Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- uk-callsigns [2026/03/10 22:22] – [Licence Revocation] Clarify any data change can trigger revocation of lower-licences g3aka
+++ uk-callsigns [2026/07/11 20:56] (current) – [Ofcom Licence Database] g3aka
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== UK Callsigns ======
-These prefixes are used for UK and Crown Dependency (CD) amateur call signs, unless otherwise stated suffixes may be one, two or three characters in length:
+These prefixes are used for UK and Crown Dependency (CD) amateur radio call signs, unless otherwise stated suffixes may be one, two or three characters in length:
-  * Foundation M3, M6, M7 + three character suffix
+  * Foundation (Individual) M3, M6, M7 + three character suffix
-  * Intermediate 2#0, 2#1, M8, M9 + three letter suffix, two letter suffix 2#0/2#1 calls were issued in 2018-19
+  * Intermediate (Individual) 2#0, 2#1, M8, M9 + three letter suffix, two letter suffix 2#0/2#1 calls were issued in 2018-19
-  * Full  G0, G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, G7, G8, M0, M1, M5 + three letter suffix, two letter suffix calls issued prior to 2020
+  * Full (Individual, Club or Temporary Reciprocal) G0, G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, G7, G8, M0, M1, M5 + three letter suffix. Two letter suffix calls were issued prior to 2020 but aren't currently issued
   * Short Contest Call sign with single character suffix, format Gnx or Mnx where n=0-9 and x=A-Z
   * Special Event Station MB5 issued in 2015 now format is GBnccccl, MBn where n=numeral (0-9), c=character (a-z,0-9 or null), l=letter. Suffix may be 1-4 characters or no suffix at all e.g. GB50 issued in 2002
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 On 13 October 2025 Ofcom stopped issuing new Intermediate callsigns with a "2" prefix.  Exist holders of "2" prefix callsigns were allowed to select their existing suffix from the M8 (for 2#0) or M9 (for 2#1) call series alternatively they could select any available callsign they liked from the M8 or M9 series.
-From 13 October holders of Full callsigns who'd been licenced for more than 5 years were allowed to change to any available Full series prefix callsign e.g. G3, G5, M5 and Foundation holders were allowed to change to another call in the M3, M6 or M7 call series.  A number of bugs in Ofcom's online system meant a delay of a couple of weeks before that could be done.
+From 13 October 2025 holders of Full callsigns who'd been licenced for more than 5 years were allowed to change to any available Full series prefix callsign e.g. G3, G5, M5 and Foundation holders were allowed to change to another call in the M3, M6 or M7 call series.
-Calls available for issue include those callsigns that have been in the Reserved state for more than 5 years as indicated by the Last Modified Date field in [[https://wiki.oarc.uk/uk-callsigns#ofcom_licence_database|Ofcom's callsign spreadsheet]] (A blank date field also means it's more than 5 years old).  To get one of these callsigns amateurs need to ring Ofcom or use Ofcom's online chat and ask them to change the status to available.
+Call signs that may be available for issue include all valid format individual callsigns that **don't appear** in the [[https://wiki.oarc.uk/uk-callsigns#ofcom_licence_database|Ofcom Callsign Spreadsheet]] and whose suffix doesn't appear in the Forbidden Suffixes Spreadsheet [[https://wiki.oarc.uk/uk-callsigns#ofcom_licence_database|Forbidden Suffixes Spreadsheet]].
+In addition all those callsigns that have been in the **Reserved** state for more than 5 years as indicated by the Last Modified Date field in [[https://wiki.oarc.uk/uk-callsigns#ofcom_licence_database|Ofcom's callsign spreadsheet]] (A blank date field also means it's more than 5 years old). **are Available for issue**.  To get one of these Reserved callsigns you may need to ring Ofcom and ask them to change the status to available, they can do this almost instantly.
+Ofcom Spectrum Licensing Tel: 0300 123 1000  -  [[https://x.com/ofcom|Ofcom are also on X]]
 [[https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/manage-your-licence/amateur/amateur-radio-phase-2-and-3-review.pdf|Ofcom Guide to Changing your Callsign Online]]
@@ Line 26: / Line 30: @@
 ====== Find Available Callsigns ======
-An easy way to see at a glance which callsigns are available for issue is to use the M0PYL Callsign Lookup. Note: All callsigns marked as Reserved with a Last Modified Date of either blank or more than 5 years old are available for issue, you just need to ring Ofcom and ask them to change it to Available status.  The Last Modified Date can be obatined from the [[https://wiki.oarc.uk/uk-callsigns#ofcom_licence_database|Ofcom Database Spreadsheet]]
+An easy way to see at a glance which amateur radio callsigns are available for issue is to use the M0PYL Callsign Lookup.
+Use ? As a wildcard, e.g. entering P?? in the suffix will highlight all Available callsigns with a suffix starting with P.
+Note: All callsigns marked as Reserved with a Last Modified Date of either blank or more than 5 years old are available for issue, you just need to ring Ofcom Spectrum Licensing (0300 123 1000) and ask them to change it to Available status.  The Last Modified Date can be obained from the [[https://wiki.oarc.uk/uk-callsigns#ofcom_licence_database|Ofcom Database Spreadsheet]]
   * [[https://m0pyl.lorier.net/callsigns/|M0PYL Callsign Lookup]]
@@ Line 49: / Line 56: @@
 {{ :1936-11_t_r_bulletin_what_is_a_country.jpg?nolink&400 |}}
-In 1937 at the request of the RSGB the regulator, the General Post Office (G.P.O), introduced prefixes GM for Scotland and GW for Wales.
+In 1937 at the request of the RSGB the regulator, the General Post Office (G.P.O), introduced prefixes GM for Scotland and GW for Wales (prior to 1930 GW calls had been issued to stations in the Irish Free State)
 In 1946 the G.P.O agreed to an RSGB request to create the prefix GC for the Channel Islands, December 1946 T & R Bulletin
@@ Line 113: / Line 120: @@
   * {{ :2024-12-05_forbidden_callsign_suffixes.zip | Ofcom Forbidden callsign suffixes 5 December 2024}}
-Ofcom is now consistantly putting correct callsign spreadsheets on their Open Data page (in the past the quality of these spreadsheets had been variable), see [[https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/our-research/opendata | Ofcom Open Data]] and look under Spectrum->Amateur.
+In response to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests Ofcom periodically releases a spreadsheet of amateur radio call signs to their Open Data page. You can download the latest speadsheet released from [[https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/our-research/opendata|Open Data]], look under Spectrum->Amateur.  Note Ofcom does not store previous releases.
+The spreadsheet shows Individual, Club and Temporary Reciprocal licence call signs that are either Allocated or Reserved along with a few call signs marked as Available but any call sign that **does not** appear in the spreadsheet (or in Forbidden) is also Available.
+None of the callsigns are shown with an RSL so 2E0ABC would appear as 20ABC but Ofcom has been transitioning "2" prefix callsigns to M8 or M9 prefixes and Ofcom will no longer issue any "2" prefix callsign.
+**Note:** When Ofcom's Open Data .CSV spreadsheets are viewed in Excel a few spreadsheet rows may display a **date** instead of the call sign, the result of an Excel formatting issue it only appears to affect the legacy 2 series call signs - 20JAN appears as 20-Jan, 21DEC as 21-Dec.
+**Note:** The Foundation M3 call series shows thousands of callsigns with Reserved status despite having been in that state for well over the required 5 years.   They are in fact Available for issue but those who've passed their Foundation exam will need to ring Ofcom Spectrum Licensing (0300 123 1000) to ask them to change the status to Available which Ofcom can do almost instantly for you.
+The spreadsheet released in June 2026 included the missing "Z" callsigns although it's known a valid licence callsign M7FMI is still missing. This was believed to be because Ofcom had used an incorrect record Type field of blank instead of "Call sign - Amateur" in the main licence database as a result M7FMI isn't extracted to the spreadsheet.   This spreadsheet shows almost 106,000 Allocated call signs for Individual, Club and Temporary Reciprocal licences:
+  * {{ ::2026-06-23_amateur-callsign-list-sorted.xlsx | Ofcom Callsign Spreadsheet Sorted 23 June 2026}}
+In February 2026 callsigns with a "Z" in the suffix were omitted from the spreadsheet, the cause is unknown. Ofcom were informed but took several months to resolve the error, subsequent spreadsheets released in March and May also had callsigns containing a "Z" omitted.
+  * {{ :2026-05-11_amateur-callsign-list-sorted.xlsx | Ofcom Callsign Spreadsheet Sorted 11 May 2026}}
-Callsign spreadsheet issued 20 February 2026. Note the M3 call series shows thousands of callsigns witth Reserved status despite having been in that state for well over 5 years.   They are in fact Available for issue but those who've passed their Foundation exam will need to ring Ofcom, or use the Ofcom's Online Chate facility, to ask them to change the status to Available which Ofcom will do instantly for you.
+  * {{ :2026-02-20_amateur_callsigns_sorted.xlsx | Ofcom Callsign Spreadsheet Sorted 20 February 2026}}
-  * {{ :2026-02-20_amateur_callsigns_sorted.xlsx | Ofcom Callsign Spreadsheet 20 February 2026}}
 Callsign spreadsheet issued on 11 November 2025 four weeks after the release of Intermediate M8/M9 callsigns and all categories of amateur being able to change their callsign. Callsign changes supposedly could take place from the 13 October 2025 but Ofcom's software glitches meant Foundation were unable to do so for a further two weeks
@@ Line 184: / Line 207: @@
 ====== Further information on early callsigns ======
-[[https://ukspec.tripod.com/rf/ukcalls.html|RF-Man UK Callsign page]] Shows approximate date callsigns first issued
+[[https://web.archive.org/web/20250120120916/https://ukspec.tripod.com/rf/ukcalls.html|RF-Man UK Callsign page]] Shows approximate date callsigns first issued
 [[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Short-Wave-UK/40s/SWM-1949-04.pdf | Short Wave Magazine April 1949 page 134 (PDF page 56)]] Callsigns in the 1920's