Posted by: Wes Jones, K4NQ on October 26, 2000 at 13:34:25:
Okay, we haven't had a real good stink in a while. I thought I'd stir the pot. I was thinking to myself that when W4OM became available there'd be a right proper dogpile on it. Whiskey Four Old Man; it's got a nice ring to it. I'm not going for it, though; I like 'Kay Four Next Question.
Turns out that there's only one applicant who signed up for the call thus far. Filed on the right date and all that. Of course, he filed as a former holder and that's what bugged me. According to his bio page on qrz.com he's been a ham only since '93 and he was born in '58, probably long after the call was first issued. Call me suspicious, but I'm not sure he's really a "former holder". May not know how to fill out the vanity app properly, but that's another discussion entirely.
One other thing; the ham who held this call last in the FCC database was an Advanced class ham. I'd be willing to bet that he held that class of license all the way back to when they changed class A, B and C to Advanced, General and Conditional.
Now for the great moral debate: what to do about this? It looks like he's walking away with a great call sign and nobody else gets to play.
Okay, the pot's stirred. Let's see what happens...
73!
Wes, K4NQ