06-07-2001, 05:44 PM
n4cd (n4cd@arrl.net) writes "I just finished filling out the first 500 QSL cards for N4CD/TI2 mini-DXpedition. It seems that about 20% of the people seem to think that when the government issues a license in Costa Rica, and the call printed on the license, and that the government expects the visiting ham to use is N4CD/TI2, that for some reason, they write down TI2/N4CD on the QSL cards.
After identifying maybe 20,0000 times in 13 days of operation as N4CD/TI2, I'm wondering why 20% of the population out there can't seem to understand that DX stations HAVE to use the call they were assigned. If they feel that Costa Rica should be issuing the calls the other way around, maybe they should take that up with the Ministry of Telecommunications and Radio? I even had a few people try to correct my call on the air when the worked me. There are many specific rules and regulations that hams must follow as far as IDing, and some of them are in-consistent, like CEPT operation requires the country prefix first, then "/", then your call, while other countries do it the other way around. Should I just sit on the cards for a few months with the 'wrong' call sign before I mail the cards out? Or maybe ask them for a card with the correct call sign? I'm sure if I wrote their call sign wrong, they'd ask for a new card, no? (just kidding- the cards will go out). But folks, please, the DX station DOES know his call sign. Please use it the way he IDs."
After identifying maybe 20,0000 times in 13 days of operation as N4CD/TI2, I'm wondering why 20% of the population out there can't seem to understand that DX stations HAVE to use the call they were assigned. If they feel that Costa Rica should be issuing the calls the other way around, maybe they should take that up with the Ministry of Telecommunications and Radio? I even had a few people try to correct my call on the air when the worked me. There are many specific rules and regulations that hams must follow as far as IDing, and some of them are in-consistent, like CEPT operation requires the country prefix first, then "/", then your call, while other countries do it the other way around. Should I just sit on the cards for a few months with the 'wrong' call sign before I mail the cards out? Or maybe ask them for a card with the correct call sign? I'm sure if I wrote their call sign wrong, they'd ask for a new card, no? (just kidding- the cards will go out). But folks, please, the DX station DOES know his call sign. Please use it the way he IDs."