ab9bzAug 29, 2025
@hamchallenge My first #hamradio callsign, KB9YQN was a first issue. I changed it to AB9BZ for extra, also a first issue. #HC04S
Show threadRichardMay 13, 2025

2/2 #hc04s

According to a 1957 issue, when she was 19, _tovarisch_ Partin Amalia YO3YL was studying CW. It further describes her progress from 70 to 100 LPM (14 to 20 WPM) and participation in local contests, from September 1955 to March 1957. She was hoping to become a naval comms operator and an RF technician.

Welp, that's it for digging old callsigns, 3YL is way more interesting than 9GND.

RichardMay 13, 2025

#HC04S #HAMChallenge

In Romania, calls are allocated on the basis of unique suffixes. If someone requests YO9GND, I can't request YO3GND. We refer to each other on suffix alone.

That 9GND call was not renewed and released back to the pool in Aug 2022. I picked it up in 2023. No idea I was this close - until today.

Mr. Ariciu, the previous GND lessee, as the public record states, is living in Prahova. I couldn't find anything in old contest scores, logs, or magazines. Not even a qrz page.

Lars DC4LWJan 26, 2025

I knew that my call sign was used by another person before as I received a QSL card from a time, when I did not own this call sign. And I also knew, that the prefix DC4 was used in norther Germany in the past, as an older amateur radio operator located me into that region. And most probably the previous owner succeeded in an old class 2 exam, so for VHF/UHF only or never took a morse exam.

@hamchallenge #HC04S #hamchallenge

Ed W8EMV Jan 23, 2025

@hamchallenge #HC04S

W8EMV belonged to Victor Smith of Medina, Ohio who had the call at the very least between 1930 and 1960. All of the callbooks I found have him at the same address in Medina.

Find-a-grave at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/244220676/victor-smith has him born 1905, died in 1993. [Update: 1998] Can't find more info about him on a first go, no SK notices or obituaries are evident.

It very much looks like the 1x3 call signs of that era were sequentially issued but I don't know that part of the history.

Victor Smith (1905-1993) - Find a Grave Memorial

Show threadDC1TC – TobiasJan 22, 2025

@hamchallenge #HC04S

I found no indication of somebody owning DC1TC between Horst and me, so it’s very likely that I’m the second owner of that call.

And to answer part 3 of the challenge: These days there is no indication of geographical location for German callsigns anymore.

Sources I used:
https://www.dl4no.de/thema/rufzeich.htm
https://www.darc.de/einsteiger/amateurfunkausbildung/#c152704
https://archive.org/details/dlarc
http://qrzcq.me/do5ssb/BNetzA/Calls/

Rufzeichen und Lizenzklassen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Show threadDC1TC – TobiasJan 22, 2025
@hamchallenge #HC04S
In 1998, class C became class 2, which got access to shortwave bands in 2003 and was then merged into the „new“ full class A in 2005.
In a callbook from July 2016, Horst was still listed as the owner of the callsign, which means he owned it at least 1992 to 2016. I found an obituary with matching name and region online dated October 2016. It’s very likely that Horst kept the callsign until becoming Silent Key.
Show threadDC1TC – TobiasJan 22, 2025

@hamchallenge #HC04S

In March 2023, I upgraded to the full CEPT license and picked the callsign DC1TC.

The DC prefix started out as a no CW and VHF only callsign class (class C), which was introduced in 1967. In a callbook from 1981 there were no DC1 callsigns whatsoever, the first callbook I found with a reference to DC1TC was from 1992 and the callsign belonged to Horst H. It must have been issued for the first time between 1981 and 1992, likely to Horst as the first owner.

DC1TC – TobiasJan 22, 2025

My first callsign was the CEPT Novice License (class E) callsign DO1TC.

The callsign block DO was introduced in 1998 for class 2 (VHF/UHF-only), which became class E in 2005.
Historic callsign data for Germany is sparse. The references I found indicated that it belonged to Jürgen in 2007, who I found again as DB3JB with a full CEPT license (Class A) in a callbook from 2015.

I owned the call DO1TC from August 2022 until March 2023. And in 2024, it already got a new owner.

@hamchallenge #HC04S

DF5GOJan 21, 2025

I started ham radio with a class C (VHF & up) licence and my first call sign was DC8TD. It seems that it was only issued once before in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

After pasing the morse code test I was issued my current DF5GO. That call sign was also issued only once before. Surprisingly the previous holder lived in the town where I grew up.

Source: old call books available at https://archive.org/details/dlarc

@hamchallenge #HamChallenge #HC04S #amateurradio #hamradio #Amateurfunk

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