Kutsukäytännöstä Yhdysvalloissa

Jussi OH1ZK kysyi Gus:lta K2GT, joka workkii Hawaiilta, että mikä tämä USA:n kutsukäytäntö oikein on. Huhtikuussa 2020 hän sai seuraavan selventävän vastauksen:

Hi Jussi,

That is a question I have been asked many times before. Perhaps I should add the explanation to my QRZ page! It is a long answer to a short question.

When I was first licensed in 1962, all call signs in the US were based on where you lived. I lived in New York, and was issued a "2" call sign. When I went off to college in Massachusetts, I was allowed to get a secondary call sign for my college address in Massachusetts, and was issued a "1" call sign, but could still keep my original.

In 1978, that all changed. The rules changed, and you could only have one call sign. However, no matter what call area you lived in, you could keep it or, if you moved to another area, you could replace it. It was your choice, but you only got one call sign. I moved to California and traded in my WA2 for a WA6.

In 1996 the FCC started a lottery, where you could pay extra, and get the call sign of your choice. Living in California at the time, my first choice was K6GT, but that went to someone else and I got my second choice, K2GT.

Unfortunately, the FCC has no interest in DXCC entities. I have always thought they should allow people in Hawaii, Alaska, and other separate DXCC entities to get a call sign there, while keeping their original. I have had my K2GT call for almost 25 years, have many ham radio friends who know me by my call, and decided to keep it. Yes, it confuses some people, but because I am active on FT8 many hams know that I am in Hawaii. I stay away from contests, because some contest rules require me to sign as KH6/K2GT which totally confuses the other op.

The problem with someone working me and then seeing I am in Hawaii is usually a pleasant surprise. (I get "Are you really in Hawaii?" emails all the time.) The problem is much worse for people who move from Hawaii to the mainland to places like Texas or Alabama and choose to keep their KH6 call signs. They get angry emails when the FT8 software says Hawaii, but the QRZ.com pages says Alabama. i think the FCC should not allow that, but they really do not care. They have a bureaucratic system and follow it to the letter.

There is a possibility you may have a call if you are a radio club. Some hams in Hawaii who have mainland calls will start a “club” by getting 3 friends to sign the application and make up a club with a fake name and their address, they are trustee. I am not interested in doing that just to beat the system.

One final note. LOTW requires me to upload my contacts 3 times, K2GT, KH6/K2GT, and K2GT/KH6. Even though all those calls are linked on LOTW, they would not match. This may have been fixed in the latest TQSL, although it is not in their notes.

I am sorry for the long explanation and hope I have answered your question. Thank you for the recent contact!

73 and Aloha, Gus K2GT