You are quite mistaken. Since the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division launched their new Web site at https://azmvdnow.gov, you most certainly can order specialty plates online. in fact, I wrote an article on how to do it in our club newsletter. Feel free to read it: https://superstitionarc.org/comm/2020/Communicator_08_2020_Revised.pdf It focuses on getting an amateur plate nline. But you should be able to adapt the instructions to other kinds of specialty plates. I later wrote an article on why you should get an amateur radio plate. Feel free to read it at https://superstitionarc.org/comm/2021/Communicator_02_2021.pdf 73, Fred, WB4AEJ
I always find it hilarious that people are worried about a ham plate making them a target... Usually it would be antennas mounted to the thing that would be the dead giveaway for thieves.
I suggest you not take as empirical evidence any club newsletter for anything other than club news. Evidence (Ipso Jure}: There are two Arizona MVD websites and this is the public one for those without a personalized account: https://servicearizona.com/plateAvailability/plate?execution=e1s3 / NOTE : You cannot order this plate online. Please complete the Special Plate Application and order by mail. Also see: https://azdot.gov/content/amateur-radio 1 Plate Issued $25 initial application fee/ $25 annual renewal. Applicant must have a valid amateur operator license from the Federal Communications Commission. The plate number is the FCC assigned call sign. $17 dollars of the fee goes to a special fund for college scholarships, youth programs, and emergency response communications. Special Plate Application (form #96-0143(link is external)) is required. [Highlighted for evidentiary reference]. Also available with a disability symbol. QED.
o.k. lets forget about your plates. well, one of or many of those people could find out where you live by following you home or if they look up your regular plate they could find you that way too. there are many ways to find someone today if you really want to . there are sites out there that for a dollar or two, it will tell you all about you. if i really wanted to i could take you "regular plate" and find you too. gee, police do it all the time.
Maybe, if you had access to the DMV database, otherwise not. You and everyone else does have access to the FCC ULS database which reports that your amateur radio license expired on 30 April 2021. Apparently still stalled at Alert List Review. Hope you're able to make some progress with that before the new fee structure kicks in.
The general public cannot look up license plate information. Even Police officers have gotten fired for doing non-police business related lookups. That isn't to say it cannot be done, but your average Joe won't. They won't expend the time and effort to figure out how to do it. Especially the your standard raging idiot on the highway. Now, if you tattoo your name and address on your license plate and get in a spat with someone on the highway. Well, I hope you have insurance.
Yes, back when I was a dispatcher it was made quite clear that we were absolutely to not give out DMV information to anyone who wasn't authorized. I had a friend who asked me on behalf of one of his friends that if he found a pickup parked out on his farm land if I could tell him who it belonged to from the tag number. I politely but firmly declined as it could not only jeopardize my job, but it's also illegal. I told him to have his friend call his local sheriff's office if he has a suspicious vehicle parked on his property and a deputy could give him the information.
These threads always get hijacked by people giving their opinion on why no one should get ham tags. The topic simply began by explaining the process in a certain state for those who are interested. Telling those of us who’ve had call letter tags for decades do not need your advice or opinion on why we are all wrong. If you can’t contribute to the information the original poster intended for an interested audience, please turn the dial to another channel.
Back in the day, in Minnesota, you could walk into any DMV office, and for a small fee, they would give you the name and address of the registered owner of any license number. I believe you also got some other interesting information about the vehicle. Of course, it was rarely necessary to actually go to the DMV, since you could just ask your Cop Friend to do it for you. I had a few Cop Friends, and I assume everyone had a Cop Friend, and they would happily look up the information for you on their next shift. In fact, I even subscribed to a service that would give me the information from the comfort of my own office. This was pre-internet, but I would call a number, enter the license number from my Touchtone pad, and hang up. A couple of minutes later, I would get a fax with the information. At some point, in order to continue the service, I had to send them a form telling them that I promised to use the information only for legitimate purposes. The listed the legitimate purposes, but there didn't seem to be any enforcement. About a year ago, I needed to know the owner of a vehicle (for one of those legitimate purposes), and I went looking for that service. There are some on the internet that claim to provide that service, but they are all scams. I got scammed by one of them for a couple of dollars--they took my money, but provided only some vague information. (I was suspicious enough that I used a one-time-use credit card, so they only scammed me for a couple bucks.) In order to get the information, I had to request it by mail or in person from the DMV. I had to list the specific legitimate purpose I wanted the information for, and the warnings were a lot more stern then they had been in the past. This was during the height of the lockdown, so I was forced to do it by mail. Eventually, I gave up, because I never heard back from them, and they never cashed the check. Finally, after about six months, I got a letter from them, and sure enough, they sent me a printout of the owner's name and address (after I no longer needed the information).
I have call letter plates so that potential thieves will know that I'm a ham, and therefore I'm cheap and don't have anything worth stealing. So far, it's worked.