Lesson 2

ITU regions, international regulations, US call sign

In our previous lesson we looked at why it is important to have regulations and a regulating organization like the FCC. But radio waves do not recognize country borders and thus the issue of regulating radio waves is a global issue. Thus there was a need to form some type of means of coordinating the frequencies and their use on an international scale. The International Telecommunication Union was formed to assist in the management of frequency allocations. (Take special notice the U stands for Union.)

One of the responsibilities of the ITU was to designate how the station call signs of radio stations transmitting in any country would start. The United States was given the whole W, K, and N blocks and the partial A block consisting of AA to AL block (A block refers to all the letter number combinations possible starting with that letter or in some cases a number and a letter). Thus all radio stations with call signs starting with W, K, and N and AA through AL belong to the authority of the United States of America. Originally the stations starting with N or A were military stations but when more amateur station call signs were needed they were also used.

An Amateur call sign starts with the letters or number letter combination authorized by the ITU for that country. If you were to hear a station with a call sign starting with 5A and a number it would be a Libyan station because the 5A was issued to Libya by the ITU.

U. S. call signs will start with a letter as listed above if that letter is A then it will always be followed by another letter from A to L. W, K, and N may be followed by another letter so all U. S. call signs will start with 1 or 2 letters. That will be followed by a single number from 0 to 9 and then there will be 1 to 3 letters following.

An example of the above: KB3TMJ would be a U.S. Station. VE3TWJ would indicate the station is Canadian, UZ4FWD would originate in the Ukraine and KBL7766 is not an amateur radio station call sign.

Amateur radio call signs are assigned by the FCC Call in sequential order. After your call sign is assigned you can have it changed to another of your choosing if the call is available and if it follows the proper amateur call sign order. This program is called the vanity call sign program. There is a cost involved and the call sign must be applied for.

A club can apply for an amateur call sign for its club station through the FCC Club Station Call Sign Administrator. The FCC requires that the club membership consist of at least 4 licensed amateur radio operators to receive a club call.

One exception to the normal call sign sequence is a 1X1 (one by one) call. That is to say there is 1 letter, a number followed by 1 letter. This type of call can only be issued by the FCC for special events like the California State Fair in 2007. The call sign is only good for the time of the event.




T1B01
What is the ITU?
A. The International Telecommunications Utility
B. The International Telephone Union
C. The International Telecommunication Union
D. The International Technology Union
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T1B02
What is the purpose of ITU Regions?
A. They are used to assist in the management of frequency
allocations
B. They are useful when operating maritime mobile
C. They are used in call sign assignments
D. They must be used after your call sign to indicate your
location
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T1B03
What system does the FCC use to select new amateur radio call signs?
A. Call signs are assigned in random order
B. The applicant is allowed to pick a call sign
C. Call signs are assigned in sequential order
D. Volunteer Examiners choose an unassigned call sign
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T1B04
What FCC call sign program might you use to obtain a call sign containing your initials?
A. The vanity call sign program
B. The sequential call sign program
C. The special event call sign program
D. There is no FCC provision for choosing a your call sign
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T1B05
How might an amateur radio club obtain a club station call sign?
A. By applying directly to the FCC in Gettysburg, PA
B. By applying through a Club Station Call Sign Administrator
C. By submitting a FCC Form 605 to the FCC in Washington, DC
D. By notifying a VE team using NCVEC Form 605
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T1B06
Who is eligible to apply for temporary use of a 1-by-1 format
Special Event call sign?
A. Only Amateur Extra class amateurs
B. Only military stations
C. Any FCC-licensed amateur
D. Only trustees of amateur radio club stations
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T1B07
When are you allowed to operate your amateur station in a foreign
country?
A. When there is a reciprocal operating agreement between the
countries
B. When there is a mutual agreement allowing third party
communications
C. When authorization permits amateur communications in a foreign
language
D. When you are communicating with non-licensed individuals in
another country
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T1B08
Which of the following call signs is a valid US amateur call?
A. UZ4FWD
B. KBL7766
C. KB3TMJ
D. VE3TWJ
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T1B09
What letters must be used for the first letter in US amateur call signs?
A. K, N, U and W
B. A, K, N and W
C. A, B, C and D
D. A, N, V and W
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T1B10
What numbers are used in US amateur call signs?
A. Any two-digit number, 10 through 99
B. Any two-digit number, 22 through 45
C. A single digit, 1 though 9
D. A single digit, 0 through 9


Answers to today’s questions:
C, A, C, A, B, C, A, C, B, D