I assume this means I will have to break out my ‘B’ call again.
73 Gerald G4OIG
I started a new thread to avoid hijacking the 70cms fun day thread.
I am interested to hear what the feeling is about holding the old ‘B’ class calls along with a current class ‘1’ call.
I was first licensed as M1BUU - a class B call from 1997. I gained my class A call of M0CGH in 1999, as I was under 21 years of age at the time, I didn’t have to pay the licence fee for my licences, as they were free for those 21 years of age and under. I kept both of my calls current as it didn’t cost me anything to have both.
Fast forward to the amalgamation of the old class A and class B calls into the ‘class 1’ licence and I then had two calls of the same class. I looked into the matter at the time and my understanding was that you could choose whichever of the call signs you wanted to keep and pay the renewal fee for that licence( or indicate that you wish to continue with the licence if no fee was payable), the other call sign would then lapse due to non-payment. The wording implied that you were required to hold only one call sign.
See this document here:
I gave up my old class B call and continued with my class A call.
I note a few chasers have used a mixture of class A and class B calls to work activators to help the activator get their required 4 contacts - I personally don’t think that this in within the spirit of SOTA.
I personally don’t think that this in within the spirit of SOTA…
When you’re on a cold summit in fading daylight and struggling for a 4th on 2m FM in one of those “VHF vacuum” areas of the nation, then it is most certainly in the spirit of SOTA.
It’s a very very long time since I last benefitted from such an instance, and it has happened maybe 2 or 3 times in my 1190 activations, but it sure was appreciated at the time!
Whatever any opinion anyone may have about people holding multiple licenses, the simple fact is that they can legitimately hold these licenses. We are unlikely to influence Ofcom even if a contrary consensus emerges!
OK Brian, maybe I worded my point a little incorrectly.
I don’t have anything against people holding more than one call, in fact I think it would be nice to hold ‘M1BUU’ again.
My question really was, is it OK to hold both calls?
Ofcom make it clear that they want you to hold one call only. I guess if it comes down to ‘legality’ then there isn’t an issue.
Tom - I understand your point totally and I also had some very difficult activations in my early days of SOTA, but I disagree with you. I think the lines between ‘contacts’ are getting quite blurred when the only thing different between the QSO’s is the call sign. Maybe I might be more persuaded if a different mode or band was involved aswell!
In reply to M0CGH: My first call was a ‘B’ licence G6DTN. Subsequently I went on to obtain M0DFA, which I used on VHF to attain goathood and slothdom, allowing G6DTN to lapse. I was then looking for another challenge, and by that time the Class 1 licence had come into being and I was able to resurrect G6DTN, which call I use on the hf bands, the target being further goathood and slothdom. M0DFA is reserved by myself for operation at VHF and above. This band distinction is rigorously applied and has caused little confusion in the past, as I have only once operated on HF and VHF from the same hill on the same day.
I don’t see that the use of several personal calls by individual chasers is any different from a chaser using personal and club calls, or several chasers operating from the same location with common equipment.
I think the lines between ‘contacts’ are getting quite blurred when the only thing different between the QSO’s is the call sign…
No, I actually agree with you on this Colin. But faced with an option of descending at around 9pm having worked a chap on a second callsign, or holding out for a 5th in a VHF desert, well it was no contest.
It’s not particularly satisfying, but as such things account for less than 1% of my activations to date, and that these days on HF CW I struggle to makes less than 20 QSOs, I’m not overly concerned about it either!
Ofcom make it clear that they want you to hold one call only
Really? Do you have something that says so and not that undated, anonymous FAQ that comes from the RA days and not OFCOM? I ask because RA/OFCOM were always happy to take money off me for 2 calls for the same type of licence. (An A and a B before WRC 2003 and then for 2x CEPT 1 after.) Then they became free and they were happy to issue me with 2 validation docs. In addition, they’ve been happily allowing people to reinstate expired former B licences for some time without issue.
I know there have been musings before and I did hear mention that recently they were looking to clean up the database. But that was essentially revoking all the earlier lesser licences that people accumulate as the follow the 3 stage incentive path. i.e in Jimmy’s case now he has 2E0EYP he’d lose M3EYP. Then when he gets an M0 he’d have to give up 2E0EYP. But that story seems to have gone quiet.
As for using different calls from the same operator to qualify a summit, yes it feels contrived. But it’s left for people to make their own decision on whether they should or shouldn’t benefit from it. You can if you want to. I’ve had people have exchanges with me so I had their additional calls “in case” but I’ve always managed to squeeze enough unqiue contacts. I’ve been glad to have been offered the additional calls even though I’ve never used them. I have been close a few times. The main reason for learning some basic CW skills.
In reply to MM0FMF:
Recently OFCOM have not been allowing you to resurrect an old call.
If you’ve alredy done that your OK.
Not sure how this is working with progression through 3 teir system though?
Thanks for your replies, I have a better view of the situation now.
On the four contacts issue - I think that making the four separate contacts is an important part of the ‘challenge’ of SOTA. OK, you’ve done the walk, but this is a radio based scheme, so it’s important that radio skills are challenged too, in order to gain the summit points. I believe the activator should plan around how to best qualify the summit.
When I did my Lake District expedition on Monday 12th March - I thought that it would be quite hard to get my contacts on 30m CW using QRPp. I thought that I had more chance of netting contacts on 40m. I ran with this plan and modified a radio specially so that I could operate on 40m. The idea paid off.
OK, some might say ‘I only operate on this band’ or ‘I only operate on this mode’, well my answer is try something different - challenge yourself to acquire new skills.
When I gained my ‘A’ licence in the early seventies, there was no
choice, surrender of my ‘B’ licence was compulsory.
When I gained my licence in 1960, there was no choice … you either had a licence or you had none! There was no ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘Novice’ or anything else.
I have to say I am on Colin’s side in this debate. I do not think contacts with the same person who uses two or more different callsigns should count for more than one point towards qualifying a summit. I certainly have not counted such contacts towards any of my summit qualifying totals.
Recently OFCOM have not been allowing you to resurrect an old call.
IMNSHO, they should not allow anyone to resurrect a deceased person’s callsign either.
There was a time when such “resurrections” were allowed only for clubs, or exceptionally in the case of very close relatives. However, in recent years it seems that every old callsign is up for grabs by anyone who feels like making a claim for it - whether a family relative or not.
“I’m a friend of the family, and his great-niece wanted me to have his callsign” seems, these days, to be an acceptable reason for a newly-licensed amateur to pick up a two-letter suffix.
In reply to M0CGH:
I assume this means I will have to break out my ‘B’ call again.
73 Gerald G4OIG
In the late 70s i was going to go to college to do my city & guilds for the radio licence but to many hours at work put pay to that so after a illness in 2008 i put pen to paper and passed my foundation and that was the bestt thing i ever did ,The only thing that upsets is when i listen to my local repeater and hEAR a g6 station saying all M3 AND M6 should be made to pass there intermediate course with in three years of passing there foundation why ? Iam quite happy using ten watts would be interested to see what you and other parties think Dave M3XIE
There was a time when such “resurrections” were allowed only
for clubs, or exceptionally in the case of very close relatives.
However, in recent years it seems that every old callsign is up for
grabs by anyone who feels like making a claim for it - whether a
family relative or not.
“I’m a friend of the family, and his great-niece wanted me to
have his callsign” seems, these days, to be an acceptable reason
for a newly-licensed amateur to pick up a two-letter suffix.
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
Walt, I’m a little surprised that you didn’t echo my pet moan about new calls being available out of sequence! For us the callsign gives you a good idea of when the licence was issued, if you wanted a particular set of letters you had to wait until they came to the top of the pile!
The Americans would probably find our attitude to licenses a little odd: I gather that until recently if they moved to a new call area they had to surrender their licenses and take out a new one for that area, and a vacated call can immediately be snapped up by somebody else. Here we can keep our call as a personal identifier to the grave - I shall probably have mine on my grave stone! (Brian Carter G8ADD - gone QRT!)
Dave, you should have gone straight back to him and asked him why he didn’t upgrade his G6 within three years of passing the RAE - sauce for the gander!
I’ve said this before, one of the best operators I know is an M3, like you he is perfectly happy with 10 watts, he talks occasionally of upgrading just to shut up the type of idiot that you refer to but would stay QRP.
I agree with you Dave. Amateur radio is a hobby and you should be able to have your own agenda.
It’s very rare that I use more than 5 watts, and if I do it’s because I’m using someone else’s equipment, for example, at a special event station.
I don’t think that I would have progressed to the Advanced licence if I had entered the hobby recently. I discovered the ‘Novice’ course at my school too late. The only option available to me was the next RAE course and it was actually quite convenient, as I enrolled to do my engineering course at the same college, full time.
I’m glad I took the path I did though and I enjoy the home brewing aspect of the hobby very much now.
Walt, I’m a little surprised that you didn’t echo my pet moan about
new calls being available out of sequence! For us the callsign gives
you a good idea of when the licence was issued, if you wanted a
particular set of letters you had to wait until they came to the top
of the pile!
LOL!
I almost feel like that - I didn’t get to choose my call sign - my call sign of M0CGH was handed out, in sequence, in February 1999. I was very proud of my class ‘A’ call when I was 19. Now that I’m in my 30’s my call sign could almost look to be new at first glance, not 13 years old!
I suppose it’s silly really, but I think that people do cherish their call signs, they represent dedication, hard work and financial commitment and I’m not gonna argue with that!
