Extra. I was working in that direction, either towards a 2x2, or the ultimate, a 1x2 or 2x1. Simultaneously with my upgrading to Extra, I bought my first HF rig, and decided that I wanted a shorter, or at least, more distinct call. I thought about an A-call, but nothing available struck my fancy in the "2" district. But N2LJ was available and I snapped that one up as it combines my first two initials into the call. And yes, my old call is now in use by someone with the initials "REB"! 73, |
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