OLD AMATEUR RADIO PREFIXES
AND DELETED ENTITIES
DELETED ENTITIES
For Effective Dates, Zones, and Details of Deleted Entities--SEE ARRL DXCC Deleted Countries
DXCC is copyright ARRL and its use here is printed with permission of the ARRL.
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~ Blenheim Reef ~ Geyser Reef /A Abu Ail Island 1M Minerva Reef 4W Yemen Arab Republic 7O PDR Yemen 8Z4 S Arabia/Iraq Neutral Zone 8Z5 Kuwait/S Arabia Neut Zone 9K3 9S4 Saar 9U5 Ruanda-Urundi AC3 J2/A Sikkim AC4 Tibet C9 Manchuria CN2 Tangier CR8 Damao, Diu CR8 Goa (Portugese India) CR8, CR10 Portuguese Timor DA-DM Germany EA9 Ifni |
FF French West Africa FH Comoros FB8 FI8 French Indo China FN8 French India FQ8 French Equatorial Africa HK0 Bajo Nuevo HK0 Serrana Bnk, Roncador Cay KP3, KS4, I1 Trieste I5 Ital Somaliland JD1 Okino Tori-shima JZ0 7J1Netherlands New Guinea KR6 Okinawa (Ryukyu) KR8, JR6, KA6 KS4 Swan Is KZ5 Canal Zone OK-OM Czechoslovakia P2 Papua Territory P2 VK9 Territory New Guinea PK1 VK9 Java PK2-3 PK4 Sumatra PK5 Netherlands Borneo |
PK6 Celebe & Molucca Is ST0 Southern Sudan UN1 Karelo-Finnish Republic VO Newfoundland, Labrador VQ1 Zanzibar VQ6 5H1 British Somaliland VQ9 Aldabra VQ9 Desroches VQ9 Farquhar VS9A, P, S-S Arabia/Iraq Neutral Zone VS2 Malaya VS4 9M2 Sarawak VS9H Kuria Muria Is VS9K Kamaran Is Y2 East Germany ZC5 British No Borneo ZC6 Palestine ZD4 4X1 Gold Coast, Togoland ZS0 Penguin Is ZS9 Walvis Bay |
OLD/CHANGED PREFIXES
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K/W Calls Overseas ( Note all US Administered areas used W calls for novices, changed to K after upgrading) KA# - US Forces in Japan Now JA (Foreigners now 7J) KA1 was Phillipines now DU KA2,3,4,5, and 8 for Honshu. KA6 for Shikoku KA7 for island of Kyusho KA9 for Hokkaido KA6 Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa KA0 Iwo Jima. Now JD1 KB6 Baker/Canton/Howland/Am Pheonix Now KH1 KC4 Navassa Isle now KP1 KC6 - Eastern Carolines, Yap Isle New T8 Belau (some KC6 calls survive) KC6 Western Carolines Now V6 Micronesia KG1, XP1 - US Forces in Greenland Now OX KG6 - Guam Now KH2 (some KG6 calls survive) KG6IF - Marcus Island Now JD1 Minami Torishima KG6IG,IJ - Bonin, Volcano Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima Now JD1 Ogasawara KG6R - Rota Now KH0 KG6S - Saipan Now KH0 KG6T - Tinian Now KH0 KH6/KH7 - Kure Now KH7K KJ6 - Johnston Is Now KH3 KM6 - Midway Now KH4 KP4 Desecheo now KP5 KP6 - Palmyra/Jarvis, Kingman Reef group Now KH5, KH5K KR6 - Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa Now JA KR8 Non-US indigenous Okinawans KS6 - American Samoa Now KH8 KT1 US forces in the Tangier Zone. Now CN KV4 Virgin Is, Now KP2 KW6 - Wake/Sand Is Now KH9 KX6 - Marshall Is Now V7 KZ5 - Canal Zone Now HP Old USA Callsigns CR3 Guinea Bissau now J5 EA9 Rio de Oro FA France now F0
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FD1 France now F5 FD8 French Togoland now 5V FE1 France now F5 FE6 France are now F6 FE8 French Cameroons now TJ FI8 French Indo China FL Afars and Issas Terr. now J2 FL8 French Somaliland FT4 Tunisia now 3V FU8 New Hebrides now YJ GC now GJ or GU H5 Bophutatswana = ZS I6 Eritrea now E3 J8 Chosen (Korea) See Left Column for Old K Calls M1, 9A San Marino now T7 NY4 Guantanamo Bay OQ Belgian Congo now 9Q PJ Aruba now P4 S4 Ciskei = ZS T4 Venda = ZS UB Ukrainenow EM V9 Venda = ZS |
VQ9 Seychelles now S7 VR1 Gilbert, Ellice & Ocean Isles now T3 VR2 Fiji now 3D2 VR2 Hong Kong now VS6 VR3, VR7 Northern Line Islands now T32 VR4 Solomon Islandsnow H4 VR5 Tonga now A3 VR6 Pitcairn Islenow VP6 VR8 Tuvalu now T2 VS1 Singapore now 9V VS1 Straits Settlements VS2 Federated Malay States VS3 Non-Federated Malay States VS4 British No Borneo now 9M6 VS5 Brunei now V8 VS7 Ceylon now 4S VS8 Bahrein Islands VS9K Kamaran Isle VS9M Maldives now 8Q VS9O Oman now A4 VX9 Sable Isle VY0 Saint Paul Isle XU China now BA YM Danzig ZB1 Malta now 9H 1B Northern Cyprus( unofficial) 4J1F Malyj Vysotskij now R1MV
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Many Thanks To The Over 50 Hams From Around The World Who Contributed, Particularly VE3SYB, Kevin Cozens
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A BRIEF SUMMARY OF USA LICENSING Before 1912, call signs were just made up by the aspiring Ham. The Radio Act of 1912 issued the first licenses. Call signs for amateurs consisted of a number followed by two or three letters, thus e.g., 1AW, 1TS, 8XK etc. At first, an informal system of prefixes was used by amateurs where A was for Australia, B for Belgium, C for Canada, etc. The single-letter system worked until Amateur Radio spread to too many countries for this system to accommodate and in 1927, a new system took effect --a two-letter system with the first letter indicating the continent (E for Europe, A for Asia, N for North America, F for Africa, etc.) and the second letter indicating the country. Thus, stations in the 48 United States used a NU call. New international regulations became effective in 1929 and the USA was allocated the W prefix with K outside the 48 states. This call sign structure lasted for the rest of the 1920's and the 1930's. Stations in the 48 States had a 1x2 or 1x3 call sign beginning with "W" and containing a numeral from 1 to 9. Stations in Alaska, Hawaii, or other US Possessions had a "K" prefix. The zero numeral was not available. Boundaries were considerably different than today - for example the western sections of New York and Pennsylvania were in the 8th call district. Note that the suffixes beginning with X was reserved for experimental stations. Eventually, the FCC relaxed their position on the 1x2 and 1x3 X suffix calls, but the 2x3 call signs (such as KB6XYZ) are still reserved for experimental use. After World War II, the tenth call district was added. Except for the redrawing of the boundaries, things remained the same until 1951. In 1951, the FCC eliminated the old Class A, Class B, and Class C licenses, and started issuing the Novice, Technician, Conditional, General and Extra Class licenses. Advanced licenses came later. Novices could get a one year, non-renewable license, which had a special 2x3 call sign with the letter N following the W, e.g., WN2ODC, WN6ISB. With an upgrade, the "N" was dropped. Around 1953, the FCC was running out of W 1x3 call signs. So 1x3 K calls began to be issued in the 48 states, with US possessions receiving 2x2 and 2x3 "K" calls. Novice calls in the 48 states continued to have the N (such as KN4LOD) which was dropped after upgrading. About 1958, the FCC, was running out of K and W calls in some districts and began issuing 2x3 WA calls, then WB as necessary. Novices were given WV instead of WN. The V would change to an A or B upon upgrading. A few years later, the FCC reverted back to the Novice N scheme. With the uneven amateur population in the ten call districts, it took time for the "K" calls to run out in the some areas. In some districts, K calls were issued as late as 1964. As older hams became Silent Keys and the number of available 1x2 calls increased, the FCC instituted a program whereby those who held an Extra Class license for more than 25 years would be eligible for a 1x2. The length of time one needed to be an Extra was gradually reduced, until July 1977, when any Extra Class could apply for a 1x2. Effective in 1968 with "incentive licensing", any Extra class licensee who had been a licensed Amateur for 25 years or more could apply for a non-specific ("sequential") "1x2" call sign. Effective July 1, 1976, any Extra class licensee who had been a licensed Amateur for 25 years or more could select one specific "1x2" call sign. This added the ability to pick a specific call, but did not change eligibility. Effective October 1, 1976, anyone who had held an Amateur Extra class license since prior to November 22, 1967, could select one specific "1x2" call sign. Effective January 1, 1977, anyone who had held an Amateur Extra class license since prior to July 2, 1974, could select one specific "1x2" call sign. Effective April 1, 1977, anyone who held an Amateur Extra class license since prior to July 1, 1976, could select one specific "1x2" call sign. Effective July 1, 1977, any Amateur Extra class licensee could select one specific "1x2" call sign. Effective March 30, 1978 this was all replaced by the strict "sequential" system until the advent of "vanity" call sign selection in March 24, 1995. By the mid 70's some call areas ran out of WB. The FCC recycled older WA and WB calls, but when these ran out, they issued WD. WC was reserved for RACES/ Civil Defense stations. The author had WA6WTO issued in 1977 - a recycled Tech call. Somewhere in the 70's (1978 ??), 2x2 A calls were issued to extras, e.g., AA6AD. This didn't last long see 2x1's below. Around March 1978, the FCC adopted the current call sign structure. The AA series (2x1's) was opened up for extras e.g., AC6V. Later this extended to 2x1 N, K, W, e.g, ND6W, KA6K, WN6K. 2x2 calls were given to Advanced class and 1x3 N calls were allotted to Generals. When 2x1 extra calls ran out, the FCC started the 2x2 A calls e.g., AC6HZ About March 24, 1995, Vanity calls for a price was opened up. See URL: FCC Ruling OLD CALL LOOKUP PROJECT Located at the Lower Left Bar -- By N4MC Corrections and additions welcome. E-Mail: [email protected]
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This Page Last Updated: Ôåâðàëü 06, 2002