Posted by: Steve W3HF on October 01, 08 at 08:25:38:

In Reply to: Re[1]:Multiple callsign changing posted by N4FZ Gene on September 30, 08 at 21:06:06:

It depends on the callsigns, especially if the holder keeps going back to the same one or a set of calls.

Some people like change. They change the arrangement of furniture twice a year. They change their hairstyle or color regularly. In amateur radio, there are folks who will always buy the newest radio "just to try it out"; that's why you see for-sale ads for three-month-old radios.

So I can extrapolate that to hams who get bored with their callsigns and want a new one, and never return to a previously-held call. Maybe there's some sort of progression of "increasingly better" calls in the holder's perspective. Three in two years isn't too bad. Three in two months would attract FCC inquiry (IMO).

Sometimes folks have "buyer's remorse", and want to return to a callsign they gave up. As long as this happens only once, the FCC understands that too.

But if someone keeps cycling between the same set of calls, especially if they stay just within the two-year limit, they attract a lot of attention. This "callsign churning" keeps those calls from other hams, and has attracted FCC enforcement inquiries and actions in the past.

Follow Ups:

• Re[3]:Multiple callsign changing N4FZ Gene 19:47:22 10/01/08 (4)
  • Re[4]:Multiple callsign changing Steve W3HF 19:08:10 10/02/08 (3)
    • Re[5]:Multiple callsign changing N4FZ Gene 22:24:16 10/02/08 (0)
    • Re[5]:Multiple callsign changing Russ N8FZ 19:37:51 10/02/08 (0)
    • Re[5]:Multiple callsign changing Russ N8FZ 19:37:42 10/02/08 (0)