Section 97.119(c) says that one or more indicators may be included with the assigned call sign. Each indicator must be separated from the call sign by the slant mark (/) or by any suitable word that denotes the slant mark. If an indicator is self-assigned, it must be included before, after, or both before and after, the call sign. No self-assigned indicator may conflict with any other indicator specified by the FCC rules or with any prefix assigned to another country.  The International Telecommunications Union assigns nationality indicators to countries.  The combinations of characters and digits in its assignments are, therefore, unavailable for a self-assigned identifier.  Read BE Informed No. 14 ABOUT THAT STATION IDENTIFICATION for information on Section 97.119, Station identification, and excerpts from the pertinent FCC webpage. 

   There are three indicators specified by the FCC rules for recent upgrades, and thus not available for self-assignment: AE, AG and KT.  See Section 97.119(f).  Also unavailable are the three letter combinations assigned (Section  2.302) to our military:  AAA-AEZ and ALA-ALZ (Department of the Army); AFA-AKZ (Department of the Air Force); and NAA-NZZ (jointly to the Department of the Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard).  Additionally, the FCC webpage says that when a station is transmitting under the privileges afforded by an amateur service license granted by the Government of Canada or an amateur service license granted by any other country with which the United States has a multilateral or bilateral agreement, an indicator consisting of the appropriate letter-numeral designating the station location must be included in the station identification announcement.

   The station location letter-numeral indicators for reciprocal operation are:

   Alabama W4; Alaska KL7; American Samoa KH8; Arizona W7; Arkansas W5; Baker Island KH1; California W6; Colorado W0; Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands KH0; Commonwealth of Puerto Rico KP4; Connecticut W1; Delaware W3; Desecheo Island, PR KP5; District of Columbia W3; Florida W4; Georgia W4; Guam KH2; Hawaii KH6; Howland Island KH1; Idaho W7; Illinois W9; Indiana W9; Iowa W0; Jarvis Island KH5; Johnston Island KH3; Kansas W0; Kentucky W4; Kingman Reef KH5K; Kure Island, HI KH7; Louisiana W5; Maine W1; Maryland W3; Massachusetts W1; Michigan W8; Midway Island KH4; Minnesota W0; Mississippi W5; Missouri W0; Montana W7; Navassa Island KP1; Nebraska W0; Nevada W7; New Hampshire W1; New Jersey W2; New Mexico W5; New York W2; North Carolina W4; North Dakota W0; Ohio W8; Oklahoma W5; Oregon W7; Palmyra Island KH5; Peale Island KH9; Pennsylvania W3; Rhode Island W1; South Carolina W4; South Dakota W0;Tennessee W4; Texas W5; Utah W7; Vermont W1; Virgin Islands KP2; Virginia W4; Wake Island KH9; Washington W7; West Virginia W8; Wilkes Island KH9; Wisconsin W9; Wyoming W7. 

Reserved for our military: 

   Article 19 of the international Radio Regulations addresses identification of stations.  It requires that all transmissions shall be capable of being identified either by identification signals or by other means;  all transmissions with false or misleading identification are prohibited; where practicable and in appropriate services, identification signals should be automatically transmitted in accordance with relevant ITU-R Recommendations.  Section 19.50.1 says:

    For call sign series beginning with B, F, G, I, K, M, N, R, W and 2, only the first character is required for nationality identification. In the cases of half series (i.e. when the first two characters are allocated to more than one Member State), the first three characters are required for nationality identification. (WRC-03)

W3BE RECOMMENDATIONS

   Appending a self-assigned indicator to your FCC-assigned station call sign will not be meaningful to your listeners unless they comprehend the meaning of your indicator.  The following schedule is recommended as short self-assigned indicators suitable for telegraphy and compliant with Section 97.119(c).

SPECIAL OPERATION

AA To alert listeners that the station is transmitting under the special operations rules for an auxiliary station (Section 97.201). 

 

KB To alert listeners that the station is transmitting under the special operations rules for a beacon station (Section 97.203). 

   Do not use the single letter “B.” It is an I.T.U.-assigned nationality identifier for the People’s Republic of China and, as such, its usage as a self-assigned identifier would be non-compliant with Section 97.119(c).

 

NR To alert listeners that the station is transmitting under the special operations rules for a repeater station (Section 97.205). 

   Do not use the single letter “R.”  It is an I.T.U.-assigned nationality identifier for the Russian Federation and, as such, its usage as a self-assigned identifier would be non-compliant with Section 97.119(c).

PORTABLE

   To alert listeners that the station is transmitting from a place where the amateur service is regulated by the FCC, but not from the address shown for it on the ULS, append the FCC-assigned call sign with the number of the VEC Region (Appendix 2, Part 97). 

13. Hawaii and Pacific Insular areas.

Examples:        [call sign]/13                7/[call sign]/1               5/[call sign]

   *Use K2 instead of the single digit 2.  It is an I.T.U.-assigned nationality identifier for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Its usage as a self-assigned identifier would be non-compliant with Section 97.119(c). 

VEHICLULAR

   To alert listeners that the station is transmitting from a vehicle traveling in places where the amateur service is regulated by the FCC, append to the FCC-assigned call sign:

 

WA for airborne vehicle.

WM for land vehicle.

WW for waterborne vehicle.

 

   Do not use the letters “M” or “MM.”  They are I.T.U.-assigned nationality identifiers for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, as such, their usage as a self-assigned identifier would be non-compliant with Section 97.119(c).

FAQ

   Q.  Does my station identification announcement have to include a self-assigned indicator?

   A.  No.  It is strictly your choice.  If you do decide to include a self-assigned identifier, make certain that it does not conflict with any other indicator specified by the FCC rules or with any prefix assigned to another country. 

    Make certain that you know why you want to include a self-assigned indicator:  Special operation? Portable?  Vehicular?  Look Ma! No hands? 

   Q.  What are the prefixes that the I.T.U. has assigned to the United States?

   A.  They are AA-AL, AAA-ALZ, K, KA-KZ, KAA-KZZ, N, NA-NZ, NAA-NZZ, W, WA-WZ, WAA-WZZ.  Not all of these possibilities, however, are used by the FCC for assignment to amateur stations.  Read Section 2.302.

   A.  One-character prefixes are where the I.T.U. has assigned an entire block to the country and has declared the first character in the block as constituting the nationality identification. 

   They are: B (People’s Republic of China); F (France); G (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland); I (Italy); K (United States); M (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland); N (United States), R (Russian Federation); W (United States); and single digit 2 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).  These assignments are subject to change by the I.T.U.

    A.  Basically most every combination.  Read http://www.ac6v.com/prefixes.htm#PRI.

 

   A.   Select from AA-AL, K, KA-KZ, KAA-KZZ, N, NA-NZ, W, WA-WZ and WAA-WZZ avoiding, of course, AE, AG, KT, KH0, KH1, KH2, KH4, KH5,  KH5K, KH6, KH7, KH9, KL7; KP1, KP2, KP4, KP5, W0, W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W7, W8 and W9.   

   Also, the following single letters and digits may be available:  A, C, D, E, H, J, L, O, P, Q, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z, 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.  The blocks of call signs having these characters as the first letter are allocated to more than one country and the I.T.U. has declared the first two characters in each block to constitute the nationality identification.  Check for availability with a website specializing in international call sign arrangements.  Read http://www.ac6v.com/prefixes.htm#PRI.

   Q.  If we cannot use the three letter combination groups assigned to the military, can we use the two-letter versions from those groups?

   A.  Yes.  Section 2.302 assigns the three letter combinations to the military.  They are, therefore, the combinations that are not available to us for self-assigned indicators.  The two letter combinations, however, are not so assigned. 

   Q.  Does that mean that there is no requirement for a repeater to have a self-assigned indicator and adding such an indicator for when the repeater IDs in CW is nothing more than a “courtesy” and can be useful for someone driving by and hears the ID in CW?

   A.  Exactly. 

    Q.  Be advised that in the instructions for amateurs visiting and operating in CEPT countries, the indicator M for mobile operation is required to be used.

   A.  Our United States is not one of the CEPT countries, so those rules do not apply to amateur stations transmitting from places where the FCC regulates communications.  Our FCC rules, obviously, do not apply in CEPT countries.  What must or may be done in a CEPT country is up to the local regulatory authority.  But here, thankfully, there is no such rigid “how-to” requirement. 

   It is the station licensee’s choice whether or not to exercise our privilege, under Section 97.119(c), of including one or more indicators with our call sign.  Simply make certain that your self-assigned indicator does not conflict with any other indicator specified by the FCC rules or with any prefix assigned to another country.  Understanding just what it is that you want to notify your listeners to know about your station will help you with this.       

   Q.  You did not answer the question of whether it is compliant to sign /B for a beacon station ID, since B is supposedly a prefix assigned to another country.  Actually, while the entire BAA-BZZ block is assigned to China, I don't believe a single B is used in Chinese amateur station identifications.  

   A. Whether or not the foreign country does or does not use the prefix block assigned to it by the I.T.U. is beside the point.  That is the foreign country’s prerogative to decide.  Because the entire BAA-BZZ block is assigned to the People’s Republic of China, B is its nationality identification.  To use it as a self-assigned identifier in places where the FCC regulates the amateur service obviously would not be compliant with Section 97.119(c).   

   Translation:  For an FCC-licensed station to append B as a self-assigned identifier would not be compliant with Section 97.119(c).

   Q.  The person asking me the question seems to think one is on a salt water ocean and the other on a fresh water lake.  But if they verbally sign call sign “slash M.”   Would that cover either?

   A.  The indicators M and MM are unavailable for self-assigned indicators to an amateur station licensed by the FCC.  Section 97.119(c) says that no self-assigned indicator may conflict with any prefix assigned to another country.  In this instance, M is assigned as the nationality identification to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  The national regulatory authorities appear to assign M to amateur stations in England and MM to those in Scotland. 

   If it is important that listeners know whether the vehicle is on salt or fresh water, append either indicator /WWS or /WWF. 

   Q.  Our frequency coordinator has recommended that each repeater append its call sign with /R.  As I interpret what has appeared in your column, the letter of the rule and the intent of the rule are a bit "fuzzy."  There is a 'gray zone' here when repeaters, mobiles, maritime mobiles, beacons, etc. use the /whatever suffix.  If the intent of appending an identifier to a FCC-assigned call sign, such as /R, is to identify a repeater, and not to identify itself as a Russian station, is it compliant?

   A. No, because R is assigned to the Russian Federation as the nationality identification, to use it as a self-assigned identifier in places where the FCC regulates the amateur service would not be compliant with Section 97.119(c).   

   Translation:  For an FCC-licensed station to append R as a self-assigned identifier would not be compliant with Section 97.119(c).  Use /NR or NR/ instead.

   Q.  Can I use [call sign]/1 or any of the other VEC Regions?

   A.  Numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (0), 11, 12 and 13:  yes.   Number 2:  no.  The single digit “2” constitutes the nationality identification for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, as such, and, as such, their usage as a self-assigned identifier would be non-compliant with 97.119(c). 

   Use /K2 or K2/ instead.

   Q.  My reading of Section 97.119(c) is that the prohibition against including a self-assigned indicator that conflicts with an indicator specified by the FCC Rules or with any prefix assigned to another country applies only when the indicator is before the call sign, but does not apply when it is after.  

   A.  That prohibition means what it says:  One or more indicators may be included with the call sign. Each indicator must be separated from the call sign by the slant mark (/) or by any suitable word that denotes the slant mark. If an indicator is self-assigned, it must be included before, after, or both before and after, the call sign.

April 12, 2011

Supersedes all prior editions