Crestview - WAAZ and W4AAZ

[Poledo]

Is it just a coincidence that the Ham repeater in Crestview has the W4AAZ call sign while the local FM goes by WAAZ?

 

[KeithE4]

Is it just a coincidence that the Ham repeater in Crestview has the W4AAZ call sign while the local FM goes by WAAZ?

Yes. The FCC divisions that assign broadcast and amateur callsigns are completely unrelated.

 

[CTListener]

Yes. The FCC divisions that assign broadcast and amateur callsigns are completely unrelated.

Although individual amateur operators or clubs can request so-called "vanity calls," and those can be based on anything, including a familiar broadcaster's call. For instance, if ham KB4ZYX retires from WAAZ after 40 years of loyal service or is just a big fan of WAAZ,that ham could request a change to W4AAZ as a sort of tribute if that call is available. If the FCC tells him that it isn't, then he could pick out another call or just stick with KB4ZYX. (The so-called "1 by 3" ham calls all were originally issued many decades ago, and most of the original holders have died. Clubs can hold on to them as long as they want, which is probably the case with the one that runs the W4AAZ repeater. Hams consider the 1 by 3's more prestigious than the 2 by 3s, which have been around since the 1960s and are still being issued.)

 

[KeithE4]

Although individual amateur operators or clubs can request so-called "vanity calls," and those can be based on anything, including a familiar broadcaster's call. For instance, if ham KB4ZYX retires from WAAZ after 40 years of loyal service or is just a big fan of WAAZ,that ham could request a change to W4AAZ as a sort of tribute if that call is available. If the FCC tells him that it isn't, then he could pick out another call or just stick with KB4ZYX. (The so-called "1 by 3" ham calls all were originally issued many decades ago, and most of the original holders have died. Clubs can hold on to them as long as they want, which is probably the case with the one that runs the W4AAZ repeater.

Very true, but that may or may not be the case here (I didn't look either of them up).

Hams consider the 1 by 3's more prestigious than the 2 by 3s, which have been around since the 1960s and are still being issued.)

Only if they start with W, first assigned in 1928, although "non-lettered" calls from that era, such as 1AW (which became W1AW) could go back to 1912, or K, which started being assigned on the US mainland (they had been used pre-war in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico) in the early 1950s. W and K 1x3 calls are not assigned sequentially, and haven't been since the early 1960s, although they can be vanity calls.


N 1x3 calls such as N9ABC weren't assigned until the callsign restructuring in 1978 (they had been Navy MARS calls prior to that). That restructuring also ended the W/K/WA/WB/WD sequence and started over, beginning with KA.

 

[Poledo]

Thanks for the information guys. I just happened upon a newspaper article today about the North Okaloosa Amateur Radio Club that listed the repeater's calls and frequency. Especially with the number 4 appearing similar to the letter A, it looks obvious that some ham wanted the W4AAZ calls.
If a ham has vanity calls issued, do the FCC issued calls (2 by 3) still apply in any way? Are they retired or put back in circulation?

Wiki legend has it that the WAAZ (FM) calls were not vanity but instead issued in alphabetical order by the FCC. I don't know much about ham.

 

[KeithE4]

Thanks for the information guys. I just happened upon a newspaper article today about the North Okaloosa Amateur Radio Club that listed the repeater's calls and frequency. Especially with the number 4 appearing similar to the letter A, it looks obvious that some ham wanted the W4AAZ calls.
If a ham has vanity calls issued, do the FCC issued calls (2 by 3) still apply in any way? Are they retired or put back in circulation?

A vanity callsign replaces any previous callsign. For example, when I applied for and received WW7KE in 2007, it replaced my previous sequentially-assigned KK7OT.

[/quote]Wiki legend has it that the WAAZ (FM) calls were not vanity but instead issued in alphabetical order by the FCC. I don't know much about ham.[/QUOTE]

Maybe there was a WAAZ (AM) in the Crestview area back when the first sequential 4-letter callsigns were issued in 1922. Again, I didn't look it up.

Hams get a sequentially-issued callsign appropriate for his/her license class when first licensed. Right now, in the "lower 48," those are 2x2 starting with AA thru AG or AI thru AK for Extras (AH is for Hawaii and the other Pacific islands, and AL is for Alaska), or 2x3 starting with K for Generals and Technicians.

http://www.ae7q.com/query/stat/LicenseUSA.php

 

[tomservo]

I'm pretty sure it's on purpose since it's a vanity call that was issued in 2012. But I'll ask the repeater trustee just to be sure. It's possible someone in the club works or worked for the station, or maybe they donated money or equipment (or tower space) to the club in the past.

 

[Groove1670]

WAAZ installed the same playback software we use, and the on air sound has improved by leaps and bounds.

 

[Poledo]

I wonder if I have a radio with a stereo monitor? Old Strobey Rob used to complain that WAAZ 104.7 didn't broadcast in stereo, I've never noticed anything anything wrong with the sound quality other than some of the songs are old recordings and that AM like segway to TOH CBS News.

Groovy, got any contacts that can let you know if W4AAZ and WAAZ are friends?

 

[tomservo]

I seem to recall that they did upgrade to stereo on the transmitter sometime several years ago, but they never upgraded anything else, so they were putting out a stereo pilot but mono audio. The last few times I've heard them clear enough to tell, they seem to be offering good stereo audio now, so it only took them… what… 40 years after everyone else on FM adopted it? LOL.

 

[Groove1670]

The board is a single channel mono console (I think the original) I don't know who w4aaz is, but I would imagine it is someone associated with the station. Look up the calls in the FCC database and that will tell you.