Tag Archives: Historical

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – March 2025 edition

One of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator in the Ohio Section is to submit something for the Section Journal. The Section Journal covers Amateur Radio related things happening in and around the ARRL Ohio Section. It is published by the Section Manager Tom – WB8LCD and articles are submitted by cabinet members.

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

You can receive the ARRL Ohio Section Newsletter and other Ohio Section news by joining the mailing list. Anyone can join and do not need to be a member of the ARRL, Ohio Section, or even a ham to join the mailing list. Please sign up!

If you are an ARRL member and reside in the Ohio Section, update your mailing preferences to receive Ohio Section news in your inbox. Those residing outside the Ohio section will need to use the mailing list link above.  Updating your ARRL profile will deliver news from the section where you reside (if the leadership chooses to use this method).

  • Go to www.arrl.org and click the Login button.
  • Login
  • When logged in successfully, it will say “Hello <Name>” in place of the Login button where <Name> is your name.  Click your Name.  This will take you to the “My Account” page.
  • On the left hand side, under the “Communication” heading (second from the bottom), click Opt In/Out (or direct link)
  • To the right of the “Opt In/Out” heading, click Edit
  • Check the box next to “Division and Section News.”  If it is already checked, you are already receiving the Ohio Section Journal.
  • Click Save
  • There should now be a green check mark next to “Division and Section News.”  You’re all set!

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at:

Archive index: https://arrl-ohio.org/ohio-section-newsletter/

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey gang,

Were you a ham and don’t remember a previous call? Want to fill in gaps of previous callsigns? Need proof a license was held previously for exam credit? Have a vanity callsign and curious about whom held it previously? Pete “The Greek” – NL7XM is a Radio Amateur Callsign Historian.

Pete provides this unique service with his collection of Callbooks dating back to 1909. “He can research license dates, find lost Callsigns, or get past proof for FCC Lifetime Credit at very reasonable terms” according to his eHam.net page.

For hams that grew up in the 2000’s or later, not everything is on the Internet. Information was disseminated in these printed things called books. You couldn’t always go to QRZ.com, or other favorite callsign lookup, to find information about another ham. Instead, a Callbook could be purchased by individuals or clubs. Inside would be the entire listing of Amateur Radio stations. Often beginning with the 10th call district (stations with “0” in their callsign) and sorted by call suffix. Information would include class identification (Novice, Tech, Conditional, General, Advanced, Extra, Club, Military, Repeater) and station contact address. These Callbooks were usually published regionally (eg: North America) and multiple times throughout the year (eg: winter, fall, spring). Later editions were thousands of pages.

If you’re reading this and were a ham previously, interested in re-joining the ranks, use Pete’s service to find previous licenses which may gain automatic exam credit. Maybe jog the memory on previous callsigns. Some may have lost their license in a move, misplaced paperwork, threw it away thinking you’ll never need it again only to regret that decision later. If Pete can find your previous license, usually with the help of approximate dates, he can send a copy which is valid proof of holding a license previously.

Ways to gain exam element credit are listed on this ARRL VEC page. Questions or clarifications, the ARRL VEC has helped many candidates understand the process. They often reach out to the local VEC, where the candidate expects to take the exam, informing that team how to process the application.

Reading through some of the comments, Pete has helped find a radio club’s previous callsigns, ones which had been forgotten. He’s found when current license holders were first licensed, because that person had forgotten exactly. Found Novice callsigns of current hams. Callsigns held by other relatives such as father, grandparents, uncles, or cousins. Pete has even tracked down current contact information to help authors doing research for articles and stories.

I heard about Pete on Ham Nation and I contacted him a few years ago. I was curious about previous holder/s of my callsign. My original call was KC8MWP but I changed it almost immediately to include my initials, K8JTK, and have held it ever since. Since mine is a vanity call, I was not the original holder. Every once-in-a-while on-air someone would say ‘I knew someone in the area that used to have that call.’

One day, I wrote Pete and asked him to put together a history of previous holders (again figuring multiple people held it previously). Since my query was for my own edification, I told him he could put my request at the end of the pile because those that needed his services for license verification, I felt, were more important.

As it turned out, he did have a pile and got to my request about a month later. This was a few years ago, recent reviews indicate a much quicker turnaround time. It appears the workload has lightened!

“PeteTheGreek” – NL7XM and his vast collection of Callbooks (eHam.net)

Pete’s research found only one previous holder of my current callsign, and it was a YL:

“Opal J. Glenn of 736 Arlington Rd. in Bangor, Mich. held the call for almost exactly 10 years from about July 1958 until the summer of 1968. There’s no further information found about her after that.”

Only one previous holder of my callsign, I had no idea. I suspect locals remembered the callsign incorrectly or thought it was something else.

Recently, I did some quick research to see if she was still living or had passed. Nothing online. Searched that address and the road appears to have been renamed “W Arlington St.” A house with that exact number exists on W. Arlington St., according to Google Maps. I would suspect contacting the local Historical Society could provide more information, if I was so inclined. I haven’t been (yet).

In the footer of Pete’s reply, he requests leaving a review on his E-ham page. In addition, accepts donations via his PayPal. He provided me value with his service and his time researching, I gave some value back by throwing him a couple bucks.

He was very grateful for both my review and donation. He lamented the fact he’ll spend hours conducting research they asked for and promised a few “shekels.” They don’t even send a note back saying thanks or ever send him anything. Frankly, I’m embarrassed by that and hope that is the exception rather than the rule.

NL7XM Callsign Historical Research offers a phenomenal service for those needing historical callsign or historical license details.

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK