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Why 1x2 or 2x1 ?

Discussion in 'Survey Center' started by NN4RH, Oct 3, 2018.


Why do you want a 1x2 or 2x1 vanity callsign ?

  1. Old hams will respect me if I have a short callsign

  2. New hams will respect me if I have a short callsign

  3. It will give me an advantage in a DX pileup

  4. I can't remember any callsign longer than four characters

  5. Other (Explain in reply)

  6. I have no interest in having a 1x2 or 2x1 callsign

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  1. NN4RH

    NN4RH Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    It’s morbid only if you are hoping someone will die so that the callsign becomes available.

    Otherwise, it’s about the same as waiting for a good parking spot at the Walmart.
    N6HCM, W0AQ and W7UUU like this.
  2. NN4RH

    NN4RH Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    You don’t “owe” anybody anything. It’s just a question. You don’t have to answer.
  3. WG7X

    WG7X Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Got mine totally new and shiny in 1987. When I kick the bucket, I plan to haunt the new "WG7X" to ensure that he (or she!) meets my standards!
    KN4LGM, K8PG, WA7PRC and 2 others like this.
  4. W2AI

    W2AI QRZ Lifetime Member #240 Platinum Subscriber Life Member QRZ Page

  5. W0AQ

    W0AQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    I have a 1X2 callsign. I do not expect respect from new, or old, hams because I have it. Respect is earned and should not be given because of a short callsign. Respect should be given based on accomplishments, operating practices, and more than anything else, how you treat other people. For anyone to indicate that they sought a particular callsign for any reason that involved "respect" is a surprise to me.

    If I thought that I was going to fool other people into believing that I had been licensed longer than the 35 years than I have been licensed, it would not be because of my callsign. I was licensed with a 2X3 callsign and I kept the same call from Novice through Technician, General, Advanced and Extra Class licenses (along with the 20 WPM test).

    If I were looking for recognition, I would have changed my callsign every time I upgraded. I didn't.

    When the vanity callsign program was announced, I thought long and hard about whether or not I would change callsigns as I was attached to my callsign; it was who I was just as much as my name - at least in my mind.

    I decided to go for a 1X2 callsign for one reason only; that I would personally enjoy holding it. I received my vanity callsign on the first day that Gate 2 callsigns were issued.

    It is not "morbid" to hold the callsign of a silent key any more than it is to live in the house of a person that passed away. You don't actually hold the callsign of a person that is dead. You hold a callsign that was previously held by a person that passed away. I did research into the two gentlemen that previously held both my U.S. and Canadian calsigns and posted a small tribute to them on my web page, solely as a sign of respect.
    W1BR and K3XR like this.
  6. KJ4VTH

    KJ4VTH Ham Member QRZ Page

    Wanted one but have changed my mind. :p
  7. KY1K

    KY1K Ham Member QRZ Page

    Let me tell you a little story about the VERY FIRST TIME that I used a ham radio. I was always a SWL, decoding everything from plane ADSB and unencrypted pager text, to PSK31.

    I thought it would be fun to join the ham community so I took the test. I waited the week for my callsign and my Baofeng to arrive (I wasn't going to spend tons of money when I didn't know if I'd enjoy it) and researched the local repeaters, and the ones where I'd be in just a few days on vacation.

    Finally everything arrived. I was a "KC" 2x3 call. I programed the repeaters in and listened for a few minutes. Hearing nothing I made a call. Immediately someone else put out a call and started a conversation with their friend hogging the repeater for awhile. This happened twice by different people that day!

    I decided to try again another day. I took my handheld along on vacation. On the first day there, I put out a call on that repeater, and got a response! Unfortunately not the one I was hoping for.

    "KC?? What a Noob! Go back to CB where you belong and leave the repeaters for the REAL hams to use!"

    I immediately tossed my radio in the hotel garbage and swore I'd never waste another cent on that hobby. I didn't even think about radio for almost a year.

    Then I got a great deal on a used HF rig. I decided to try again, immediately putting in a request for the shortest callsign I could at the time. Still having no interest in talking to anyone, I cut the cord off the microphone and used it to make a computer cable.

    To this day I have no interest in voice modes and probably never will. Maybe if I had a 1x2 that first day, those clowns would have given me some RESPECT and things would be different.
  8. WG7X

    WG7X Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    So, as a semi-interested bystander, let me ask you a question: Do you ever have any problems with having an Alaskan call in Rhode Island?

    Back in the day, my first call sign was a "KB7". I never had any problems, but that was a different place and time. Spent a lot of time on the Novice bands doing CW. That was kind of traditional even in 1987.

    The real problem here is that with today's screwed up licensing scheme, we put the beginners on VHF/UHF almost immediately. Unfortunately, that is exactly where most of the old hidebound curmudgeons hang out. Had it not been for the repeater experience, you might have had an entirely different idea of what ham radio is all about.

    Personally, to this day, I have little to nothing to do with repeaters, for the reason I mentioned above. FM simplex, sure. Two meter SSB? Tried it. It was OK, but the same guys are there day after day.

    No, its HF for me. A different experience every day. Meet new folks, do new stuff. Lately, like a lot of folks, been hanging out on FT8. Weird little mode, but worthy nonetheless.
    73 Gary
  9. KY1K

    KY1K Ham Member QRZ Page

    I've been in RI less than a year and only do digital modes. Only one person has commented to me about being disappointed. Many have thanked me for RI, also a rare state. At first I signed "/1" but had problems with confirmations so stopped that.

    The numbering system is so messed up these days people are used to it I think. (I do think it helps DX a bit, not that I chase awards)

    Ive tried for a new callsign twice and missed out both times. One I really want comes up next month I believe, and another in august. I've also been looking at 2x2 calls if I miss out on my first choice.
    WG7X likes this.
  10. WG7X

    WG7X Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    @KL1T, thanks.

    Just wondered. I spent a year in North Carolina some time ago and was /4 during that time. Like you, I felt no need to change to a four-land call, mostly because I knew I was headed back to the west coast!

    Confused one OM when I first showed up on the local repeater... He came on and asked if I,was a Russian! I had to tell him that my prefix was WG7, not UG7! He was a nice old gent tho, and we both had a good laugh over that.

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