2 letter callsign reissue

[VK2DVZ]

Hi all,

I always thought the ACMA, now WIA, would not reissue a 2 letter callsign following the amateur operator becoming a SK, unless a year or two had elapsed in time.

I am now aware of one recent reissue of a 2 letter call within about 3 to 4 months of the amateur's death.

When I mentioned this situation to the amateur's widow recently, she like me was surprised to learn that her husband's callsign had been reallocated so quickly. I understand that she was not approached by anyone regarding the early reissue, so that leads to few questions.

1.Have things changed either with the ACMA or WIA regarding early reissuing of callsigns?

2.What happened to the ballot system that the WIA had/has in place for the allocation of 2 letter callsign as/when they become available?

...over to you for clarification - I am curious.

[VK3BA]

G'day Ross,

Have you contacted the WIA http://www.wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/contact/ about this? On occasions, a SK's callsign will appear as available then disappear again, possibly due to a slight glitch in the system then corrected when noticed or advised. I'm sure that if you were to contact the WIA office, the issue would be corrected fairly quickly. The WIA head office is pretty good with callsign management. I've seen this happen a few times before, but easily resolved.

Cheers,

[VK2DVZ]

Nik,
I have tried to phone the WIA twice today and I have not yet spoken to anyone - I want to talk to a real person, not an answering machine. My time is precious also and don't know where/what I will be (doing) at any given time, so prefer to talk there and then when I phone.

I will try another day to get a real answer from a real person to my questions and phone call.

Off to do other things now...

[VK3BQ]

its a public holiday in melbounre today, you get your long weekend in october..

[VK2AAH]

Hopefully this one will attract the interest of our ACMA forum members- it came up in conversation at the funeral of the late Lee Norrish regarding licences he held. My ACMA friends pointed out that unlike other radio licences are tied to the qualifications of the holder. Once that person is known to be deceased the licence & callsign lapses= it doesn't continue until the expiry date. That is how I understand it- though I'm aware that calls have been put on ice for periods.

Cheers


Richard
VK2AAH

[VK2PR]

10. Callsigns of Deceased Amateurs

Where an Amateur licensee dies while holding an Amateur licence, the WIA will not place the applicable callsign on the Public List or issue a Callsign Recommendation in respect of the applicable callsign, for a period of two years following the expiry or cancellation of the licence.

The callsign of the deceased Amateur is reserved for two years after the date of the expiry of the licence period upon ACMA or WIA being made aware of the death of the Amateur licensee.

It is important that the WIA or ACMA are advised of the death of any amateur holding a current amateur licence. The WIA can be advised of the death of an amateur by mail to WIA Callsigns, P.O. Box 2042, Bayswater, Victoria 3153 or by telephone to the WIA office at (03) 9729 0400 on a Working Day between 10 am and 4 p.m., or by email to the WIA at nationaloffice@wia.org.au

If a partner, next of kin, personal representative or executor or administrator of a deceased Amateur’s estate writes to the WIA requesting that the callsign be allocated to a particular person after the expiry of the Amateur licence and prior to the
end of the reservation period, the WIA shall issue a Callsign Recommendation accordingly.

If a partner, next of kin, personal representative or executor or administrator of a deceased Amateur’s estate writes to the WIA requesting that the callsign be released after the expiry of the Amateur licence and prior to the end of the reservation period, the WIA will make the callsign available on the Public List.

http://www.wia.org.au/licenses/licensin ... ev%201.pdf

[VK2DVZ]

Thanks for replies,

In the instance I refer to, the widow rang the general contact phone number of the ACMA (Canberra office I beleive) to advise of her husbands passing some weeks earlier.

The callsign still had a few months to run before it was to become due for renewal, even at the time of the widow's phone call.

I see that the callsign was reissued towards the end of February 2013, possibly even before the expiry date of the license as held by the now deceased amateur.

Obviously the protocols set in place, as shown in an earlier post above, were not followed in this instance by either the ACMA or WIA.

[VK2AAH]

Ross, if the licence holder has passed away the licence HAS lapsed, regardless of the date of expiry. To me the problem in this case was caused by the ACMA following this procedure and the WIA not being alert to the need to hold it.

Can I ask what the fuss is about? Is there a family member wanting the call?

Cheers


Richard
VK2AAH

[VK2DVZ]

Richard,
No fuss - just curious as to why the 2 year 'rule' was not followed.

The amateurs widow had not indicated any request being made to her for the callsign concerned.

Obviously there are big holes in the so called 'safety net'.

I hope the recent current holder of the callsign is happy holding both a 2 letter and 3 letter callsign.

[VK2PR]

I hope the recent current holder of the callsign is happy holding both a 2 letter and 3 letter callsign.

Ross, just as you are entitled to question why this callsign was re-issued before the 2 year period ended, the current holder is entitled to hold as many licences as they wish. To be fair to him, he would have applied for this callsign unaware of any of this.