ITU prefix (amateur stations) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The International Telecommunication Union

International Telecommunication Union

The International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies...

(ITU) allocates call sign

Call sign

In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...

prefix

ITU prefix

The International Telecommunication Union allocates call sign prefixes for radio and television stations of all types. They also form the basis for, but do not exactly match, aircraft registration identifiers. These prefixes are agreed upon internationally, and are a form of country code...

es for radio

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

and television

Television station

A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...

stations of all types. Amateur radio

Amateur radio

Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...

operators have since 1927 been allocated unique call letters (call sign) to uniquely identify them, as well as locate then within a geographical region of the world - usually a country.

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 code

Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The best known of these is ISO 3166-1...

. 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.

Call signs meant for amateur radio

Amateur radio

follow the ITU's Article 19, specifically 19.68 and 19.69.

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 one from Ø to 9, and a suffix is from one to four characters where the last one has to be a letter.

Examples of call signs and their constituent parts are as follows: Cells left-aligned, table centered>

Call Sign	Prefix (within ITU assigned range)	Separating numeral	Suffix	format type
K4X	K	4	X	1x1 call sign, usually time limited special event (USA)
B2AA	B	2	AA	1x2 call sign (China)
A22A	A2	2	A	2x1 call sign (Botswana)
I2ØØØØX	I	2	ØØØØX	1x5 call sign, special event (Italy)
4X4AAA	4X	4	AAA	2x3 call sign (Israel)
3DAØRS	3DA	Ø	RS	3x2 call sign (Swaziland)

Call signs begin with a one- two- or three-character prefix chosen from a range assigned by the ITU

Itu

Itu is an old and historic municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2009 was 157,384 and the area is 641.68 km². The elevation is 583 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language, meaning big waterfall. Itu is linked with the highway numbered the SP-75 and are flowed...

to the amateur's country of operation or other internationally recognized jurisdiction. This is not necessary 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.

The beginning of the list of call sign ranges is:

- AAA-ALZ United States of America
- AMA-AOZ Spain
- APA-ASZ Pakistan (Islamic Republic of)
- ATA-AWZ India (Republic of)
- AXA-AXZ Australia
- AYA-AZZ Argentine Republic
- A2A-A2Z Botswana (Republic of)
- A3A-A3Z Tonga (Kingdom of)
- A4A-A4Z Oman (Sultanate of)

(concludes with....)

- 9VA-9VZ Singapore (Republic of)
- 9WA-9WZ Malaysia
- 9XA-9XZ Rwandese Republic
- 9YA-9ZZ Trinidad and Tobago

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

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 1-letter prefix is enough - This is only possible 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
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

(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 2-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 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 3-character prefix is needed - This is an unsusal situation and occurs with callsigs in the 3DA-3DZ block range. Fiji and Swaziland 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 Swaziland which is issued the 3DA-3DM block.
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 only assigns 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 1 to four characters (the last being a letter) and appends them in that order to their assigned prefix(es). 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 Ø 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, 1x1 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 charachers are needed'.)
PPNS, 2x1 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 2x1 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 2x1 call sign
PNSS, 1x2 call sign
- prefix always a letter, suffix almost always two letters to avoid confusion with 2x1 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 1x2 call sign
PNSSS, 1x3 call sign
- these have the same precautions as 1x2 call signs to prevent confusion with 2x2 format
PPNSS, 2x2 call sign
- these have the same precautions as 2x1 call signs to prevent confusion with 1x3 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 2x1 above)
PPNSSS, 2x3 call sign
- by far the most common format
PPNSSSS, 2x4 call sign, or more
- four-character suffix (or more) assigned by some countries (e.g. Australia to designate operator class), or 5 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, 3x2, 3x3 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 (e.g. 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 2S indicating 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 ZL3Øxxx for up to three months. Technically, the '3' is the separating numeral and the 'Ø' 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.

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 practise, no prefix begins with a 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 Ø (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 Ø 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 (W7 in the USA) would amend their home-call with a trailing /W7 (e.g. VE7xxx becomes VE7xxx/W7).

British amateurs operating as a visitor in CEPT countries are required to append the appropriate host country's prefix before their British call sign. For instance an amateur holding a call of G3xxx operating in France would sign as F/G3xxx.

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), /QRP (for operation at or below 5 watts), /M (for mobile operation), /AM (aeronautical mobile) or /MM (maritime mobile).

Some repeaters have automatic call sign transmission at regular intervals and use the secondary suffix /R at the call sign's end. Some jurisdictions discourage this practise on the grounds that it could be confused with an amateur from the repeater's location working portable in Russia.
Cells left-aligned, table centered>

Ancillary Prefix	Usage	notes:
/	VE7xxx/7	denotes operator in his/her own call area operating away from primary location
/P	VE7xxx/P	denotes operator in his/her own call area operating away from primary location, on portable power
/	VE7xxx/6, VE7xxx/VE6	denotes operator in another call area operating away from primary location, but within national boundary
/	VE7xxx/W7	denotes operator in another call area operating away from primary location, but outside of national boundary
/	F/G3xxx	UK operator operating in France
/QRP	VE7xxx/QRP	denotes operator running low power, usually less than 5 watts
/M	VE7xxx/M	denotes operator in a mobilesetting
/MM	VE7xxx/MM	denotes operator in marine mobile setting
/AM	VE7xxx/AM	denotes operator in aeronautical mobile setting

General issuing practises

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 Ø and 1 in land mobile stations does not apply to amateur stations. The ITU however does not issue prefixes with either a Ø or 1 as one of the characters.

Bahamas 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.).

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 only requires that the last suffix-character be a letter, but in practise suffixes are nearly always composed of letters. Australia requires its Foundation Class of operators to have a four-letter suffix.
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).
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
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...

of the call sign).
Some countries issue call signs meant for use in Antarctica
Amateur radio call signs of Antarctica
Amateur radio or ham radio call signs are unique identifiers for licensed operators in Antarctica. Call signs are regulated internationally by the ITU as well as nationally by governing bodies within each country who may have nationals operating in Antarctica. Call signs may also be issued by a...

(e.g. South Korea assigns HL8 to stations at its Antarctic base).
Canada
Amateur radio call signs of Canada
Amateur radio or ham radio call signs are unique identifiers for the 68,000 licensed operators in Canada. Call signs are regulated internationally by the ITU as well as nationally by Industry Canada, which regulates all aspects of amateur radio in the country...

is the only jurisdiction which issues a call sign prefix for use in International Waters
International waters
The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands.Oceans,...

- VEØ
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 2- or 1-letter suffixes to operators with advanced privileges (e.g. The Republic of Georgia limits one-letter suffixes to “extra” class licenses).
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
Shortwave listening
Shortwave listening is the hobby of listening to shortwave radio broadcasts located on frequencies between 1700 kHz and 30 MHz. Listeners range from casual users seeking international news and entertainment programming to hobbyists immersed in the technical aspects of radio reception and DXing...

(e.g. Germany reserves the DE prefix for SWLers. 'DE' is also a morse code abbreviation
Morse Code Abbreviations
Morse code abbreviations differ from prosigns for Morse Code in that they observe normal interletter spacing; that is, they are not "run together" the way prosigns are. From 1845 until well into the second half of the 20th century, commercial telegraphic code books were used to shorten telegrams, e.g...

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 as an abbreviation).
Belarus reserves some of its prefixes for WWII veterans.
Belarus reserves suffixes YAA-YZ for female operators.

Call sign oddities

Bahamas 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.).
ALØHA - the Coconut Island DX Association in Hawaii (note: AL is a prefix reserved for Alaska)
M1AMI - from Colchester, England
GØRDO - someone named John in England
K1NKY - from New York
PA5TA - from The Netherlands
OH1O - from Finland
LA1ZY - someone in Norway who does not operate a lot
EI25SL is an Irish call sign used by "Welcome Slovenia to EU Special Event". The separating numeral is "2", and the "5" is the first character of the suffix. The Limerick Radio Club has operated as EI6ØLRC and EI7ØFOY.
Twelve character callsigns:
- PAØ9MONUMENT - Netherlands, Dutch National Day of Monuments
- ON1ØØØNOTGER
The Korean special event call 'D9K' technically has no separating numeral. This call is taken from the D7A-D9Z range assigned to the country by the ITU - the '9' is part of the prefix.
the prefix 3CAK was issued to a Russian visiting Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, from January to April 2005. This also has no separating numeral.

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 entities are uninhabited and can only be worked when a DXpedition travels there. The following are countries and/or entities which appear perennially on various listings of rare countries:The 100 most wanted DXCC entities archive

Countries which are rarely heard, roughly in this order:

NORTH KOREA - The ITU-issued P5 prefix is rare, as North Korea
Amateur radio call signs of Korea
Amateur radio or ham radio call signs are unique identifiers for the over 4,000 licensed operators in South Korea with none known in North Korea. Call signs are regulated internationally by the ITU as well as nationally in South Korea by the Korea Communications Commission in the Ministry of...

does not issue amateur call signs to its citizens, and rarely to foreign nationals.

YEMEN - The ITU-issued 7O (note: letter O) prefix is rare as Yemen does not issue amateur call signs to its citizens, and rarely to foreign nationals.

ERITREA - E3 prefix.

MYANMAR - XZ prefix.

BANGLADESH - S2 prefix.

IRAN - EP prefix.

NAURU
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...

- C2 prefix, an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA - 3C prefix.

SOMALIA - T5 prefix.

AFGHANISTAN - YA prefix.

NEPAL - 9N prefix.

BHUTAN - A5 prefix.

Islands which are rarely heard DXCC entities:

BOUVET ISLAND
Bouvet Island
Bouvet Island is an uninhabited Antarctic volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, 2,525 km south-southwest of South Africa. It is a dependent territory of Norway and, lying north of 60°S latitude, is not subject to the Antarctic Treaty. The centre of the island is an ice-filled crater of an...

- 3Y/B, uninhabited Antarctic volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, Norwegian dependency.

NAVASSA ISLAND
Navassa Island
Navassa Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Haiti, which claims to have had sovereignty over Navassa since 1801, also claims the island...

- KP1, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory of the United States, Haiti also claims the island

MARION ISLAND and PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Prince Edward Islands
The Prince Edward Islands are two small islands in the sub-antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands, named Marion Island and Prince Edward Island, are located at ....

- ZS8, Antarctic islands of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. 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 or MACQUARIE ISLAND - VKØ, Australian possession, among the most remote places on Earth between Australia and South Africa, but closer to Antarctica.

AMSTERDAM & ST PAUL - FT5Z, part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the Indian Ocean.

TIMOR
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...

- 4W prefix, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.

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.
VTZ-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 USSR 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
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino , is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino...

dropped prefix 9A and M1 and was assigned T7.
Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

used to use AC3 (an American prefix) but when the country became a state of India in 1975 it adopted VU.
Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...

used to use CR1Ø, but now uses an Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n prefix of YB9.
The Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

in Panama used NY1, NY2, K4 or KZ5 when it was a territory of the United States, but now uses a Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

prefix based on HO or HP.
US Military personnel in Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

used to use prefix KG1 and XP1, but now use OX.
Americans at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

used to use prefix NY4, now use KG4.
Territory of New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

used to use VK4 and now uses P2.
British Honduras
British Honduras
British Honduras was a British colony that is now the independent nation of Belize.First colonised by Spaniards in the 17th century, the territory on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, became a British crown colony from 1862 until 1964, when it became self-governing. Belize became...

used to use VP1 and now uses V3 as Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

.
VX9 used to designate both Sable Island
Sable Island
Sable Island is a small Canadian island situated 300 km southeast of mainland Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean. The island is a year-round home to approximately five people...

(now CYØ) and St. Paul Island (now CY9) in Canada.
YZA-YZZ and 4N-4O used to belong to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

before its break-up in 1992, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

is now YT-YU and other successor countries have their own prefixes.
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

inherited Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

's respective prefixes of VO1 and VO2 in 1949 when Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada. The Canadian government continues to assign those two prefixes to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Call signs used in unassigned ITU block ranges

Some call sign block ranges are unassigned by the ITU, e.g. the 1AA-1ZZ block. 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.

1A is used by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta a Roman Catholic order based in Rome, Italy.
1B is assigned in northern Cyprus by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

country recognized internationally only by Turkey.
SØ is a prefix used in the Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...

- note that the unofficial issuer has used Ø as a prefix-character contrary to ITU practice.
S1A is used by the Principality of Sealand
Principality of Sealand
The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognized entity, located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom ....

six miles off the eastern shores of Britain.
1S is sometimes used on the Spratly Islands
Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia , about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land...

in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

, as the islands are the subject of international dispute over ownership.

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

DX Century Club

The DX Century Club, or DXCC, is an amateur radio operating award earned by making contact with 100 or more geographic entities around the world....

(DXCC) is an amateur radio operating award given by the American Radio Relay League

American Radio Relay League

The American Radio Relay League is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the USA. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was founded in May 1914 by Hiram Percy Maxim of Hartford, Connecticut...

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. It refers to a list of Islands worldwide maintained by the Radio Society of Great Britain, which assigns a unique code to an island or group of islands.

Vanity Call Signs

Ham radio operators in the United States may pay a small fee and apply to get a specific callsign, including calls from other zones, so long as they have the appropriate license class for the desired callsign format. The callsign also must conform to the prefix standard assigned to that area. For instance, an Amateur Extra might have W0OL (which is a "1 x 2" call), but a General-class licensee could not, because 1 x 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.

There are a variety of reasons why someone would request a vanity callsign. Some people want a callsign that has their name or initials embedded in it. Some want a callsign that reflects a specific interest in amateur radio (like W7FM or K7ATV). Others request callsigns that were formerly held by family members or friends, or even 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".) Since the FCC (in the US) does not restrict most requests (other than those submitted fraudulently), any of these are valid reasons.

The exact rules for available callsigns are defined on the FCC website under Rules and Availability. The FCC web site can be confusing to some people, as it is very rules-based, and does not offer many examples or any utilities to help users. A number of free web sites (e.g., Vanity Headquarters, AE7Q, and RadioQTH) have sprung up, some dating back to 1999. These sites offer a variety of features, such as search tools, sorted lists, prediction capabilities, help files, message boards, and the like, all intended to help someone understand the vanity process and request a new callsign.

Due to the popularity of vanity calls, and the lack of region restriction, it is often impossible to tell which region an amateur radio operator using one calls home.

The term "vanity call" is generally not applied to 1 x 2 and similar "special" call signs attained by amateurs from the FCC under special rules in the 1970s and prior decades.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.