Planned OfCom licence review

Notices
41

In reply to MM0FMF:

If they do the same as the FCC then MM0FMF could be in the Channel Islands or wherever.

Of course , there is one answer to the shortage of callsigns in the future,
Bring back the morse test !!! :slight_smile:

73 de de Ken G3XQE diving for cover.

1 Like
42

In reply to G3XQE:

Of course , there is one answer to the shortage of callsigns in the
future, Bring back the morse test !!! :slight_smile:

In my case, I saw the introduction of the M3 licences as a way onto hf without taking the morse test (albeit with limited power). My path to a full licence was smoothed by the (in my opinion) totally useless morse recognition test. This resulted in 2 callsigns (M0DFA and G6DTN), and the subsequent removal of the morse test resulted in my having, effectively, two full calls. My choice was to keep both - one for VHF and above (M0DFA - Sloth and MG), and G6DTN for HF (ssb sloth, working on cw sloth and Iā€™ll get the HF MG sometime. Now, if it is finally deemed that I can only have on call, which shall I relinquish?

Regards, Dave, G6DTN

43

Iā€™d say that M0DFA has the edge on CW Dave.

Tom M1EYP

44

In reply to M0DFA:

Hi Dave;

Nice to hear you cw chasing along with Barry M0IML who I am copying at this moment on 40CW.

73 de Ken G3XQE

45

In reply to M1EYP:
I feel comfortable with G6DTN on cw (whether others do I donā€™t know, but I donā€™t have many unstarred chases) and M0DFA starts with too many ā€˜dahsā€™.
Iā€™d like to hang on to G6DTN until Iā€™ve got my goat.

Regards, Dave, G6DTN

46

Yes, G6 is definitely a better prefix in CW than M0. But DFA has a really nice rhythm as a suffix. Shame you canā€™t have G6DFA! (And good job you wonā€™t have M0DTN which would be a bit rubbish in CW!).

Tom M1EYP

47

In reply to M1EYP:

Traditionally ā€œbent wireā€ was supposed to sound nice on CW. However while learning CW I took a liking to ā€œfire exitā€.

48

Colin M1BUU and Sean M0GIA have both got excellent CW suffices, of which I am well jealous. Thereā€™s probably little dispute that Roy G4SSH has the best CW callsign in SOTA!

Tom M1EYP

49

In reply to M1EYP:

Thereā€™s probably little dispute that Roy G4SSH has the best CW callsign in SOTA!

Hmmā€¦

Maybe you should move to Ireland and request EI5ISH

Colin G8TMV

50

In reply to M1EYP:

I donā€™t think mine will be too bad if I ever get around to plugging in a key!

73

Brian G8ADD

51

My most common Morse callsign errors are confusing S and H, B and D, and U, V and 4ā€¦

It was once said that any program at Berkley inevitably expanded until it could send email. Does every conversation here inevitably expand until itā€™s discussing Morse?

73, Rick M0LEP

52

In reply to G8TMV:

Maybe you should move to Ireland and request EI5ISH

I was gutted when a friend of mine was issued GI4ISH and I wound up with 4ISJ.
To think I sent my application off before him too :frowning:

But then in those days you couldnā€™t pick a call, you were just issued the next one in the list.
Some of us have never held any other (UK) callsign to allow us the ā€œpleasureā€ of trying something different!
Pete
(always ā€¦4ISJ)

53

In reply to M1EYP:

My alter egoā€™s callsign G6GGP has a nice rhythm in CW, hardly disrupted by adding /P although the regional modifiers donā€™t sit so well with it.

All I need now is the courage to use it in anger :-s

73 de Paul G4MD

54

When I passed the morse test back in 1990, I had to surrender my GW7ATJ callsign in order to acquire G0PEB.
In 2009 I found that I could apply to Ofcom to have my previous call re-instated for the sum of 20pounds provided I had the necessary proof.
If Ofcom have now decided to reverse their decision, I presume they will reimburse my 20pounds :wink:

73
Robert
G0PEB / G7ATJ

55

The latest Ofcom consultation is now here:-

Peter
G1FOA

56

Indeed it is, and Ofcom - in characteristic fashion - have written reams of text about trivial, insignificant matters.

They have completely dodged any of the important issues, e.g.

  • are any changes needed to the present 3-tier licensing concept;
  • should there be any time limit applied to the Foundation and Intermediate grades of licence (which were sold to us under the banner of being ā€œtastersā€ to encourage newcomers into the hobby, with the prospect of subsequent advancement to higher levels;
  • and is there a need to introduce more sensible and enforcable incentives to progress to higher licence grades ā€¦ i.e. limitation of frequency privileges for the lower licence classes, rather than the present unenforceable and risible power differential.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

57

Perhaps the answer to those three questions is ā€œNoā€ Walt. Thereā€™s plenty I would put ahead of those matters in terms of importance.

58

In any case, why should they have needed to have ā€œsoldā€ something to us? They are the licensing authority, we do as we are told, end of story!

In any case, my opinion is contrary to yours, Walt, I think that in general the 3-tier system is excellent, I just wish it had been about in 1962! As for ā€œforcingā€, no, no, no, one size does not fit all for progressing up the ladder! Mind you, I think access to 5 megs is the best possible incentive for progressing to ā€œFullā€, itā€™s a terrific band!

Brian

59

The only people who donā€™t seem to understand how callsigns work are OFCOM themselves! The rest of the changes donā€™t seem too controversial. Things that probably need looking at are not included because it will cost money or lower profit.

60

I do find the concept of retaining your call prefix as per the main address regardless of where you operate from within the UK extremely bizarre. Who exactly is confused - the so-called ā€œstakeholdersā€ or a few complaining amateurs who havenā€™t grasped the system? Even Aleksandr Orlov could understand the principle behind the system - simples!

I agree the remainder of the proposals are much a do about nothing, but are overblown. Why write 50 words, when 2500 will do?