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

Dave Shrader wrote:
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!!

For broadcast stations only.

In the very earliest days of radio, the dividing line was the eastern
borders of New Mexico/Colorado/Wyoming/Montana. They switched to the
Mississippi River in the 1920s.

http://www.earlyradiohistory.us/kwtrivia.htm
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Dave Shrader wrote:
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!!

For broadcast stations only.

In the very earliest days of radio, the dividing line was the eastern
borders of New Mexico/Colorado/Wyoming/Montana. They switched to the
Mississippi River in the 1920s.

http://www.earlyradiohistory.us/kwtrivia.htm
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

There was one exception to the W - East K - West rule.
KDKA

73, Dick, W1KSZ

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 22:42:27 GMT, Dave Shrader
wrote:

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

There was one exception to the W - East K - West rule.
KDKA

73, Dick, W1KSZ

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 22:42:27 GMT, Dave Shrader
wrote:

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

Richard W. Solomon, W1KSZ wrote:
There was one exception to the W - East K - West rule.
KDKA

KDKA wasn't the only exception.

Indeed, there's another K-station in Pittsburgh, KQV. Some other
examples include KFIZ in Fond du Lac, Wis. and KTGG in Spring Arbor,
Mich.. (the latter only a few years old; reportedly a FCC clerk thought
"MI" stood for "Missouri") There was a WPXJ-TV in Minden, Louisiana
(near Shreveport) for awhile, but when the error was caught it got
changed to KPXJ.

I can't think of any W-stations in the West, unless you count those
located between the old and new dividing lines that were compliant the
old way but aren't now.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Richard W. Solomon, W1KSZ wrote:
There was one exception to the W - East K - West rule.
KDKA

KDKA wasn't the only exception.

Indeed, there's another K-station in Pittsburgh, KQV. Some other
examples include KFIZ in Fond du Lac, Wis. and KTGG in Spring Arbor,
Mich.. (the latter only a few years old; reportedly a FCC clerk thought
"MI" stood for "Missouri") There was a WPXJ-TV in Minden, Louisiana
(near Shreveport) for awhile, but when the error was caught it got
changed to KPXJ.

I can't think of any W-stations in the West, unless you count those
located between the old and new dividing lines that were compliant the
old way but aren't now.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

In article ,
Doug Smith W9WI wrote:

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.

Didn't the early radio letter prefixes follow international Aircraft
identifier prefixes in use at the time?
--
Chuck Reti
WV8A
Detroit MI

In article ,
Doug Smith W9WI wrote:

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.

Didn't the early radio letter prefixes follow international Aircraft
identifier prefixes in use at the time?
--
Chuck Reti
WV8A
Detroit MI

Thierry -- see Ham history at URL:

http://ac6v.com/history.htm

--
Incognito By Necessity (:-(

If you can't convince them, confuse them.
- - -Harry S Truman
---------------------------------------------------------------



"Thierry" To answer me in private use
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry/post.htm wrote in message
...
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