Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!bionet!ames!sun-barr!newstop!texsun!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: jay@splut.conmicro.com (Jayyou ignorant splut! Maynard) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Radio Call-signs In Airplanes Message-ID: Date: 7 Sep 89 22:24:49 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: Jay "you ignorant splut!" Maynard Organization: Confederate Microsystems, League City, TX Lines: 51 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 358, message 7 of 7 Just to pick a couple of nits: In article HAMER@ruby.vcu.edu (ROBERT M. HAMER) writes: >>Don't airplanes use N prefixes for their call signs? >Aircraft radios are licensed by the FCC, and pilots have to get a >"Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit" (at least that's what >mine says) in order to operate it. As a call sign, one uses the >FAA-registered aircraft identification number. Actually, you don't have to have the permit any more, if you're only going to operate VHF aircraft radios inside the US. The call sign used (if no special call sign is assigned) is the model name of the aircraft, or the name of its manufacturer, followed by the registration number, with the leading N deleted, hence: Skyhawk 6309Delta, Warrior 80765, Cessna 711KiloSierra, Beechcraft 6703Sierra. >All US-registered civilian aircraft have aircraft identification >numbers that start with "N." These are assigned in blocks by the International Civil Aviation Organization, in much the same way that the ITU assigns blocks of radio call signs. By no coincidence, these are often the same; the radio block NAA-NZZ is assigned to the US, as are the aircraft registrations starting with N. Mexican aircraft are registered with "numbers" starting with XA-XC, which corresponds with their radio block of XAA-XIZ...and so on. This is not universally true, though: the most notable exception is Soviet aircraft, which are identified as CCCP-xxxxx; the corresponding radio block is assigned to Chile (CAA-CEZ). (Side note: the first two letters are not always sufficient to identify the country a radio station belongs to: the block SSA-SSM is assigned to Egypt, while SSN-STZ is assigned to Sudan. Egypt also has SUA-SUZ.) >(Oh, I just lied a bit; Airlines get to identify themselves to >ATC via radio using their flight numbers, regardless of their >aircraft ID number, e.g., "Richmond Approach, this is US Air 1462, >32 miles southwest, ...." The rest of us would say, "Richmond >Approach, this is November 1 5 4 9-er Quebec, 32 miles southwest..." As indicated above, the November in the above example is normally replaced by the aircraft type. Others can be assigned special radio callsigns, with the permission of the FAA. (The FCC merely says that the transmissions shall be identified by the FAA-assigned callsign.) -- Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can jay@splut.conmicro.com (eieio)| adequately be explained by stupidity. {attctc,bellcore}!texbell!splut!jay +---------------------------------------- "The unkindest thing you can do for a hungry man is to give him food." - RAH