A lot of us here got our call signs during the First Great Rush at the end of
1976. I'll bet every one of us has a story. Much gnashing of teeth over what
call sign to ask for. At that time, in most call areas only a handful of "K"
1X2 call signs had ever been issued (exceptions being the second, sixth, and
maybe second call area, I think). No "N" 1X2 calls ever issued.
There certainly was a "rush," because we knew that when the W, K, and N 1X2s
were gone, that would be that. A 2X1 call sign wouldn't have the cachet of a
1X2. At least, that's what I thought.
I've never regretted my own decision: K1TN. Never before issued. Not a "W1"
retread. A connection with the call sign I had then, WA1STN. Short and sweet on
CW.
I remember really wanting to keep some continuity between my old call sign and
my new one. When the FCC first offered preferred call signs a few years
earlier, it was for Extra Class licensees with 25 years licensed under their
belts, and every month for a while QST ran a little box called "Who The Devil
is Who?" -- an old call vs new call table. QST didn't do that during The Great
Rush because, I think, there were just too many of us.
My switch didn't result in some horrible CW call sign so I didn't have to think
about that. But there's a reason why, for example, my friend WA1SSH did not ask
for W1SH. Although, a call sign that's also an English word would be sort of
cool.
No call sign can be perfect for contesting. These days I get called K1AR,
K1TTT, K1TR, W1TN, K0TN, and worse. The one I really hate being called is KA1TN
(no offense to the real KA1TN).
A funny thing happened on the way to those Great Rush call signs. The ARRL
International DX Competition was two weekends per mode then, and we were all
waiting for our new licenses/call signs to arrive between the two weekends.
What would I do if I operated as WA1STN the first weekend (which I did) and the
new K1TN license arrived before the running of the second weekend? This was a
real concern.
In my semi-official capacity at the time I asked someone else to check for us.
The answer from the FCC was, tacitly, just don't sign the new license and act
as if it didn't arrive until after the second weekend.
The point turned out to be moot, as the new call signs didn't arrive until
later. I always had a feeling that somebody at the FCC (the Gettysburg
processing office) got wind of this and put a mail tray of brand new call signs
aside for a while until the dust settled. "K1TN" showed up in my mailbox about
two or three days after the second weekend of the contest.
What a thrill, at age 28, to get an original, 1X2 call sign! Especially after
laboring under 2X3 call signs for nearly 16 years. These danged Kids nowadays
don't know how lucky they are to be able to ask for any danged call sign they
want and they don't even have to learn the Code. Harrumph. Get off my lawn.
Jim Cain
The original, the one-and-only K1TN
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