In broadcasting and radio communication, a callsign or call sign (also call letters) is a unique designation for a transmitting station. They can be formally assigned by a government agency, informally adopted by individuals or organizations, or even cryptography encoded to disguise a station's identity. ==International series== International callsigns are formal, semi-permanent, and issued by a nation's telecommunications government agency. They are used for amateur radio, broadcast, commercial, maritime and sometimes military radio use, as well as for broadcast television. Each country has a set of alphabetic or numeric International Telecommunication Union-designated ITU prefix with which their callsigns must begin. For example: * The United States uses the prefixes: ''W'', ''K'', ''N'', and ''AAA'' to ''ALZ'' (only ''W'' and ''K'' are used for broadcast stations). * Canada uses the prefixes: ''CF''-''CK'', ''CY''-''CZ'', ''VA''-''VG'', ''VO'', ''VX''-''VY'', ''XJ''-''XO'' * Mexico uses ''XA''-''XI'' * The United Kingdom uses the prefixes: ''G'', ''M'', and ''2'' * France uses the prefixes: ''F'', ''TM'' * Germany uses the prefixes: ''DA''-''DR'' * Chad uses the prefix: ''TT'' * Italy uses the prefix: ''I'' ''See main article:'' International Callsign Allocations ==Aircraft== Each licensed aircraft is assigned a unique tail number. Tail numbers for non-military aircraft are also in the international call sign series and can be used as a radio call sign. For example, U.S. registered civilian aircraft are assigned a tail number consisting of the letter ''N'' followed by some digits and/or letters according to the following standards: * U.S. registration numbers may not exceed five (5) characters in addition to the standard U.S. registration prefix letter "N". * These characters may be one (1) to five (5) numbers (eg., N12345), one (1) to four (4) numbers and one (1) suffix letter (ex. - N1234Z), or one (1) to three (3) numbers and two (2) suffix letters (N123AZ). * To avoid confusion with the numbers one and zero, the letters "I" and "O" may not be used. * An N-Number may not begin with zero. The first zero in a number must be preceded by at least one of the numbers one (1) through nine (9). For example, N01Z is not valid. Air traffic control facilities usually identify by location and function, e.g. ''Boston tower.'' Scheduled airline flights generally do not use their tail numbers for identification; instead they use an airline code, such as ''United'' for United Airlines, followed by the flight number. ''See main article:'' airline call sign. ==Amateur radio== Amateur radio callsigns are in the international series and normally consist of a one- or two-character prefix, a number (which sometimes corresponds to a geographic area within the country) and a 1, 2, or 3 character suffix. The number following the prefix is normally a single number (0 to 9). Some prefixes, such as Djibouti's (J2), consist of a letter followed by a number. Hence, in the hypothetical Djibouti callsign, J29DBA, the prefix is ''J2'', the number is ''9'', and the suffix is ''DBA''. The numbers are sometimes assigned geographically. In the Italian callsign, IK1TZO, ''IK'' is the prefix, the number component is ''1'' and corresponds to the Piedmont (Italy) region, and ''TZO'' is the suffix. Another example is WB3EBO. ''WB'' is the prefix, the number ''3'' most often indicates that the station is located in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, or the District of Columbia. The suffix is ''EBO''. For the district numbers within the United States, see [http://www.arrl.org/awards/was/map.gif ARRL map]. ==Broadcast callsigns== ===North America=== Broadcast stations in North America generally use call letters in the international series. There are some common conventions followed in each country. ===Australia=== In Australia, broadcast callsigns begin with a single-digit number indicating the Australian states and territories, followed by two letters for AM radio stations and three for FM radio. Some AM stations retain their old callsigns when moving to FM, or just add an extra letter to the end. Australian broadcast stations originally used the prefix VL-, but since Australia has no nearby neighbors, this practice was soon discarded in use. Television station callsigns begin with two letters usually denoting the station itself, followed by a third letter denoting the state. For example, NBN Television's callsign stands for Newcastle Broadcasting, New South Wales. There are some exceptions: *Australian Broadcasting Corporation television stations outside of state capitals add a fourth letter between AB and the state. This is used to denote the area e.g. the Newcastle station is known as ABHN, standing for Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Hunter Valley, New South Wales. State capital stations follow the same rule as commercial stations. *SBS television stations all use SBS in their callsigns, regardless of the state. *Commercial station Imparja Television uses IMP, even though they are based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Letters and numbers used by Australian stations: *Radio **1 - Australian Capital Territory (new designation) **2 - New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and some external territories **3 - Victoria (Australia) **4 - Queensland **5 - South Australia **6 - Western Australia **7 - Tasmania **8 - Northern Territory *Television **N - New South Wales **Q - Queensland **V - Victoria **S - South Australia **C - Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory **W - Western Australia **D - Darwin, Northern Territory and the Northern Territory **T - Tasmania ===Europe/Asia=== In Europe and much of Asia, callsigns are normally not used for broadcast stations. Japan, South Korea and Republic of China are exceptions to this general rule. Other countries have yet other formats for assigning callsigns to domestic services. ==Military callsigns== In wartime, monitoring an adversaries communications can be a valuable form of intelligence. Consistent call signs can aid in this monitoring, so in wartime, military units often employ tactical designator and sometime change them at regular intervals. In peacetime, some military stations will use fixed call signs in the international series. ===US Army=== The United States Army uses fixed callsigns which begin with ''W'', such as WAR, used by U.S. Army Headquarters. ===US Air Force=== Fixed callsigns for the United States Air Force stations begin with ''A'', such as AIR, used by USAF Headquarters. The USAF also uses semi-fixed identifiers consisting of a name followed by a two or three digit number. The name is assigned to a unit on a semi-permanent basis; they change only when the U.S. Department of Defense goes to DEFCON 3. For example, JAMBO 51 would be assigned to a particular B-52 Stratofortress aircrew of the 5th Bomb Wing, while NODAK 1 would be an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter with the North Dakota Air National Guard. The most recognizable callsign of this type is ''Air Force One'', used when any plane is carrying the President of the United States, or ''Marine One'', used to identify any helicopter doing the same thing. Individual military pilot or other flight officer usually adopt a personal aviator call sign. ===US Navy/Coast Guard=== The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard use a mixture of tactical callsigns and international callsigns beginning with the letter ''N''. For example, the carrier USS ''John F. Kennedy'' has the callsign NJFK. ==See also== *Airline call sign *Aviator call sign *Cosmonaut call sign *International Callsign Allocations *Maritime Mobile Service Identity *pseudonym ==External links== *[http://earlyradiohistory.us/recap.htm United States Callsign Policies] *[http://www.ac6v.com/prefixes.htm Amateur Call Prefixes] Amateur radio Call signs Telecommunications law Wireless communications
This article requires the history stored at Callsign/history merging in when the block compression issue is resolved. User:Violetriga User_talk:violetriga 21:00, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC) Does anyone know of any reason why Television call sign diverts here? Australia has a very different Television call sign format than radio call sign. --User:Chuq 01:40, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC) :Probably because most countries that assign callsigns to television stations don't. 20:41, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC) ---- The description of Australian television callsigns doesn't match what my older references show. When did the system change? (My old references, like the '94 WRTH, show callsigns in the "FM radio" format, so that the TEN station in Perth might by 6TEN, etc.) User:18.26.0.18 07:26, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC) :Interesting.. I've read a lot of sites covering Australian TV history and none of them show or use any format such as 6TEN. Can you post a more complete list? I'll go googling for details! -- User:Chuq 00:43, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC) ::I just checked my '94 WRTH and it shows the format you describe. So either I was utterly confused, or I'm remembering something I saw in the '88 WRTH, which I don't have a copy of. User:18.26.0.18 05:29, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC) ==Move proposal: Callsign (radio) → Call sign == Call sign was an unnecessary disambig page. I merged it with Callsign (radio) which had the bulk of the content. I think the main article should be at Call sign. (If someone strongly prefers Callsign, I won't argue much.) -- User:ArnoldReinhold 21:50, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC) *I prefer callsign. (Why would I call a sign?) – User:Radiojon 04:29, 2005 Mar 1 (UTC) *Support (I prefer call sign) User:Mulad —User:Mulad User talk:Mulad 07:15, Mar 2, 2005 (UTC) * Neutral: It is fair to note that www.dictionary.com redirects "call sign" to "call letters". (My last vote on RM, since i'm not wasting my time finding stuff on talk pages...relish it folks...don't say I didn't warn you!) —User:ExplorerCDT 17:45, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC) * Support I don't believe that "callsign" is a word. ''—User:Mzajac User talk:Mzajac 2005-03-14 00:42 Z'' Looks like an old copy/paste move from callsign to callsign (radio). Page histories need to be merged but they both use block-compression. Listed on WP:RM.User:Violetriga User_talk:violetriga 00:28, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC) :Temporary fix done. User:Violetriga User_talk:violetriga 21:00, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Maritime Radio== Doesn't ships have callsigns, too? User:Scriberius 18:19, 2005 May 6 (UTC)
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Callsign
In broadcasting and radio communication, a callsign or call sign (also call letters) is a unique designation for a transmitting station. They can be formally assigned by a government agency, informally adopted by individuals or organizations, or even cryptography encoded to disguise a station's identity. ==International series== International callsigns are formal, semi-permanent, and issued by a nation's telecommunications government agency. They are used for amateur radio, broadcast, commercial, maritime and sometimes military radio use, as well as for broadcast television. Each country has a set of alphabetic or numeric International Telecommunication Union-designated ITU prefix with which their callsigns must begin. For example: * The United States uses the prefixes: ''W'', ''K'', ''N'', and ''AAA'' to ''ALZ'' (only ''W'' and ''K'' are used for broadcast stations). * Canada uses the prefixes: ''CF''-''CK'', ''CY''-''CZ'', ''VA''-''VG'', ''VO'', ''VX''-''VY'', ''XJ''-''XO'' * Mexico uses ''XA''-''XI'' * The United Kingdom uses the prefixes: ''G'', ''M'', and ''2'' * France uses the prefixes: ''F'', ''TM'' * Germany uses the prefixes: ''DA''-''DR'' * Chad uses the prefix: ''TT'' * Italy uses the prefix: ''I'' ''See main article:'' International Callsign Allocations ==Aircraft== Each licensed aircraft is assigned a unique tail number. Tail numbers for non-military aircraft are also in the international call sign series and can be used as a radio call sign. For example, U.S. registered civilian aircraft are assigned a tail number consisting of the letter ''N'' followed by some digits and/or letters according to the following standards: * U.S. registration numbers may not exceed five (5) characters in addition to the standard U.S. registration prefix letter "N". * These characters may be one (1) to five (5) numbers (eg., N12345), one (1) to four (4) numbers and one (1) suffix letter (ex. - N1234Z), or one (1) to three (3) numbers and two (2) suffix letters (N123AZ). * To avoid confusion with the numbers one and zero, the letters "I" and "O" may not be used. * An N-Number may not begin with zero. The first zero in a number must be preceded by at least one of the numbers one (1) through nine (9). For example, N01Z is not valid. Air traffic control facilities usually identify by location and function, e.g. ''Boston tower.'' Scheduled airline flights generally do not use their tail numbers for identification; instead they use an airline code, such as ''United'' for United Airlines, followed by the flight number. ''See main article:'' airline call sign. ==Amateur radio== Amateur radio callsigns are in the international series and normally consist of a one- or two-character prefix, a number (which sometimes corresponds to a geographic area within the country) and a 1, 2, or 3 character suffix. The number following the prefix is normally a single number (0 to 9). Some prefixes, such as Djibouti's (J2), consist of a letter followed by a number. Hence, in the hypothetical Djibouti callsign, J29DBA, the prefix is ''J2'', the number is ''9'', and the suffix is ''DBA''. The numbers are sometimes assigned geographically. In the Italian callsign, IK1TZO, ''IK'' is the prefix, the number component is ''1'' and corresponds to the Piedmont (Italy) region, and ''TZO'' is the suffix. Another example is WB3EBO. ''WB'' is the prefix, the number ''3'' most often indicates that the station is located in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, or the District of Columbia. The suffix is ''EBO''. For the district numbers within the United States, see [http://www.arrl.org/awards/was/map.gif ARRL map]. ==Broadcast callsigns== ===North America=== Broadcast stations in North America generally use call letters in the international series. There are some common conventions followed in each country. ===Australia=== In Australia, broadcast callsigns begin with a single-digit number indicating the Australian states and territories, followed by two letters for AM radio stations and three for FM radio. Some AM stations retain their old callsigns when moving to FM, or just add an extra letter to the end. Australian broadcast stations originally used the prefix VL-, but since Australia has no nearby neighbors, this practice was soon discarded in use. Television station callsigns begin with two letters usually denoting the station itself, followed by a third letter denoting the state. For example, NBN Television's callsign stands for Newcastle Broadcasting, New South Wales. There are some exceptions: *Australian Broadcasting Corporation television stations outside of state capitals add a fourth letter between AB and the state. This is used to denote the area e.g. the Newcastle station is known as ABHN, standing for Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Hunter Valley, New South Wales. State capital stations follow the same rule as commercial stations. *SBS television stations all use SBS in their callsigns, regardless of the state. *Commercial station Imparja Television uses IMP, even though they are based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Letters and numbers used by Australian stations: *Radio **1 - Australian Capital Territory (new designation) **2 - New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and some external territories **3 - Victoria (Australia) **4 - Queensland **5 - South Australia **6 - Western Australia **7 - Tasmania **8 - Northern Territory *Television **N - New South Wales **Q - Queensland **V - Victoria **S - South Australia **C - Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory **W - Western Australia **D - Darwin, Northern Territory and the Northern Territory **T - Tasmania ===Europe/Asia=== In Europe and much of Asia, callsigns are normally not used for broadcast stations. Japan, South Korea and Republic of China are exceptions to this general rule. Other countries have yet other formats for assigning callsigns to domestic services. ==Military callsigns== In wartime, monitoring an adversaries communications can be a valuable form of intelligence. Consistent call signs can aid in this monitoring, so in wartime, military units often employ tactical designator and sometime change them at regular intervals. In peacetime, some military stations will use fixed call signs in the international series. ===US Army=== The United States Army uses fixed callsigns which begin with ''W'', such as WAR, used by U.S. Army Headquarters. ===US Air Force=== Fixed callsigns for the United States Air Force stations begin with ''A'', such as AIR, used by USAF Headquarters. The USAF also uses semi-fixed identifiers consisting of a name followed by a two or three digit number. The name is assigned to a unit on a semi-permanent basis; they change only when the U.S. Department of Defense goes to DEFCON 3. For example, JAMBO 51 would be assigned to a particular B-52 Stratofortress aircrew of the 5th Bomb Wing, while NODAK 1 would be an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter with the North Dakota Air National Guard. The most recognizable callsign of this type is ''Air Force One'', used when any plane is carrying the President of the United States, or ''Marine One'', used to identify any helicopter doing the same thing. Individual military pilot or other flight officer usually adopt a personal aviator call sign. ===US Navy/Coast Guard=== The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard use a mixture of tactical callsigns and international callsigns beginning with the letter ''N''. For example, the carrier USS ''John F. Kennedy'' has the callsign NJFK. ==See also== *Airline call sign *Aviator call sign *Cosmonaut call sign *International Callsign Allocations *Maritime Mobile Service Identity *pseudonym ==External links== *[http://earlyradiohistory.us/recap.htm United States Callsign Policies] *[http://www.ac6v.com/prefixes.htm Amateur Call Prefixes] Amateur radio Call signs Telecommunications law Wireless communications
Callsign
This article requires the history stored at Callsign/history merging in when the block compression issue is resolved. User:Violetriga User_talk:violetriga 21:00, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC) Does anyone know of any reason why Television call sign diverts here? Australia has a very different Television call sign format than radio call sign. --User:Chuq 01:40, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC) :Probably because most countries that assign callsigns to television stations don't. 20:41, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC) ---- The description of Australian television callsigns doesn't match what my older references show. When did the system change? (My old references, like the '94 WRTH, show callsigns in the "FM radio" format, so that the TEN station in Perth might by 6TEN, etc.) User:18.26.0.18 07:26, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC) :Interesting.. I've read a lot of sites covering Australian TV history and none of them show or use any format such as 6TEN. Can you post a more complete list? I'll go googling for details! -- User:Chuq 00:43, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC) ::I just checked my '94 WRTH and it shows the format you describe. So either I was utterly confused, or I'm remembering something I saw in the '88 WRTH, which I don't have a copy of. User:18.26.0.18 05:29, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC) ==Move proposal: Callsign (radio) → Call sign == Call sign was an unnecessary disambig page. I merged it with Callsign (radio) which had the bulk of the content. I think the main article should be at Call sign. (If someone strongly prefers Callsign, I won't argue much.) -- User:ArnoldReinhold 21:50, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC) *I prefer callsign. (Why would I call a sign?) – User:Radiojon 04:29, 2005 Mar 1 (UTC) *Support (I prefer call sign) User:Mulad —User:Mulad User talk:Mulad 07:15, Mar 2, 2005 (UTC) * Neutral: It is fair to note that www.dictionary.com redirects "call sign" to "call letters". (My last vote on RM, since i'm not wasting my time finding stuff on talk pages...relish it folks...don't say I didn't warn you!) —User:ExplorerCDT 17:45, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC) * Support I don't believe that "callsign" is a word. ''—User:Mzajac User talk:Mzajac 2005-03-14 00:42 Z'' Looks like an old copy/paste move from callsign to callsign (radio). Page histories need to be merged but they both use block-compression. Listed on WP:RM.User:Violetriga User_talk:violetriga 00:28, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC) :Temporary fix done. User:Violetriga User_talk:violetriga 21:00, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Maritime Radio== Doesn't ships have callsigns, too? User:Scriberius 18:19, 2005 May 6 (UTC)
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