A short history of UK SCCs

A short history of UK Special Contest Callsigns (SCCs) Scroll down for some responses received

In the 1980s there were some attempts to persuade the Department of Trade and Industry (subsequently the Radiocommunications Agency, then OFCOM after 29th December 2003) to issue 'unusual' callsigns which could have been used for special events or for contests, instead of the GB prefix.

Representations really began in earnest around about 1990 - I remember Tom GM4FDM applying for and being refused a short contest callsign. I remember asking for the callsign GM0DX, but don't think I did more than ask the RSGB, who rejected the idea.

Negotiations between the RSGB and the RA took several years, so UK contesters were thrilled when we could finally apply for an SCC in mid-1996. I remember Rod Wilkinson G3T?? who worked for the RA, and Chris G3SJJ were involved in these first applications. See responses below.

We (the North of Scotland Contest Group GM2MP) used our shiny new contest callsign GM6V in the IARU contest in July 1996 for the first time - it made a real difference to the QSO rates and our results. Worldwide amateurs soon realised that the UK was (finally) joining the trend towards short contest callsigns.

Unfortunately, between 1996 and 1998, the UK SCC callsign-issuing system used followed the silly Belgian system, where the number in the callsign denoted the year of issue, so we used GM6V, GM7V and GM8V in these three years. If this had continued, a lot of confusion would have been caused and the UK contesters would have been bankrupted printing QSL cards for annually-changing callsigns! We settled on GM7V which we still use today.

In October 2000 we asked for a variation of our GM7V callsign to indicate that we were operating from Shetland (the Shetland Islands are a separate Multiplier in CQ WW, WAE, etc) After consultation with their Marine colleagues, the RA issued us with the callsign GZ7V - this first-ever GZ prefix was activated in CQ WW SSB 2000. Unfortunately, last year (2016) OFCOM indicated that all GZ/MZ NoVs would not be renewed. We have not given up on GZ/MZ - we don't see why OFCOM should just suddenly 'do away' with a privilege which had caused no problems over 16 years of use. It is hard to avoid the suspicion that OFCOM's current 'by the book' attitude is their reaction to the undue pressure they were put under by those who wanted the GK and MK prefixes.

Until 2010, SCCs were only available to Contest Groups/Clubs as NoVs of their club callsign. Since 2010 SCCs have been available to individual contesters.

There are 520 SCCs available for issue - G0A to G9Z and M0A to M9Z. Since February 2016, the RSGB have responsibility for administering and distributing SCCs. Click here for more info. The requirements to qualify for one have remained largely unchanged over the years, whereas the list of contests in which they can be used is no longer as restrictive as it was - they can now be used in any 'bona fide' contest i.e. virtually any contest in the annual calendar. The requirements are based on your number of QSOs made in major events compared to other UK entrants, rather than your final score in that event - a simple system, but arguably not the best method of deciding if an application has merit or not?

At the time of writing (Sept.2017) 175 SCCs are currently issued (33.6% of 520) hence 345 are available for use. (Some held previously are withdrawn until certain dates, to avoid confusion) One third of the available total is not a particularly great uptake of these callsigns, sadly.

It is complete nonsense to suggest that SCCs are 'elitist' or that SCCs are 'too hard to obtain' and various other myths. Once your new SCC is in the Super Check Partial file (just email and they add it) then fewer people will question the new callsign. I enjoy using my personal SCC GM2V and our club SCC GM7V. In July 1967 I was licensed as GM3WOJ - on CW there are 14 dashes in this call, so GM2V saves me a lot of time and allows me to make many more contest QSOs! SCC + QSL Manager + LoTW = contesting is fun!

Apologies for any errors or omissions in this short article - please e-mail me with any corrections or further information.

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From Tom GM4FDM : Just a quick response Chris. Yes, I did correspond with both the DTI
(as it was then - Departent of Trade and Industry) and the RSGB (HF
Contest Committee chair - from memory it was either John Hately or John
Bazeley) my memory is clouding with age.

After a few letters the DTI agreed IN PRINCIPLE that they had no
objections to short calls for Contests but that they did not want to
administer it and felt that, that could be left to the RSGB. The HFCC
at that time were totally against the idea and it was left in limbo.

I'm sure if I looked long enough I still have the original
correspondence somewhere.

Perhaps, in retrospect, leaving it to the RSGB was not an entirely good
idea as we currently have a flawed system whereby English Stations have
contest calls which are shorter than everybody else in the UK. Not a
big deal for normal QSOing, but in a contest when every dot and dash is
time, then I suggest, the rest of the UK is disadvantaged......

Tom
G#4FDM

Excellent article, Chris. I'd almost forgotten the yearly changing calls at the beginning......

Unless my maths has escaped me or there's something I'm not aware of, G0A to G9Z is 260 calls, so the total available is 520 not 512.

(Thanks for the correction to the above article)

Cheers

Peter G4MJS
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Chris, to expand on the third paragraph. As Chair of HFCC at that time I wasn't allowed to negotiate directly with the DTI but had to correspond with the RSGB Licencing Advisory Committee who would then discuss our proposals with the DTI at their twice yearly meetings. I recall we were very keen to proceed but the LAC were ultra cautious and rejected or tempered our proposals. We mustn't press DTI too hard we were told. It was quite a break through when we were told DTI had agreed but was disappointed at having to accept the Belgian system which LAC supported. I recall you telephoning me a number of times but I was at the mercy of LAC! I recall Julian Gannaway G3YGF was Chair of LAC. John Bazley G3HCT had been on HFCC but may have left by then. We had to give a list of eligible contests and again I recall LAC advised caution on making the list too long!