Today I was reminded of just how confounded the general public can be about ham radio callsigns.
I was getting out of my car when a woman who pulled in the parking lot after I did was getting out of the space down the row. As we walked toward the door, she smiled and said she was trying to figure out what I was trying to spell on my license plate.
She was referring to the plate on my old Suzuki Sidekick, my trusty mini-SUV that I pulled out of the barn after my wife's car went on the blink. She's got my Dodge Durango, my macho V-8 powered SUV, which carries my “official” amateur radio plate with my callsign, KY4Z.
I wanted a ham radio-related tag on my Suzuki, but you can't put the same plate on two vehicles. I opted for my callsign in a different format — it is displayed in the form I use it when I identify by voice — KY4ZED.
One day this plate will probably be an actual 4th district callsign, but right now it isn't. I don't know how many other people “get” the tag, though it certainly had this woman today scratching her head.
She told me she thought I was trying to write “CRAZED,” which come to think of it, isn't a bad interpretation! The “y” threw her off, and she said curiousity got the best of her.
Now imagine me explaining to her that the plate is my callsign (KY4Z), but not REALLY my callsign because its depicts the European pronouncation of the letter “z.” I saw a bunch of questions pass through her eyes, but she graciously smiled and didn't ask them.
I strongly suspect she believed her initial translation — “CRAZED” — was correct. She may be on to something.
LICENSE TAG DECISION. I renewed my ham callsign tag at year's end, as well as my CRAZED personalized plate. Of the two, I like the personalized plate the best. The official issue ham plate is deadly dull — blue letters on a white field. Why can't the stamp the things with the new “regular” state plate background?
I'm fairly certain it's because of the amateur radio plate's design. That plate is a throwback of sorts to the old plates Kentucky used to use on its cars; remember those? Alternating blue/white background/letters that changed each year … those plates had the state name stamped in the metal at top and the county name stamped at the bottom.
The ham tags have the state stamped at top, and “AMATEUR RADIO” stamped at the bottom. The small letters have fairly deep relief when they are stamped, and at first I questioned if the vinyl on the plate could tolerate the additional stamping — until I realized the standard “white” plate isn't painted, but covered with a reflective white vinyl material. So much for that theory.
It's a shame the ham tags are so bland, too. Many states use the same colorful background as their “regular” issue tags. The regular state tag has the county name at the bottom, and ham tags do not. Is being identified as “AMATEUR RADIO” that big a deal?
I've heard the theory that in a disaster, a “ham tag” can get you in a restricted area to help out with communications. I doubt there are many instances where a driver's license tag made a difference; if you don't have a reason to be responding, and you can't prove you need to be there, then you probably need to stay away.
I read recently that Kentucky was the last of the 50 states to issue an Amateur Radio license plate (1973). I was surprised, but not too surprised. Today the state offers unique plates for a couple dozen groups, causes, schools and charities.
One way the state could shift ham tags to the “standard issue” background would be to have printed the words “Amateur Radio” on a sticker to go where the county name is located. That would ID you as a ham and you would wind up with a tag that's much more attractive than blue letters on a reflective white background.
There's a simpler way to achieve the desired solution, though it's a little more expensive: Cancel the amateur radio plate and re-order my callsign as a vanity plate. This gets me my callsign stamped on a standard issue state plate. The renewal is a bit higher than the ham tag, but its one way to shed the plain vanilla ham tag.
That's a solution alright — provided the next governor doesn't bring back that godawful smiley face license tag design, hi hi.
Time to get my Heathkit a-chirping … I'm QRT. …. 73 es CUL … de KY4Z SK GN … dit dit