CALL LETTERS
Hello: I am a newby to part 15. I have learned alot just reading posts in the forum. I own a music hall and want to broadcast the shows live and transmit recorded stuff the rest of the time. I have just started planning my station and I wanted to know about call letters? Is there a rule or do you just come up with your own? Thank you for having this web site. STICKLIZARD (WSLR OR RSLR)
Just make some up (Don't use ones that are in use by another station). Many say don't use calls, but you're fine. The FCC has more important things than fining a station for using calls...Keep it clean and you won't have any trouble. 🙂 Some use ones like "XRRO" and like "WRR", but I use the good ole "WRRO." 😀
Thanks oldies953. I did not want to start out in trouble. Dan
Lots of people use call letters. I just use MCR (Manteca Community Radio).. I thought of doing XMCR just to make that 4 letter callsign flow the way most people are used to.. although.. call letters used to be just 3...
Technically, it is illegal to have "call letters." But it is not illegal to have an abbreviation for your station. I highly recommend staying away from anything that starts with K, W, or X as these are the most common for legal call letters.
--Chris
yeah.. he's probably right. when in doubt, it's always best to stick to what you know wont get you in trouble.. at least until you get an authorty on the subject to give the solid answer 😉
It would seem to me that if you need a callsign, having a short and pithy station nickname and/or website name (for example, Allston-Brighton Free Radio -> ABFreeRadio(.org)) would be sufficient to the task. While some sort of callsign is nice, squatting on an FCC-assignable one is probably dicey at best.
The FCC probably should have a method for self-assigning a call-sign, but it would likely be as cumbersome as the K+initials+ZIP code callsign you're supposed to use on CB, so I wouldn't count on getting anything like that.
I plan to use a five-letter call sign that will mean something for my area of operation.
Five-letter K and W call signs have been allocated for the U.S., but the FCC has never issued any.
I suggested using K west of the Mississippi and W east of it. Also, I suggest that the last letter indicate the mode: A (AM), F (FM), L (LW), S (SW), and T (TV).
I've noticed a few LP operators are already using five-letter calls.
Bill in SE Texas
It gets confusing 😕 . I was going to use wslr ( STICK LIZARD RADIO). I don't know what the W is for I just thought it sounded more official. How about rslr (REAL STICK LIZARD RADIO) I don't know I guess I will get with the wife and kids and take a vote. I will get on a search engine and see if there is already a wslr or rslr. Thanks for the reply Bill :D, Thanks again, Dan 😀
Hey Dan,
Real Stick Lizard Radio - that's a keeper!!
Checked out your website today..thanks for sharing it.
I operate my Part-15 station as a "tribute" of sorts to the original
country powerhouse, WJJD, in Chicago. I often use the old
"Country Giant" slogan on-air as opposed to the calls. I did manage to
get a few of the original jingles - part of the reason I opted to broadcast
on 1160..matches the original and actually works here in my location in North Florida.
Welcome to the Part-15 community! I have made numerous friends
through my little station and have found most of the folks quite helpful.
My station's website is at www.expage.com/wjjd. Only thing about this
little site is that I can't put any pictures on it without an upgrade. I'm trying
to keep costs down as I would like to expand coverage area in 2005.
Best wishes,
Alan
www.expage.com/wjjd
It gets confusing 😕 . I was going to use wslr ( STICK LIZARD RADIO). I don't know what the W is for I just thought it sounded more official. How about rslr (REAL STICK LIZARD RADIO) I don't know I guess I will get with the wife and kids and take a vote. I will get on a search engine and see if there is already a wslr or rslr. Thanks for the reply Bill :D, Thanks again, Dan 😀
Go to http://www.radio-locator.com - Just type the calls in, and it'll tell you if there is a WSLR. 🙂
thanks oldies, I went to that web site and there were"0" matches for wslr and rslr would not serch because nothing starts with R. Now I just have to decide. All you radio people out there sure are helpful. 😀 , I did not think there would be a web site to serch call signs. 😮 . Now for the real work buying equipment and stuff. Thanks alot , Dan
More places to check calls:
AM - http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/amq.html
FM - http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/fmq.html
TV - http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/tvq.html
--Chris ^_^
Thanks for the fcc sites. I went to the sites and there was a station in Cleveland using wslr and several other call letters. They were broadcasting with 1,300 to 7,000 times too much power. The story said the fine can be $11,000 fine and loss of equipment. And the fine for the operator can be as much as $100,000. Hey guys go to this site it is cool. I learn something new every day. 😀 Thanks again, Dan
I forgot to add this 😳 The story also said that the operator had been warned by the fcc. He kept broadcasting anyway. I think we try to be as legal as we can and if we get a warning by the fcc. Do what they say. I can write all I know about part 15 on a cigarette paper with a magic marker, but it looks like if we stay at 100 mw. we are O.K. 😀 thanks, Dan