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Callsigns

Your callsign is your name on the air. The FCC assigns one to every licensed amateur — a short string of letters and numbers, unique worldwide. You say it every time you identify, and other hams use it to look you up, log contacts with you, and send you confirmation cards.

US callsigns start with K, N, W, or AA–AL. A typical Technician callsign looks like KI5ABC — two or three letters, a single digit, then one to three letters. The digit roughly indicates your region of the country (5 covers Texas and the south-central US).

The identification rule

FCC rule §97.119 requires you to identify with your callsign:

  • At the end of each contact, and
  • At least every 10 minutes during a contact.

That's it — no ID needed at the start, no ID every time you key the mic. A common pattern on a repeater: chat for a while, then sign off with your callsign. Long ragchews just need the callsign dropped in every ten minutes ("...anyway, KI5ABC, back to you").

Identify in English (or with the international phonetic alphabet), in a mode the other station can understand — voice, Morse, or an approved digital ID.

The phonetic alphabet

Radio channels are noisy. "B," "D," "E," "G," and "T" all sound alike through static, so hams spell callsigns with the NATO/ICAO phonetic alphabet — one distinct word per letter. Learn it; you'll use it constantly.

| A Alfa | B Bravo | C Charlie | D Delta | E Echo | | F Foxtrot | G Golf | H Hotel | I India | J Juliett | | K Kilo | L Lima | M Mike | N November | O Oscar | | P Papa | Q Quebec | R Romeo | S Sierra | T Tango | | U Uniform | V Victor | W Whiskey | X Xray | Y Yankee | Z Zulu |

Digits are spoken normally: "five," "niner" for 9 (aviation habit many hams keep — "niner" is unmistakable).

Note the official spellings: Alfa (not Alpha), Juliett (not Juliet), Xray (not X-ray). These are the ICAO standard forms. You'll hear variants on the air — "America" for A, "Japan" for J — and nobody will correct you, but the standard words exist because they're the least ambiguous. Use them.

So KI5ABC becomes "Kilo India Five Alfa Bravo Charlie."

Why it matters

On a noisy channel, the phonetic alphabet is the difference between a logged contact and a garbled one. Contest stations and DX pileups (dozens of stations calling one rare station) run entirely on phonetics — clear, fast, standard. It's also just courtesy: spelling your callsign phonetically the first time saves everyone a round of "was that B or D?"

Check: Say your own callsign in phonetics out loud until it feels automatic — you'll need it the moment you key up for the first time (see Your First Contact).

Next: Bands and Modes — where you're allowed to talk, and how.