Yesterday, on Mastodon, a fellow posted this:
W1M / AE0SB (It’s May Day!)@AE0SB
From Now until May 5, I have the special event call sign W1M in celebration of International Workers’ Day, the original Labor Day.
For more information, you can go to https://w1mayday.wordpress.com
W1M – Amateur Radio Special Event Celebrating International Workers’ Day
That got me thinking that there must be something that we all would like to celebrate, so why not request a special event call sign and operate as a special event station? For example, today’s the date that the Empire State Building opened in 1931. What if some hams requested the call sign W2E and then took some HTs up to the top of the Empire State Building and operated from there? (Having said that, I’m not sure that would be allowed, but if it was, that would be kind of fun to do, don’t you think?)
Or maybe it’s celebrating the occurrence of a significant date in the life of thousands of people…..like your college team winning the national championship. (Can you tell I live in Ann Arbor, MI?)
Another possibility might be celebrating a special anniversary of a club that you belong to. So, for example, if you’re a member of a Rotary Club or Lion’s Club that’s celebrating their 25th, 50th, or even 100th anniversary, you could request a special event call sign and operate for a week using that call sign.
Obtaining a special event call sign
Any licensed amateur radio operator in the U.S. can request the use of a special event call sign. To reserve a call sign, you simply contact any authorized Special Event Call Sign Coordinator. This may be done by regular mail, telephone, FAX, e-mail or through their Internet web page.
An easy way to do this is via the 1×1 special event call sign website. First, search their database to make sure that the call sign that you want is available for the dates that you want to operate. Once you’re sure that the call sign is available, you can request it using the request page. Within a day or two, you’ll be notified that it’s been assigned to you.
There is one caveat. You can’t request a special event call sign for more than two weeks. I wanted to request the special event call sign W8A for the entire summer a, Ann Arbor is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. When I asked the ARRL VEC about this, they were hesitant to assign me the call sign for so long. They said that the longest that they would be comfortable with was two weeks.
Listing on QRZ.Com
To really make a splash with your special event call sign, you should edit the QRZ.Com listing for that call sign. To do that, you first submit a support request. They will then send you an email describing how to edit the listing for the call sign.
In the listing, be sure to describe what you’re celebrating. If it’s historical, include as much of the history as you can. If it has some particular meaning to you personally, you can include that as well.
As far as QSLs go, you might want to design something that you can send electronically. And, if someone wants a printed card, you could take that design to a Staples and have a few printed for you.
I’ve always enjoyed working special event stations, and I think that coming up with your own personal special event would be even more fun. So, what’s your special event?