Petition calls on Ofcom to issue Vanity Call Signs

Oh yes it does!

Around £300 will get me G8KNC on my car.

 

The point I am trying to make is that your plate was already issued sometime ago, it is not something you made up the 300 GBP is for the broker or individual who is selling the plate, you can't just make up something you want as you can over here, the plates in California cost about $40 if I remember correctly and I pay $43 annually on top of my license fee to keep it. I have a 1967 Austin FX4 London Taxi over here in Napa California the plate reads GB CAB, try going to the motor licensing department over there and say you want something unique

 

OK , thank you for that information.

 

I looked over this site and some of its links..
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home

I have to smile and say it all sounds like something from the 'Handmaids Tale'.
I imagine that no system is perfect, but I'll have to stick with the good old FCC.

73,
Gene / KG7XD
genem@GigaParts.com

 

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/

 

But then I didn't mention the rest of the number.

 

Thank you for the information. I know about some things and there are a lot of thing I do not know about, but once I thought I did. Old age kicks in and you realize there is alot you don't know.

 

You must be one for the Amateur Radio Society of Newfoundland . I may have gotten this all wrong, but if UXB indicates a relation to Uxbridge, wouldn't Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham be closer? But then it may all be down to Frank McLintock or Charlie George, or perhaps it was Alan Ball's white boots.

Well, to the matter at hand. In Norway we have no vanity call signs, but after a few decades of patient work with the National Communications Authority (NKOM, our Ofcom or FCC), we can now apply for contest call signs, like in the UK. NKOM is the licensing authority issuing the call signs, but the practical work and administration is taken care of by NRRL (our RSGB or ARRL). Ordinary call signs are awarded for life at a one time fee of approx. 200 USD to NKOM, whilst contest call signs cost 100 USD to each of NKOM and NRRL when issued and thereafter approx. 100 USD to NRRL every five years. It costs substantially more than my free US vanity call.

The tendency in Norway is similar to what is reported from other countries; The national authority maintains the formal position, but wants to spend the time on many other communication topics than amateur radio, and leaves it to the amateur radio organisations to handle much of the practicalities. I guess the prospects of success with Ofcom is closely linked to how well our British friends can convince Ofcom that vanity call signs will require minimal attention and administrative burden on the part of Ofcom. Maybe the UK contest call sign system may be used to convince Ofcom.

If I'd held a UK call sign, I'd be happy to sign the petition, but I guess moral support from abroad doesn't do much to convince Ofcom, but good luck to the petitioners.

73 Frode LA6VQ
(LC6C in contest, N2VQ in the US)

PS. A pair of vanity plates for my car is easily available here, but will set me back appox. 900 USD, which I guess will go a long way to buy me a driveable car in the US.

 

Not true on the vanity license plates for England, Wales and Scotland. Unassigned plates are available at the DVLA (Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency). For instance G3YDX is available at GBP 250 (about $ US 320). But GW3YDX is not available as no series of plate numbers in that format was ever issued. Current plate numbers are AA11AAA etc. Two alphas, two numbers, three alphas, with the number designating the year of vehicle registration. That started in 2001. So in theory I could have GW33YDX when that is available, but that wont be till 2033 ! Older numbers started off with A1 as the first one ever issued, the more recent series being AAA1A and then A1AAA etc. The only rule about a UK plate is that one is not permitted to use a plate that would indicate a vehicle is newer than it is, or a plate that would be considered rude or offensive. For example in their infinite wisdom, the DVLA is not issuing any that start with "NO" and end with a complete three-letter word, so NO67 FUN, NO67 END, NO67 DAD, NO67 MUM and NO67 SON. Oh I suppose there would be NO67SEX either.....

If readers have not yet dozed off reading this, myy 1998 Mercedes E300 had an orignal plate of N820UAL that being a 1995 plate number. FYI that vehicle is now registered in France where I have a summer QTH, as EB879KE, the French system being that you get what you are given - plates strictly in series order, no vanity plates at all. If I were to return it to the UK and re-register the Merc then it would probably be issued with a Q licence plate under current tules. Simple - eh ? One thing we cannot do in the UK is to have two vehicles with the same registration plate. When I asked my good friend N3JT how he had two vehicles with that plate he told me that one was a Virginia plate and the other for DC if I recall it correctly. Presumably he could even have as many cars registered with N3JT as there are States - maybe.. Oh, I should say that if you came to the UK you could have W6UXB as the DVLA has that one available for GBP 399 ($500-ish), but hurry it is only available till 29 June for reasons unknown.

I'd also add, in the unlikely even that you are interested, that a plate with G3YDX is at the cheaper end of registrations, it being hardly of value to anyone else. A plate with your call is more valuable it seems, but the likelhood of you needing it is presumably more remote than me needing mine. My French call F4VSM is available at just £599 (more expensive than yours). The DVLA has its own strange way of valuing plates. A recent auction showed that AJ13TKR fetched £130 (about $ 160) but that ALY544J fetched £2990 (about $4000). Go figure.....

BTW, this very fascinating information comes to your courtesy of the current extremely bad band conditions. Were they better I would be on the air.

73

Ron - GW3YDX & F4VSM (French call issued in strict order. G(W) call also issued in 1969 in strict order. I happened to strike lucky with that one)

 

ROTFL! For many years, the license plate G3NYY was offered for sale by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for £300. I never took it up because I didn't feel it was worth the money.

However, it is no longer available because someone else has bought it and it is now assigned to a black Audi diesel vehicle, which is currently taxed and MOT'd.
I cannot imagine why anyone else would want the vanity plate G3NYY ... unless they want to impersonate me!

Ho, hum!

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

 

Ron, OK you can sort of call them vanity plates but they are not anything you want, they were plates that were originally issued and are now un-assigned at the DVLC or are owned by a broker, here in California you can make up anything you like as long as it is up to 7 characters and not offensive, you can even have symbols such as a heart or hand in there as well, you can also have different backgrounds for an extra fee they usually support a good cause, cheers Geoff G3UXB/W6UXB I got my US vanity call to mirror my UK call issued in 1965, I was offered UXA, B or C, UXB was better flowing in morse code! even though they did paint UXB on the side of houses during WW2!

 

How so true..A local unlicensed jammer goes unpunished for almost 10 years.
https://tinyurl.com/y2j68s37