[Dx-qsl] Re: [dx-list] KH0N / vanity calls

Thu Jun 21 17:22:53 EDT 2007

And there are undoubtedly many more licensees who have never left the 
US and have callsigns without ever being tested. Fortunately there 
have been crackdowns on unethical VEs, but some will always slip 
through the cracks.
Bob, N7XY
On Jun 21, 2007, at 2:14 PM, Alan Zack wrote:
> Stuart,
>> Yes, KH0N is a highly desired Extra Class call. Since US Prefixes 
> for calls outside the continental US contain 2 letters and a number 
> (KH6, KL7, KP4, etc) a 2 by 1 call is very desirable.
>> My major complaint are foreigners who may NEVER set foot on US
> soil obtaining a US Extra Class ham license without taking any
> sort of test or exam by just having his friends or classmates who
> are VE's sign off on his application. Then they use a club or 
> friend's USA PO Box or other address as their USA address for the 
> FCC to mail the license. I have seen the VE paperwork passed 
> around at lunches or brought to a person's home to be signed off by 
> a VE who never witnessed any sort of testing or may have never met 
> the applicant. These people are issued an US Extra Class call that 
> may never be heard on the air because in some countries (my 
> experience is with the Philippines) it is very difficult to obtain 
> a visa to enter the US. I do know of one case where the person in 
> question obtained a KH0 call in this manner. His KH0 call remained 
> dormant for years. Then he got married to a school teacher who was 
> recruited to teach in the U.S. Once the wife obtained her working 
> permit and arrived in the U.S. the husband submitted a change of 
> address to the FCC using the wife's U.S. address. Then after a 
> period of time she was allowed to petition the husband to join her 
> here. So now this person holds a U.S. 5th call area call and is on 
> the air in the U.S. without ever being tested.
>> _______________________________________________________
> Alan Zack
> Amateur Radio Station K7ACZ
> Official USCG Auxiliary Comm Station
> Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
> Delta Rocket Quality Engineer, The Boeing Company, Retired
> Aviation Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired
> U.S. Coast Guard, Always Ready, Always There
> Every hour, Every day, Around the Clock and Around the World
> SEMPER PARATUS
> http://www.geocities.com/k7acz
> http://gocoastguard.com
> http://www.uscgradio.net
> http://www.comm-one.org
> http://patriotfiles.org/CoastiesRule.htm
> http://images.military.com/Video/050617_CGClip.wmv
> http://images.military.com/Video/051007_CoastGuard.wmv
> http://www.quarters-one.com/lipsBill.html
> http://www.quarters-one.com/lipsOldSchoolRecruiting.html
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> -------------------------
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stuart Santelmann KC1F" 
> <kc1f at comcast.net>
> To: <dx-list at yahoogroups.com>; "DX" <dx at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 4:30 PM
> Subject: Re: [dx-list] KH0N / vanity calls
>>>> Alan:
>>>> Your post didn't get much of a response, so I'll weigh in. This is 
>> something that has bothered me for years. Is there any other 
>> country in the world that lets non-resident, non-citizens not only 
>> take their country's licensing exams on their own soil, but also 
>> have access to their most desirable callsigns through a vanity 
>> program ? I'm not sure if KH0N is a vanity call, but a lot of 
>> them did go to foreign hams. The 1x2 callsign I was trying to get 
>> when Gate 2 opened in 1996 went to a fellow whose email address 
>> ended in ".de" but had a mailing address in Texas, and who applied 
>> electronically at the last minute. Where do you think he lived ? 
>> Shouldn't we be reserving our most desirable callsigns for some 
>> high school kid in Akron or Topeka, rather than a foreigner who 
>> may never need to set foot in the US in order to use our 
>> reciprocal licensing agreements ? I do have much less of a 
>> problem with DX hams getting our 2x3 callsigns, just leave them 
>> out of the vanity opportunity.
>>>> I don't really fault the DX stations taking advantage of what we 
>> allow them to do - it's our fault for opening the loophole. Maybe 
>> a start would be when the time comes for renewing the bogus US 
>> vanity call, the renewal would need to come with a rent receipt, 
>> utility bill, car registration, ANYTHING with both the licensee's 
>> name and the USA address on it.
>>>> Three guesses about how I feel about the illegal immigration issue...
>>>> Stu KC1F (hopefully to be "JA1F" if all goes well)
>>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: Alan Zack
>> To: dx-list at yahoogroups.com ; DX
>> Cc: dx-list at yahoogroups.com ; DX-NEWS ; DX-QSL
>> Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 9:39 PM
>> Subject: Re: [dx-list] KH0N
>>>>>> This looks like a public announcement of a fraud upon the United
>> States of America. Here is a non-citizen/non-resident illegally
>> using an USA address to falsely apply for a U.S. Call sign.
>> Especially in Guam and Saipan where most Extra class preferred
>> 2X1 calls are held by foreigners who may only go there one
>> weekend every couple of years to work a contest or in the case of
>> DU ops applying for a U.S. call NEVER actually leave their own
>> country.
>>>> The FCC allows foreigners to be tested in their own country by
>> their own countrymen who are VE's but have never stepped foot on
>> U.S. soil to receive a U.S. Extra Class call. At some of these
>> so called VE sessions no test is given, only applications filled
>> and money collected. I know, I was asked to be a VE at one of
>> these sessions and reported the matter to the FCC but nothing
>> changed.
>>>> Go to the RAC CD and take a look at how many KH0 and KH2 2X1
>> calls are held by people with Filipino or Japanese sounding names
>> sharing the same PO Boxes or Mail Box Etc, PMB (private mail box)
>> or Mailex type address. They rent these boxes long enough to
>> receive their license from the FCC then allow them to expire or
>> have a friend on the island to pick up their mail. Some have
>> friends in the USA that allow their address to be used in this
>> illegal activity. Good luck on ever expecting to get a QSL card
>> using any of these addresses.
>> ______________________________________
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray" <w8cnl at bellsouth.net>
>> To: "DX" <dx at mailman.qth.net>
>> Cc: <dx-list at yahoogroups.com>; "DX-NEWS" <dx-news at arrl.org>;
>> "DX-QSL" <dx-qsl at mailman.qth.net>
>> Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 12:24 PM
>> Subject: [dx-list] KH0N
>>>> >I AM NOT THE QSL MANAGER FOR KH0N.
>> > MY ADDRESS IS FOR FCC PURPOSES ONLY.
>> > IF YOU READ AT ALL, IT SAYS QSL VIA JA6CNL.
>> > ANY CARDS RECEIVED WILL NOT BE FORWARDED TO TONY.
>> > THIS HAS BEEN PUT OUT OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS OR SO IN EVERY
>> > DX BULLETIN .
>> > THANKS FOR READING !!!
>> >
>> > -- > Raymond H. McClure
>> > W8CNL
>> > 5 McKenzie Circle
>> > North Augusta, South Carolina
>> > 29841-4319
>> >
>> > 1-803-279-8845
>>>>>>>>>>>> &quot;Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've 
> got...till it's gone.&quot; from Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell) 
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>