CALLs,

[Radio-Bored-Op]

so.... how many combinations are available with CALLs starting with
W and/ or K
( the answer should be the same )
or would it be different ???

and in the combinations I am including the letters that would never be
approved.
ie : W*** ( use your immigration)

_ if this thread gets enough silliness,
what are the percentage of used versus available ......
or available versus desirable... if you're feeling really ambitious.

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

obviously, not including
LP-fm _ just sticking to the
W/K followed by 3 letters

 

[PTBoardOp93]

There are 18,252 sets of call signs available starting with K, and an equal number starting with W.

It's simple combinatorics. 18252 = 26*26*27 (where 27 is because the last letter in the call can be blank)

I'm not sure there are valid calls the Commission would refuse. KRAP is licensed in rural Missouri after all.

 

[txchipk]

There are 18,252 sets of call signs available starting with K, and an equal number starting with W.

It's simple combinatorics. 18252 = 26*26*27 (where 27 is because the last letter in the call can be blank)

Yes and no. The FCC doesn't allow new 3 letter calls. Only the 3 letter calls active today are allowed. Under the rule that co-owned stations in different bands can share calls, a station with 4 letter calls could flip to a 3 letter call sign only if it is in a cluster with a station that has an existing 3 letter calls. KNOU 97.1 Los Angeles was allowed to become KNX-FM in 2021 because it is co-owned with existing KNX 1070, for example.

There are only about five dozen 3 letter calls in use on about 100+ stations (as some like KNX are used on more than one station). So, those count, but new combinations aren't allowed. There is not a KFF or KJX in use today, for example, so the FCC would not allow any station to switch to those calls, so they are not valid combinations...just the 60-some odd stations that exist today.

So, the number of combinations is closer to the neighborhood of 17,600ish (26*26*26 plus the number of existing 3 letter calls for each of the K and W sets).

I'm not sure there are valid calls the Commission would refuse. KRAP is licensed in rural Missouri after all.

The University of North Texas, as the story is told, supposedly was interested in KUNT for 88.1 Denton, but opted for KNTU. As near as I can tell, the KUNT calls were only assigned briefly to a construction permit for a LPTV station in Hawaii.

 

[KeithE4]

There are 18,252 sets of call signs available starting with K, and an equal number starting with W.

It's simple combinatorics. 18252 = 26*26*27 (where 27 is because the last letter in the call can be blank)

3-letter calls have not been originally assigned since 1929. The assignable 3-letter callsigns were KDA-KZZ and WAA-WZZ, and the coastal stations then in existence cut that number by quite a bit. The USA didn't take over the KAA-KCZ block from Germany until later in 1929, so there were 676 W-calls and 598 K-calls available then. AFAIK, no broadcast station was ever assigned a callsign in the KAA-KCZ block.