I’m not sure exactly why I did it, but on a whim I decided to apply for for a few 1X2 and 2X1 vanity callsigns in call area 4 that were becoming available. Much to my surprise, yesterday I received a notice that I had been granted a new callsign – N4MI. It was not at the top of the list that I submitted to the FCC, but it turns out this is a great callsign for CW: -. ….- — ..
I did not realize how many things would need to be updated with a new callsign. To name just a few:
ARRL and Logbook of the World
VE credentials
DMR id
D-Star registration
Echolink
QRZ.com logbook and callsign page
Clublog
HRDLog.net
eQSL
DXmaps
aprs.fi
Reprogram hotspots and D-Star, DMR, APRS radios
Updating the name and domain for this website
New Email address (if it’s based on your callsign)
New QSL cards, shirts, hats, name tags (any physical item with a callsign)
New license plate with new callsign
WSJT-X, JTAlert, JS8Call, Ham Radio Deluxe, logging programs, Winlink, etc.
… and probably several other things I’ll discover later!
If you’re an active ham, when you apply for a new callsign do yourself a favor and make a list of things that will need to be updated ahead of time. Some of these changes are easy, but others are more involved and require time to complete.