Station identification

Who you are, how often, and the awkward cases.

The basic rule

Transmit your assigned call sign at least every ten minutes during a communication, and at the end of it. English is required for phone identification; CW and certain digital identification are also permitted.

You do not need to identify at the start of a transmission, though most operators do, and you never need to give the other station's call sign — a habit inherited from other services.

Self-assigned indicators

You may append an indicator such as /M (mobile), /P (portable) or /QRP, provided it is not confusable with a call sign prefix of another country.

Operating away from your licensed location

A US licence is valid anywhere in the US and its territories; you may simply sign your call sign, optionally with a location indicator.

Temporary privileges after an upgrade

Once you pass an upgrade you may operate with the new privileges immediately, signing your call sign followed by the appropriate indicator — /AG for General or /AE for Extra on phone — until the upgrade appears in the FCC database.

Club and special event stations

Club stations transmit the club call sign under a trustee. Special event call signs (1×1 format, e.g. W4N) are reserved through a coordinator for events, and the associated licence call sign must still be given at least once per hour.

Third-party and unattended stations

Repeaters, beacons and digital gateways identify automatically. If you are the control operator for an unattended station, its identification is your responsibility.

Last updated Aug 27, 2026. Page history · Sign in to edit