Amateur Radio UK Callsigns - Puzzle Solved 

A bit of trivia: Scotland has M as the regional identifier because the ships flag messaging code uses the Scottish flag for the letter M.

G9 were experimental callsigns. Some amateurs got them for testing 934 MHz CB before it was released legally in 1981. They were also used in industry. The reason there haven't been M2 callsigns issued is that these were used by the Home Office for police base stations. So Edinburgh was M2ZH. They were finally scrapped around 2006, but current police airwave radios still use those prefixes as identifiers for different areas. We might use M2 when we run out of something.

Thank you for taking the time to explain U.K. callsigns in a way that I can understand.🙂

Great explanation Cal yet another excellent video, Thank you

Additional points of interest: G8xxx were the original Class B (VHF/UHF) calls (Mine was G8KUX), and G6xxx/T were amateur television licences in addition to holding a Class A or B licence which was eventually scrapped (obviously!). G9 were commercial and industrial experimental callsigns. From memory, The ITA's Crystal Palace transmitter on VHF channel 9 carried the callsign on test transmissions.

Did not know that... Very interesting, and a bit confusing. 😆 Nice video Cal, as always. Thanks for your time. 73

Thanks for the contexts, both geographical and historical. This is meat and potatoes content. Keep it up!

Great fun just getting my head around this 🎉

Brilliant explanation, it was easy to understand.

Excellent video as always

I've always wondered about call signs in the UK. Thanks for explaining your call sign system.

Super Info, I learned a few new things. But I gave the thumbs up as soon as you mentioned The and Po,.. cheers Cal 73

Ringway Manchester did several videos on UK call signs. One of them was called "Secret G7's and Experimental G9's - Elusive Radio Callsigns From The Past"

My callsigns are GM1BAZ, GM4VZW - early 1980's (Scotland) & now EA8DEU (Canary Islands). Thanks for the callsign info Callum, I watch your videos all the time, great inspiration for me and the ham radio world, thanks Cal. Kenny EA8DEU.

Thanks Callum. Great info!

Thanks for clarifying. Made the complex simple.

Hi there, Enjoy your videos, interesting to see how much I can remember from way back, my RAE was the last one to include valves! When did they resurrect the /P , I haven't been active for about 25 years , but seem to remember when I first got my callsign , using /P whilst out and about walking and on a bicycle, and /M in the car, think there was a/MM for maritime Mobile too. Some years later, the /P seemed to disappear, and we used /M for anything not in the shack.. Remember the excitement working Australia from the car for the first time, but the real highlight, was working 10FM on converted CB sets, talking across town (Sheffield) through a repeater in Atlanta Georgia , just 4Watts and sunspot maxima , Sadly it's all mobile phones. whatsapp, facetime etc.now, must be difficult to get youngsters into the hobby. 73's, Pete G4GRI

Nice video cal,nice to finally find out where Jersey and Guernsey are as well 🙈🙈🙈

Great explanation Callum & appreciate as it helps uncover the mysteries of the UK callsign system. Remember hearing a similar presentation from Peter @ Essex ham & found it fascinating how they came up with all the designators. Here in VK in the 1990s I got my Intermediate (we knew it as a T call back then, used to be Z call) & still use the same call to this very day as eventually the old Intermediate call (full theory, full regs but nil CW) got transitioned to Advanced when they dropped CW in the 2000s. VK is similar with the 3rd digit being the state identifier ie VkxABC but I believe they have dropped this requirement for hams who are working interstate. For a time Foundation (Novice) had F calls ie VKxFABC which many didn't like as it made their CQ calls longer & some software couldn't cope with 4 letter call signs but I believe moves are afoot to drop the F call

I will add my appreciation to the list for your good explanation of English calls! Thank you! Here in VK we’ve (in my view) goofed up our calls by removing the number identifier meaning for the states… sure, those who want to, now have callsign portability if they move… but it wasn’t busted, so why did we have to fix it? Out portable for a contest recently, I set myself the simple goal of working every state in an afternoon. When I got home and checked my log, the one VK8 (formerly Northern Territory) was operating in my state and neglected to tell me… pfffttt. If I moved states, I wouldn’t want to give the impression I was still in Vic. with a ‘3.’. But that’s just me… Peter, VK3ACZ

Dipping my toe back into the hobby after retirement (I had a GM6 callsign in the early 1980s for just one year shortly after I graduated, having passed the RAE at school in 1974), I have been completely baffled by the plethora of UK callsigns and it took me a while to realise ones like 2E series were UK. Thanks for the summary! It seems like a right dog's dinner, though.

Heii Call👽This is a bit of a complicated matter😄 Here in Slovenia, you can, in principle, choose a call sign for class A, as I have it myself, only if it is still available. But only in A class! That's why my very simple S5- is the prefix for Slovenia. SI- is the international designation for it. 0- means CORONA time (vegetation) 😄So S50SI For me personally, the most beautiful call sign in Slovenia 😇 Well deserved anyway😉 I still like to follow your posts and follow them as much as I can 👍 Keep it up 😎

This was fun

Excellent video. Ringway Manchester has covered some interesting ones. 73 M7TUD

Any licensed VK operator, should they so choose, may change their callsign prefix to AX on Australia Day (26th Jan), ANZAC Day (25th Apr) and IT Day (17th May).

Makes for interesting options traveling for CQ WPX

I was always amazed at the UK call sign matrix… Being Canadian, one only changes his/her/etc callsign when moving to a new province/territory or, with many years (25?) operating experience, to a 2 letter suffix. Stay safe Cal! Andre - VE1OV/M0RAV (GB2CPM)

I love my 2 letter irish prefix and suffix, so simple 19.40

Wild but great explanation! 73s ND4A

Thanks for this.

It’s fairly crazy the amount of uk call sign prefixes out there and I’m sure there’s some history to why it kept changing.. I have a uk callsign acquired by simple application on the basis of my EI licence.. I’m EI5IMB & operate often in Northern Ireland, so I acquired MI5IMB… which is only one character difference to my home call and is very handy 😊

Hi Callum, Et All, Great video Callum as usual. I've had 3 callsigns, star ting with a G7 which like the G1, G6, & G8 before me were all as you rightly point out with the G6 Callsigns were all Class B permitting only VHF and above. Other prefix's for which a 12 WPM Morse Test was required include G0 G2, G3, G4, & G5. The Earliest G2, & G5 callsigns could have been 2 letter suffix or a 3 letter suffix. . My 2nd Callsign was an M5 Callsign, for which I had to pass a 5 WPM Morse test. In My particular case, like many others during a Very Special Long Weekend Sponsored by Martin Lynch & Son (back then), at Tolmers Scout Camp Grounds, The RSGB in connection with what was then known as The "Radio Communications Agency" or the "R.C.A." (now OFCOM), , , , , , , , , This Event Included the op8pertunity for Class B Licenee's to study and practice taking down Morse code on paper at 2 speed levels of 5 WPM, & 12 WPM, Sent by tutors who were setup on a stage in a massive Marquee Tent. The students where given pencils & paper & a Code Sheet with all of the Morse Code on it required for the Morse Code Test, Also issued (at great cost to Martin Lynch & Son) were Integrated practice Morse Code & Buzzer sets, so that those who felt confident enough to pass The Code Test, could then go to a separate instructor on a 1 to 1 basis to practice Sending Morse Code. When the student was told that they was proficient enough to take the exam for real, the student then went into the main building and applied for the Morse test of their choice & were they were then paired up with a pair of Morse Code Examiners who then put them through the test for real. This was How I got My M5 Call sign. Due to the Special Arrangements mentioned above, Everyone who Passed their morse test during that particular weekend, , , , , , ALSO Received Their NEW Callsign DURING That Weekend, Most of whom where issued with it on the day that they passed their morse test. The examiners never told us whether we had passed or failed, so we had to SWEAT IT OUT until later in the day in order to get the good or not so good news. I thought I had failed miserably, until one of the RSGB Staff young ladies found me and presented me with My Pass Sli[ AND My New M5 Callsign, which permitted me to go on HF as soon as we got back home. I know that there will me many reading this who were also on the receiving end of the same delights as myself. What a Fantastic weekend that was. The Icing on the cake for me was that I also got My story published in the following months copy of RADCom, unbeknown to me until I saw it for myself. Kind Regards to all, Ray, AKA M0RAY.

GN/MN are club calls in Northern Ireland. My own club have MN0PQR just need to get it on air a bit more.

good vid, thx Cal. M7OLE

Thank you for the insight in UK calls. At lot of commonality with VK, however the regional identifiers seem to "muddy" the waters rather than add clarity. Stuart, VK3SH from Melbourne

In the USA, we also had our own VHF-only license called Technician Class which created a similar jumble. It was meant to inspire experimentation on VHF/UHF, but had always been considered the license for people who couldn't master the code because it used the exact same written test as the General Class license, but only required a 5-WPM code test. I've read of instances where people held two licenses, one Tech and the other Novice Class for HF because both only required 5-WPM. Those people were issued two different callsigns.

M2AA to M2ZZ are allocated to the home office for the Blue light services - G9xxx was assigned to UK research and development licences and were used on 934 MHz before CB legalisation

I had a G7 from when I lived in the UK. The RSGB said I can get it back when I spoke to their reps at Dayton hamvetion. I need to get around to it.

don't we just love the band police hi Callum love the videos keep them up Gordon farmer M7INT

Thanks, very interesting... but hell is it complicated :D Someone in some office had some fun i guess ;-) But anyhow, good to know.

Mines an M1. Was originally B license but then got upgraded when the morse test was stopped.

Hi Cal, it was 1982 when i was first licensed, and had to wait 2-3 months for my G6 callsign during which time i learned cw and passed the test at a coastal station before G6JPU was received then applied for the A license - how things have changed, don't know where the years have gone. Travel is now a major interest with two trips to India before end of year booked but no reciprical license available, not like going to Alicante and operating EA5/ Keep the vids coming 73 de Graham G4PFK

Ooooh Jersey decided to go North of Guernsey :)

You have a lot to thank G2DAF for during the war he pioneered SSB in the forces and after the war in 1960 he pioneered the G2DAF rx it took a few amateurs a few years but soon it took off and it is all thanks to Dick Thornley the uk

also historically G5 +3 series were used for non UK nationals residing in the UK , but the series has now been re released

Taking Foundation exam end of November. Hoping to get callsign before New year.

The G9 callsign has been in years before ofcom took 0ver my callsign dates from 1981 for testing on 934

Great video Cal , can’t the band police get a call sign for the hard work not pressing the PTT , did hear a transmission on 20m last night of someone playing your voice causing qrm which is very sad , must be the jealousy kicking in , good weekend from Wet Tenby wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

In Sweden our personal identifier is actually the suffix. There is instead different geographical areas where the number moves. So lets say SM0ABC lives in stockholm but am on a trip in Scania he would be SM0ABC/7 or in the far north SM0ABC/2. However, would he/she move to Scania he would be SM7ABC. The suffix is not given to anyone else with the same prefix minus the number. It used to be that you as a foreigner using your CEPT should sign SM7/M0ABC in Scania but we have removed that rule and made it optional so that you could use either SM7/M0ABC or SM/M0ABC. The prefix identifiers has changed a bit over the years but as a rule the old prefixes still stay the same where as: SA & SM are personal prefixes, these are for private persons. SK are club stations for people involved in the FRO (Volunteer Radio Organisation) which is kind of military volunteer organisation specializing in radio. Then we have the SB-SI, the 7S and the 8S. SI and SJ is commonly used for visiting club stations. There are a few visiting club stations that a visitor with a ham license can visit and operate from, either with their own call or with the visiting club station call (usually optional). Examples SJ9WL and SI9AM. So, for anyone that wondered why SM calls go from 0-7 and wondered where the 8 and 9 goes, that is the answer to the 9. Now, what about the 8? The number 8 identifier goes to the Swedish area of Market Reef, we are used to OJ0. Market Reef is a small rock island between Åland Islands OH0, and Sweden. The west part of the island, containing the lighthouse and buildings is Finnish while the east side is Swedish. Some calls used activating the Swedish side of Market Reef are SI8MA and 8S9M has been used as well but I heard the 8-number should be used here. The 0-7 regions are well defined by the Laen they are in with only 1 exception and that is in the far south east corner of West Gothia where they can choose to be SM6 or SM7 as the Laen border has moved with the communes Habo and Mullsjö. Operators that already lived there or who have summer houses there when the change of län occured can choose what they will identify as SM6 or SM7 while new hams will automaticly get the 7.

You got GJ and GU the wrong way round. I passed the RAE in 1988 and got the call Gu7cqn, vhf and up max 400 watts 😬 I had hoped to get a G0 call but failed the morse test first time. 1999 took it again and passed issued mu0chn.

My goodness the UK callsign system is complicated..! When I was back in Aus it was a lot more straightforward! Great video (although map not to scale and islands in the wrong place :) ) 73 Andy / G1AJH

It’s weird to hear you have to changed your callsign when you change location. Kind of a good reason not to travel. Here in the USA we don’t change our callsign at all. We can say we are in a different area if we want to. The number “normally” designates where in the USA the callsign originates. I’m in Tennessee & we have call signs from all over the USA of people who live here now, but got their calls elsewhere. Great video Callum!!! Good info to learn! Keep up the good work!

VK Australia are in the process of scrapping area identifiers in callsigns as New Zealand and other countries have done. I don’t like it but if you move state you now longer have to change your callsign a VK3 can operate from VK6 which is 3000km 2000m away.

The UK also holds the Z prefix , used by British dependencies e.g. gibraltar, think It might also have V for commonwealth countries

Fun!

Hi Cal You asked so I thought I'd look it up. Optional alternative prefix for club licence GX & MX England GC & MC Wales GS & MS Scotland GN & MN Northern Ireland GT & MT Isle of Man GH & MH Jersey GP & MP Guernsey

I got my G1XXX in 1984 after doing the RAE exam with City and Guilds and that was B class limited to 10 watts, I never got round to doing the morse test for A class. Then in 2020 i dug out my old Yaesu FT227R and reapplied for my old call sign, sent copies of my C& G result and an old licence and was granted a full licence with my G1xxx call sign due to grandad rights

There's a good list of callsign prefixes on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_signs_in_the_United_Kingdom#Call_sign_assignments_for_amateur_radio Club prefixes elsewhere are GC, GT, GN etc. 2E1 callsigns have been issued for at least the last 12 months for intermediate (I had 2W1) although I think some 2E1s were issued for a short time many years ago. Don't forget the temporary GQ/MQ prefixes that were used during June, and the /70 suffix!

(Using M0ABC as an example. I am not affiliated with that callsign) Another interesting thing: when using your UK Full license in another country under CEPT rules, you remove all modifiers (even for intermediate I believe). So if you are calling from the Republic of Ireland under CEPT, then you'd be EI/M0ABC, even if you lived in Scotland and were usually MM0ABC. Although I believe there are some who ignore this and just use the modifier from their home region.

I always thought call signs should have been like Snow White's dwarfs: Doc, Grumpy, Bashful, Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy and Dopey. Much more descriptive than what we have now, don't you think? If spelled phonetically, I would like my call sign to be: "I need some more coffee". Or maybe "Is there any more pie?"

Cor blimey! But that was helpful.

There are a few G calls free. People passing their full tests can apply for them via the paper application and a £20 fee if they dont mine waiting a week or two.

Thought that in france we were champions of complicated administration with our callsigns, I'm pleased to see I'm wrong HI! Can't see what ALT means.

Thanks for the incite on this I wondered sometimes how that works over the pond as always Thanks Callum de W9US

The City of Gibraltar? The Falkland Islands? Normally here in America, call signs do get shorter, fewer letters, the higher the license. Some newer licenses do get additional letter at the front, because they've run out of shorter call signs in those regions.

Very interesting Callum! 👍 Has Ofcom approved Vanity call signs? I have my Fathers call.

Outside of the club call signs, can a user request a "Vanity" call sign? For example, when I was first licensed, my call sign was KN4ZEC, but I requested, and was granted the vanity call sign K4SRF. Do individual Ham Radio Operators have the same option?

I may be wrong with this as i am stretching my memory back 60 years, but i thought G9 callsigns were for commercial use and possibly military and thus were not issued to amateurs.

Boy they made it nice and simple to follow didn’t they?

Interesting that you have to change a regional identifier depending on your current location. Here in the U.S., the regional identifier is a permanent part of the call sign based on the mailing address of the licensee. For example, most of the South (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) makes up Region 4, so if I had applied for a license when I was growing up in Miami, my call sign would have had the numeral 4 after the prefix -- for example, WA4BCD. California is its own region (Region 6), so if I moved there and updated my license, the call sign could be KA6BCD (and I'm just using W and K to reflect geography the way our broadcast stations do; that's not necessarily applicable to amateur radio). Both systems make sense in their own ways, I just found the difference interesting.

Thank you for the explanation, it was very interesting and straightened some things out for me. If you'd like a brief explanation on US calls, maybe I could send you an email. There is a method to the madness but not always 100% at least with the numbers. 73, KS5KY

Before the 2nd world was the callsign groups were G2+2 and then came G5+2 and then G2+3 these were issued before the RAE was introduces in about 1946. Then we had the first of the licenced amateurs taking the test these were G3+3 and the B licence came in in the 1960, the confusion with radio amateur came in with the issue of the G2+2 and the G5 +2 later as they had been issued before the war. the G9 callsign is intended for professional use on all bands specific to experiment only, it is not an amateur call sign at present though amateurs can get one, also the G5+3 was issued as a development call sign for 27 mhz. I personally knew G2AC, G5HH and G2DAF, along with some others of much lesser note.

I recently worked a UK station, that I worked previously, but with a different call sign. I congratulated him on the upgrade, but he went on to explain that they are allowed to keep their original call and use it whenever they please. Did I understand that correctly?

Oi! No mention of us G6’s. We really pushed VHF. I worked the whole of Europe on VHF back in the 80s

When will we see more of the new unit? Don’t think we’ve seen any of it since you moved in.

Thanks for explaining this as I had no idea. Very confusing system changing callsign, 😕 thanks for clarity. I like just end/stroke which is even optional. What is Alternative? Standing on my head or under a certain speed?

Special Events GB[nnnn][aaaaa] n = numerical(4) , a = alpha(5) (I believe) Like we run GB0PIT Involved in GB2012MV Things like GB50RNARS GB2012OSP

Missed the island of Alderney, GY I believe.

It just shows how inconsistent it all is. I recall receiving a TV test card with a G9 call on it back in the 1970s. If it's OK to be MM in Scotland what's wrong with GG in the Channel Islands? Daft. I waited months after passing (scraping by with a friendly examiner) the morse test to get consecutive letters of the alphabet in my call, I have no idea why!

Hello Lord Callum. You should do some drum covers like Sina. 73--Tom, NC3Y

I assume with no “vanity” system Cal, you guys also don’t have any “family” rights to a call sign? When my father passed here in the Colonies (grin) I could have applied for and received his call as long as it matched my privileges in length - which it did. But I liked mine better and a young ham who liked my dad politely asked me privately if I wasn’t going to use it if I minded if he applied for it as a vanity. I didn’t mind at all. He’s using it to this day.

Great Vid Cal de GW9Z and MC0HMJ … and GW1YQM

Hey Cal, I think the objection to those guys getting calls like G5XX now is that to those of us licenced in the post war years, the two letter calls were older, wiser people who should be respected (with notable exceptions). Now anyone can get one it debases that tradition. There is jealousy too of course. I have a G4XXX call but I'm not allowed to change it to a shorter call. But someone else, newly qualified is allowed to get a shorter call

Then you have the special range call signs that don't generally relate to people. GB3AB being a repeater for example GB7AB being a digital repeater (DMR, YSF, Dstar etc) MB7AB is a packet Digipeater (mainly APRS) MB7ABC however is a simplex voice gateway.

We have had special call sign s at our club for children in need ! Cal GB0 CIN so sometimes other call sign s pop up to confuse us !😂 Keep up with the channel Calum great job !

I stand to be corrected but the old grey matter tells be the M5 three letter were for foreign calls before the CEPT reciprocal licence. A long time ago before I was licenced I understand G6 was for amateur television before they reissued them. Think G9 was suppose to be experimental non amateur and Calum 😊

Really nice video of explaining the UK callsigns. I think I pretty much had it down before watching this video. I would like you to expand to the V-callsigns. Can you explain all the V-calls (well not VK) that exist and how they work in relation to the G/M/2E0 calls? Example, if M0XYZ is in South Orkney, Antarctica or Tristan da Cunha how can you fiddle your identifier around to fit the locations or is it just VP8/M0XYZ? How does a foundation license call look like in Falklands etc? 73

G2 and 2 letters were issued in the 1930s, as were the G8 and 2 letters i know this as i have a G2 call and a friend of mine who lives near me has a G8, when i got my G2 call the chap @ Spectrum told me over the phone when ordering it(the callsign), that it had never been prevously issued on its original run :), bonus i get a circa 1930s calls for the first time ,not bad for £20 :) :), regards the cockup you mentioned for the G2 calls its just snobbery plain and simple when i first used my G2 on 80m ssb i attempted to have a qso with 2 chaps in birmingham area, and soon as they found out i was not the original holder they suddenly could not hear me despite 400w into a dx commander with a 80m inverted L, the very same night , i worked into slovenia jn76 grid @ 5 &9, hence why i deliberately avoid the G mob on on ssb uk too snobby for there own good imho and a lot of them are not good operators in my own experience, the very same g3/g4 stations on ft8 can not figure out your signal is 50hz wide and insist on txing 5 hz away from you, must be something to do with the way they operate on ssb :) (my opinion/my experience sad to say)

For the international folks here that are curious, the UK is a country made up of 4 "home nations": England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Together, these 4 regions make up the UK proper. Americans could think of these 4 nations as states, although they are not states in the true legal sense as the UK is not a federation. The Isle of Mann, Jersey, Guernsey are not part of the UK itself, but have some historical ties to the UK (they are technically British oversees territories) however are self governing. The relevant thing here is that even though they are self governing, they delegate the UK's licensing authority (Ofcom) to handle RF licensing on their behalf, thus are integrated into the UK's callsign nomenclature.

You seem to have missed out the G8s and G6s from your list. (I'm an old G6, although I haven't operated for years...)

Forgive me if I missed it... But is the callsign allocated to the station or the operator? Im in Australia..... VK land. When I got my license the call was for the station. You had a Certificate Of Proficiency.... I was NAOCP and my stations call was vk4nek.... the year was 1981... I was only allowed 3.5mhz 21mhz 28mhz.... I had to do 5wpm morse. No vhf. You also knew where they were by the number in my case 4 means Queensland. The suffix back then meant the type of license. Novice calls were N or V. A fair bit of info could be worked out just by the callsign. But not today. It's all different. If I went to a mates ham shack I'd have to use his callsign and add second operator back then. If you took your portable rig on holiday around VK I'd have to say vh4nek portable 2 or 3 or whatever state number I was in. Back then if I moved interstate I'd have to change my callsign to show my new location. You run the risk that someone else might have the vk2nek that I'd need. That meant a whole different callsign then. There was even set times you had to get it sorted. All different today. 73s

Hi got a question for you all. I am from Turkey and temperately living in London/UK got my full amateur radio licence ( Harec ) . What prefix do l need to use.? My call sign is TA3APW .

I wonder how the logging apps handle all these different identifiers? Do they just ignore the id digit, or does an individual operator end up with multiple call signs on file?

How about GX/MX, GS/MS, GN/MN, GH/MH, GC/MC etc? Your radio club is M0XXT - does the X in suffix mean "this is radio club"? Are there radio clubs with foundation or intermediate licenses?

I chose my three letters to be good in CW... ETA... not sure it was a very clever choice in retrospect. 73 DE M0ETA

Could you do a video on US callsigns? just an idea

Is the G5xxx series still being issued? If you don't like the callsign issued as your final highest level call in uk, The only way to change it if it's not exceptional circumstances is to surrender your licence & wait 2 years. Exceptional circumstances could be a stutter on certain letters.

it always irks me that you can't make a uk numberplate out of a 2E0 callsign. Not as much as the fact that someone registered my M7TXB and put it on a bloody BMW!

I think if I was supposed to remember all that tripe, for proper indication of my location, as a visiting ham, I'd rather just stay silent! :)

Let me guess. The area within the City of London where the Queen has to have the Mayor's permission to enter has its own call sign rules?