W and K prefixes.

I'll stand to corrected but my recollection is that a further partition
existed within the USA in the 50s and earlier.

W was issued to stations, at least commercial stations, East of the
Mississippi and K was issued to station west of the Mississippi!!

Any confirmation????

DD

Thierry wrote:

Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

W and K prefixes.

I'll stand to corrected but my recollection is that a further
partition existed within the USA in the 50s and earlier.

W was issued to stations, at least commercial stations, East
of the Mississippi and K was issued to station west of the Mississippi!!

Any confirmation????

DD


Thierry wrote:
Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

W and K prefixes.

I'll stand to corrected but my recollection is that a further
partition existed within the USA in the 50s and earlier.

W was issued to stations, at least commercial stations, East
of the Mississippi and K was issued to station west of the Mississippi!!

Any confirmation????

DD


Thierry wrote:
Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

Thanks.
Rest the question (theoretical) to know where 'd begin K and W, on the
Mississippi or not... I think that I could find the info somewhere on the
web.

73
Thierry, ON4SKY

"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message
...
Thierry wrote:
I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for
my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns
in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?

International Amateur Radio Union (which still exists today). See
http://lists.contesting.com/archives.../msg00111.html
. (scroll down) Actually, prefixes had been assigned informally and
without official coordination even before that.

- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or
W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?

Until the end of World War 2, all USA stations were assigned W prefixes.
K prefixes were used in U.S. possessions (Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska,
Hawaii, etc.). (remember that Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states
until 1959) K prefixes were assigned to U.S. amateurs when the W calls
ran out in the 1950s. I *believe* A and N were made available when
"vanity calls" were first allowed in 1976.

I have never seen a good explanation of why the USA received the letters
A, K, N, and W.

- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex
CCIR)

ITU apportions prefixes among countries; each country's administration
decides which ITU-provided prefixes to use for amateurs and how to
assign them.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Thanks.
Rest the question (theoretical) to know where 'd begin K and W, on the
Mississippi or not... I think that I could find the info somewhere on the
web.

73
Thierry, ON4SKY

"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message
...
Thierry wrote:
I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for
my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns
in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?

International Amateur Radio Union (which still exists today). See
http://lists.contesting.com/archives.../msg00111.html
. (scroll down) Actually, prefixes had been assigned informally and
without official coordination even before that.

- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or
W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?

Until the end of World War 2, all USA stations were assigned W prefixes.
K prefixes were used in U.S. possessions (Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska,
Hawaii, etc.). (remember that Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states
until 1959) K prefixes were assigned to U.S. amateurs when the W calls
ran out in the 1950s. I *believe* A and N were made available when
"vanity calls" were first allowed in 1976.

I have never seen a good explanation of why the USA received the letters
A, K, N, and W.

- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex
CCIR)

ITU apportions prefixes among countries; each country's administration
decides which ITU-provided prefixes to use for amateurs and how to
assign them.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

K-W : see end of page at http://earlyradiohistory.us/recap.htm
All is explained.

I didn't read read this page...

Thierry


"Dave Shrader" wrote in message
...
W and K prefixes.

I'll stand to corrected but my recollection is that a further partition
existed within the USA in the 50s and earlier.

W was issued to stations, at least commercial stations, East of the
Mississippi and K was issued to station west of the Mississippi!!

Any confirmation????

DD

Thierry wrote:

Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for
my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns
in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or
W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex
CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

K-W : see end of page at http://earlyradiohistory.us/recap.htm
All is explained.

I didn't read read this page...

Thierry


"Dave Shrader" wrote in message
...
W and K prefixes.

I'll stand to corrected but my recollection is that a further partition
existed within the USA in the 50s and earlier.

W was issued to stations, at least commercial stations, East of the
Mississippi and K was issued to station west of the Mississippi!!

Any confirmation????

DD

Thierry wrote:

Hi,

I am currently writing a long article about the history of ham radio for
my
website (growing...).
Can someone tell me who :
- What committee or association assigned the first prefix to callsigns
in
the middle of 1920's, ITC (future ITU) ?
- On what base (I suppose location) US stations were assigned A, K, N or
W
letters and who decided for the other countries ?
- Who currently manage these prefixes at a worldwide scale ? ITU-R (ex
CCIR)
?

Thanks in advance

Thierry, ON4SKY
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry

Edward A. Feustel wrote:
etc. Were not the K prefixes assigned to territories KX
prefixes where X indicated the place? KL7 for Alaska and KH6 for Hawaii (if
I recall properly).

More or less, no.

Before WW2, Puerto Rico was K4; Alaska K7; and Hawaii K6. There were
some two-letter prefixes in the Pacific, and the Phillippines (which
were then a U.S. possession) got KA1 calls.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Edward A. Feustel wrote:
etc. Were not the K prefixes assigned to territories KX
prefixes where X indicated the place? KL7 for Alaska and KH6 for Hawaii (if
I recall properly).

More or less, no.

Before WW2, Puerto Rico was K4; Alaska K7; and Hawaii K6. There were
some two-letter prefixes in the Pacific, and the Phillippines (which
were then a U.S. possession) got KA1 calls.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Thierry wrote:
Rest the question (theoretical) to know where 'd begin K and W, on the
Mississippi or not... I think that I could find the info somewhere on the
web.

http://www.earlyradiohistory.us/kwtrivia.htm

The dividing line between W and K was originally the eastern borders of
the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. This was set
at a time when most radio stations were used to communicate with ships.
W callsigns communicated with ships in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of
Mexico; K callsigns communicated with ships in the Pacific Ocean. When
broadcasting stations came along, they received essentially the same
kind of license used by maritime shore stations, and call letters
assigned the same way.

As there came to be far more broadcasting stations than maritime shore
stations, they began to run out of W callsigns. At that point it made
more sense to move the dividing line east, and the Mississippi River was
apparently a good choice.

This applies only to broadcasting and commercial maritime stations
though. Hams within the United States (not in offshore territories)
*always* received W callsigns until after World War 2, and even after,
there was never a geographic W/K dividing line for hams.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com