Australian Ham Radio Discussion Forum ( AHRDF )

From text edition for : http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/

Also in MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2020-03-14.mp3

"
WIA NEWS MARCH 15
Board Comment Sunday 15th March 2020

Good morning, this is Mike VK8MA, a director of the WIA. Today I would like to offer a comment on a subject that might not be fully understood. Even I have only had this clarified recently. It only impacts a few Amateurs and is not a major issue.

Some of you, including myself, have moved from state to state and followed the old procedure of obtaining a new callsign in the new state with an appropriate prefix e.g. VK2, 3, 6 etc. I have had 4 callsigns in 4 states. You can still do this and some people like having a prefix that indicates their state, but depending on the state, you may not be able to get your previous suffix, due to unavailability.

What is not widely known is that in fact you are only required to do a change of address with ACMA and you can keep your callsign. Several Amateurs have in fact done that. It does give a new slant on the 'Callsign for Life'. It is up to you which way you approach your interstate move.

Meantime, still on callsigns, we are in the throes of compiling the statistics from the recent poll and fellow director Aidan will deliver the results ASAP.

This has been Mike, VK8MA.

"

Ed: This was previously not possible under ACMA LCD and Regs. You always had to apply for a new callsign/licence. I wonder where this is stated "in print" where we can all read it.

Looking at the 2015 LCD re callsigns :

"
8 Operation of an amateur station

Call signs

(1A) For the purposes of this section, the licensee of an amateur station (other than an amateur beacon station or amateur repeater station) may, on the following days, substitute the prefix letters VK in the call sign of the station with the prefix letters AX:

(a) 26 January;

(b) 25 April;

Example If the call sign specified in the licensee’s licence is VK1ZZZ, the licensee may use the call sign AX1ZZZ on the days mentioned in paragraphs (a) to © above.
Note 26 January is Australia Day, 25 April is Anzac Day and 17 May is World Telecommunication Day.

(1) Subject to subsection (2A), if the licensee makes a single transmission from an amateur station (other than an amateur beacon station or amateur repeater station), the licensee must transmit the call sign of any station being called, or communicated with, followed by the call sign of the licensee’s amateur station:

(a) at the beginning of the transmission;

(b) at the end of the transmission;

by voice (using the English language), by visual image or by an internationally recognised code.

(2) Subject to subsection (2A), if the licensee makes a series of transmissions from an amateur station (other than an amateur beacon station or amateur repeater station) to a station with which communications have been established, the licensee must transmit the call sign of the station being called, or communicated with, followed by the call sign of the licensee’s amateur station:

(a) at the beginning of the series of transmissions;

(b) at the end of the series of transmissions;

by voice (using the English language), by visual image or by an internationally recognised code.

(2A) If:

(a) there are two or more qualified operators participating in emergency services operations or training exercises for emergency services; and

(b) two or more of those qualified operators are operating stations ([b]the group of stations[/b]) for the purposes of those operations or exercises;

for transmissions relating to those operations or exercises the licensee must ensure that arrangements are in place for at least one station in the group of stations to transmit the call signs of all of the stations in the group of stations:

(d) at the end of a transmission or series of transmissions;

(e) if a transmission or series of transmissions lasts for more than 30 minutes — at least once during each period of 30 minutes, or part thereof, of the transmission or series of transmissions;

by voice (using the English language), by visual image or by an internationally recognised code.

Other matters

(3) Subject to subsection (3A), the licensee must not operate an amateur station unless:

(a) the content of the signal is intelligible; or

(b) if the content of the signal is unintelligible – the signal is transmitted for the purposes of conducting a brief test or making an adjustment to the station.

(3A) The licensee must not operate an amateur station to transmit signals that are encoded for the purpose of obscuring the meaning of the signals, except for:

(a) signals exchanged between an amateur station and a space station in an amateur-satellite service for the purpose of controlling the operation of the space station; and

(b) signals exchanged between an amateur station and an unattended amateur station for the purpose of controlling the operation of the unattended amateur station; and

(4) The licensee must not operate an amateur station if its operation causes interference to radiocommunications due to transmissions that:

(a) vary from a frequency on which the station is authorised to operate; or

(b) have key impact emissions as a side effect of Morse code transmission; or

(d) causes an emission outside the necessary bandwidth of the transmission.

(5) The licensee must take measures that are reasonably practicable to erect, fix, place and use an amateur station in a way that avoids interference to the efficient and convenient working of other stations.

(6) If the licensee proposes to use an amateur station to retransmit a transmission originating from another amateur station ([b]second station[/b]), the licensee must:

(a) obtain the consent of the licensee making the transmission from the second station to retransmit the transmission; and

(b) transmit the second station’s call sign at the beginning and the end of each transmission; and

© indicate, as part of the transmission, that it is primarily a retransmission of a transmission of another amateur station.

"

No mention of State names or specific State prefixes in the Amateur LCD 2015....
The only prefix detail mentioned is from the letters VK or AX in para 8.1(a).

Anyone else found relevant info ??

Hmm - interesting.

I know of two cases where the individuals resided in one State but worked in another and used a call from the latter, and following complaints by unknown parties to the ACMA they had to obtain a callsign relevant to their state of residence.

A followup on this news item, as extracted from the RASA website (https://vkradioamateurs.org/whats-in-a-c...entifiers/)  :

"On a recent WIA News broadcast, WIA Director, Mike VK8MA noted that this policy is no longer enforced by ACMA – that is, a person can change State/Territory and not change their callsign.

We verified this with ACMA.

To quote ACMA’s Manager, Licence Allocation:  [i]there is no regulatory requirement for an amateur to obtain (and use) a new callsign when they move interstate – the only requirement is that they transmit using a callsign as per the LCD requirement.[/i]

The callsign structure (the “callsign template”) is defined in the Deed (contract) with the Australian Maritime College (AMC), but is [i]not listed[/i] in any ACMA regulatory instrument such as the Act or the Licence Conditions Determination (LCD).

The ACMA regard callsigns as a matter of operational practice.  They do not see callsign structures as part of their core regulatory responsibility – this is why the callsign structure is not included in the LCD, and will not be.

However, just to clarify, if you apply for a new or an upgraded callsign via the AMC, the normal rules apply – that is, your callsign prefix must match your location. This is because AMC have a contract with ACMA to manage callsigns, and the current callsign template is part of this contract.

So, what does this all mean?

If a person does not have to change their callsign when moving interstate, the numeric prefix/QTH connection has effectively been broken.

"

There is more in that article too but this seems the most relevant component...

I guess we won't be hearing quite as many "portable VK(x)" calls in the future as just the vanilla callsign can legally be used, regardless of when, where and how long you may stay somewhere.

Good, bad, don't know..

Is the callsign/location connection a big deal given the current tools available?
(internet databases and digital comms).

I am asking as I really don't know. In my limited opportunities to operate it's not such a bad thing and I know change is difficult, but will this cause the sky to fall?

I am interested in what people think and how it would affect their method/s of operation.

Is the callsign/location connection a big deal given the current tools available? (internet databases and digital comms).

Not really. It has traditionally been prefix = Australian State. This new trend is similar to that of the USA where the initial callsign is based on the mailing address but the station can be anywhere in the USA and still retain a different call-area prefix. Interestingly, my initial USA mailing address is in Florida so I got a KX4 prefix (ie a 4 call-area issue) for my USA Extra Class licence but can apply for a Vanity call from any USA State / call area without anything else changing. The changes here are somewhat parallel. Under the changes, I can move south to VK2 and still retain the callsign I have had since 1976. (Not that I plan to do that either !)

I am asking as I really don't know. In my limited opportunities to operate it's not such a bad thing and I know change is difficult, but will this cause the sky to fall?

The sky might not fall but it will cause confusion, particularly with DX looking to VK for contacts.
Let's take the case of Richie VK8RR. He has been operating in VK4 (so VK8RR/4) and at one stage was in VK2 (so VK8RR/2) if I remember correctly. Others get a broad idea of where in Aus he is operating from from his verbal (/digital) 'portable 2' or 'portable 4' ID comment . Under this new callsign regime, he simply signs as VK8RR and may - or may not - be operating from the NT. In reality he is based in VK4 these days, according to some internet sources, while the ACMA Database still shows him with an NT Licence.

I am interested in what people think and how it would affect their method/s of operation.

I have done some caravanning in recent years and plan to do more. I read it that if only the initial State mailing address is relevant and that subsequent permanent location changes are updated to the ACMA then realistically I no longer need to sign 'portable' when travelling, or maybe something more specific like 'portable 2' etc.. My location changes don't need to be notified to the ACMA as they are short duration whilst travelling around VK and my home mailing address is still valid. That is not to say that I can't sign 'portable 3' as I have done in the past, just that I don't have to.

Make sense ??

Hi Doug,

That is pretty much what I thought would be the case but I've misunderstood things before, so I've found it wise to ask Smile

I guess even if it wasn't a requirement, courtesy would dictate the use of 'portable 3' or /3 etc.

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