W3DF/W1AE Call Sign History

I located a collection of old amateur radio callbooks dating back to 1909. The data presented here is from those callbooks.  The tables below show the call signs held by George Sterling and the time period in which they were held.  George was not listed in the early callbooks until 1913 when he was listed as W1AE after the Radio Act of 1912 was passed requiring amateurs to pass a 5 wpm code test to be licensed and assigned a government issued call sign.  George Sterling's call prior to 1912 was his initals GS.  I could not find any evidence of this in the early callbooks, however, in one of his writings he mentioned that he used GS as his callsign.

It appears that he let his license expire in 1915 and then acquired the call 1BH in 1916 which then expired during WW1.  He does not appear in the callbook again until 1924 with the call 3DF.  Three different people held 3DF from 1913 to 1923.   He was assigned 3DF in 1924 which became W3DF in 1928.  He held W3DF from 1928 to 1973.  He also held a license for an experimental station in Baltimore with the call W3XI from 1932 to 1933.  It is interesting to note that the call sign 3DF and W3DF has been assigned to amateurs in the Baltimore area since 1913.  George Sterling re-acquired W1AE in 1950 and held it until his death in 1990.  He was listed as a Silent Key in the 1992 callbook.  I acquired his call W3DF in 1977. 

1AE / W1AE Call Sign History		3DF / W3DF Call Sign History
Year Call Name Location 1909-1911 Not Listed 1912 No Data 1913-1914 1AE George E. Sterling Springvale, ME 1915 Not Listed 1916 1BH George E. Sterling Springvale, ME 1917-1919 No Data 1920-1925 1AE Sumner B. Young Dorchester, MA 1926-1927 1AE Sumner B. Young Cambridge, MA 1928 W1AE HQ Company 2nd Batalion 181st Infantry National Guard Framingham, MA 1929-1942 W1AE Francis LeBaron Brockton, MA 1942-1945 No Data 1946-1949 W1AE Francis LeBaron Brockton, MA 1950-1992 W1AE George E. Sterling Peaks Island, ME		Year Call Name Location 1909-1910 Not Listed 1911 DF J. Ferdinand Davidson Oshkosh, WI 1912 No Data 1913-1914 3DF Randolph Smith Baltimore, MD 1915-1916 3DF Ladue M. Brockway Glenside, PA 1917-1919 No Data 1920-1923 3DF Hume J. Rathbun Baltimore, MD 1924-1927 3DF George E. Sterling Baltimore, MD 1928-1945 W3DF George E. Sterling Baltimore, MD 1946-1954 W3DF George E. Sterling Silver Spring, MD 1955-1973 W3DF George E. Sterling Baltimore, MD 1977-1983 W3DF Daniel G. Flanagan Baltimore, MD 1983-Present W3DF Daniel G. Flanagan Westminster, MD

   

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