5)
I then called US Airways and after 15 minutes of being on hold, I
finally reached "Martin" who really tried hard to get to the bottom of
the issue and make it right. But before he was able to do so, enough
time had elapsed that we needed to board the flight. So Martin advised
me to get on the flight to Denver and he would work with United to get
us to Aruba as soon as possible.
6) Arrived at the United gate
in Denver at ~1am, I was greeted by a United representative who
informed me that they made arrangements to get me on an American
Airlines flight at 6am and as the airport was closed, they made
arrangements to put us up in a Hotel for about 4 hours of sleep before
our AA flight to Miami. They said that a shuttle was waiting right
outside to take us to the hotel immediately.
7) We waited about
an hour for that shuttle to arrive to finally get us to the hotel, for
what was now about 3 hours of sleep before the next flight.
8)
Finally on the flight to Miami, AA is smooth so far... land in Miami, a
long layover ~4 hours but we made the connection and boarded a plane
for Aruba.
9) We land in Aruba, nice landing... crew was pleasant. We go to our baggage claim and to our surprise... bags are missing! (what a surprise). The AA attendant there said, 'don't worry, this happens often from Miami and Philadelphia', then proceeded to fill out some forms to track our bags, saying 'they will probably show up tomorrow, if so, we will drive them to your hotel, if not we will call you to give you some status'.I asked if they had any 'travel kits' as we had been traveling for a
long time and needed something to brush our teeth (at least) as all
clothes were checked in baggage. He stated: 'oh,
we ran out of those... you should ask at the hotel and see if they have
any, if not just go buy some to last you one more day'
10)
Aruba was an amazing place, great people... Marriott nice. Spend some
good times there with family, but finally had to come back home. Via Expedia, we booked shuttles to and from the airport.. the shuttle on the way to airport was great... however, the shuttle never showed on our return to the airport, leaving us to hire a cab and spend another 30 dollars to get back home!
So
not only did we lose a day in Aruba due to all the flight challenges,
we also went without food or sleep on the travel there... our bags were
lost... and services that we paid for were not delivered... and people
ask why the travel industry is not profitable and people are taking
smaller vacations now and avoiding the airlines...
IT IS ALL ABOUT SERVICE... or the lack thereof.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Why the travel industry is in trouble (part 1)
While looking for a family vacation, I decided to try Expedia.com...
they offered some good deals on hotel and airfare at a fairly
reasonable price, I turned to my wife and said: Honey we are going to
Aruba!
It turns out that this was THE ONLY easy part of the entire
travel experience (Aruba itself was awesome but getting to and from
Aruba was HORRIBLE). Let me walk you through the experience, in the
same way I experienced it.
1) I booked travel on Expedia.com,
super simple, super easy... painless experience selecting the vacation
spot, reserving hotel and airfare. There is a catch however, my
itinerary stated that I was staying at the Marriott (was true) and was
flying via US Airways (was completely UNTRUE).
2) With itinerary in hand, I brought my family to SFO with 2.5 hours of leeway (just doing my part to ensure a smooth travel
experience), walked up to the US Airways counter and presented my
passport and itinerary. I was told: 'oh this is not with us, it is with
United Airlines you need to go check in with them in that terminal', I
then politely showed my paperwork that showed US Airways as the
carrier... to which I got a laugh and the US Airways employee told me
this is a "code-share" and I would need to get to the "United" counter
to check in. So I grabbed my stuff and took my family on a 15 minute
walk through the airport between terminals to get to the "United"
check-in facility.
I think if you bought a ticket from an Airlines, you should likely check in there codeshare or not.. making the customer experience easier, in addition I would say that Expedia could have highlighted it if indeed it was a United flight instead of a US Airways flight.
3)
Checked in at the United counter and all seemed to appear to go
smoothly, so went through the security gates and off to our boarding
gate. (This is where smooth stopped).
About 30 mintues before the flight was scheduled to board, we were notified via
loudspeaker that our flight would be delayed due to "mechanical
issues", so I approached the counter and asked how long the delay was,
explaining that we are connecting in Denver on our way to vacation in
Aruba.
The counter attendant, looked at me blankly and said.. 'oh, you won't make that connection',
so after 30 seconds of silence, I asked what I should do... she asked
me for my boarding passes and said she would see if there were any
alternatives.She pulled up the flight information for us and announced loudly 'you are on a US Air flight, I cannot do anything for you' (as if I was hard of hearing perhaps?). I politely said that all of my
boarding passes say UNITED AIRLINES, not one of the boarding passes
said "US AIR". She abruptly laughed out loud and said 'look...
we are UNITED you bought a US Air ticket, we will get you to Denver on
the flight you were on, you should call US Airways and see what they
will do for you' and then turned her back on me to send me away.
4) I called Expedia to advise them of the issue and after about 30 minutes of explaining and waiting, I was told that 'We (Expedia)
booked your travel, now it is up to the airlines to make it right',
'nothing more we can do, call US Air and see if they can help'
See part II for the rest of the nightmare...
they offered some good deals on hotel and airfare at a fairly
reasonable price, I turned to my wife and said: Honey we are going to
Aruba!
It turns out that this was THE ONLY easy part of the entire
travel experience (Aruba itself was awesome but getting to and from
Aruba was HORRIBLE). Let me walk you through the experience, in the
same way I experienced it.
1) I booked travel on Expedia.com,
super simple, super easy... painless experience selecting the vacation
spot, reserving hotel and airfare. There is a catch however, my
itinerary stated that I was staying at the Marriott (was true) and was
flying via US Airways (was completely UNTRUE).
2) With itinerary in hand, I brought my family to SFO with 2.5 hours of leeway (just doing my part to ensure a smooth travel
experience), walked up to the US Airways counter and presented my
passport and itinerary. I was told: 'oh this is not with us, it is with
United Airlines you need to go check in with them in that terminal', I
then politely showed my paperwork that showed US Airways as the
carrier... to which I got a laugh and the US Airways employee told me
this is a "code-share" and I would need to get to the "United" counter
to check in. So I grabbed my stuff and took my family on a 15 minute
walk through the airport between terminals to get to the "United"
check-in facility.
I think if you bought a ticket from an Airlines, you should likely check in there codeshare or not.. making the customer experience easier, in addition I would say that Expedia could have highlighted it if indeed it was a United flight instead of a US Airways flight.
3)
Checked in at the United counter and all seemed to appear to go
smoothly, so went through the security gates and off to our boarding
gate. (This is where smooth stopped).
About 30 mintues before the flight was scheduled to board, we were notified via
loudspeaker that our flight would be delayed due to "mechanical
issues", so I approached the counter and asked how long the delay was,
explaining that we are connecting in Denver on our way to vacation in
Aruba.
The counter attendant, looked at me blankly and said.. 'oh, you won't make that connection',
so after 30 seconds of silence, I asked what I should do... she asked
me for my boarding passes and said she would see if there were any
alternatives.She pulled up the flight information for us and announced loudly 'you are on a US Air flight, I cannot do anything for you' (as if I was hard of hearing perhaps?). I politely said that all of my
boarding passes say UNITED AIRLINES, not one of the boarding passes
said "US AIR". She abruptly laughed out loud and said 'look...
we are UNITED you bought a US Air ticket, we will get you to Denver on
the flight you were on, you should call US Airways and see what they
will do for you' and then turned her back on me to send me away.
4) I called Expedia to advise them of the issue and after about 30 minutes of explaining and waiting, I was told that 'We (Expedia)
booked your travel, now it is up to the airlines to make it right',
'nothing more we can do, call US Air and see if they can help'
See part II for the rest of the nightmare...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Why the travel industry is in trouble: a story of terrible service
While looking for a family vacation, I decided to try Expedia.com... they offered some good deals on hotel and airfare at a fairly reasonable price, I turned to my wife and said: Honey we are going to Aruba!
It turns out that this was THE ONLY easy part of the entire travel experience (Aruba itself was awesome but getting to and from Aruba was HORRIBLE). Let me walk you through the experience, in the same way I experienced it.
1) I booked travel on Expedia.com, super simple, super easy... painless experience selecting the vacation spot, reserving hotel and airfare. There is a catch however, my itinerary stated that I was staying at the Marriott (was true) and was flying via US Airways (was completely UNTRUE).
2) With itinerary in hand, I brought my family to SFO with 2.5 hours of leeway (just doing my part to ensure a smooth travel experience), walked up to the US Airways counter and presented my passport and itinerary. I was told: 'oh this is not with us, it is with United Airlines you need to go check in with them in that terminal', I then politely showed my paperwork that showed US Airways as the carrier... to which I got a laugh and the US Airways employee told me this is a "code-share" and I would need to get to the "United" counter to check in. So I grabbed my stuff and took my family on a 15 minute walk through the airport between terminals to get to the "United" check-in facility.
I think if you bought a ticket from an Airlines, you should likely check in there codeshare or not.. making the customer experience easier, in addition I would say that Expedia could have highlighted it if indeed it was a United flight instead of a US Airways flight.
3) Checked in at the United counter and all seemed to appear to go smoothly, so went through the security gates and off to our boarding gate. (This is where smooth stopped).
About 30 mintues before the flight was scheduled to board, we were notified via loudspeaker that our flight would be delayed due to "mechanical issues", so I approached the counter and asked how long the delay was, explaining that we are connecting in Denver on our way to vacation in Aruba.
The counter attendant, looked at me blankly and said.. 'oh, you won't make that connection', so after 30 seconds of silence, I asked what I should do... she asked me for my boarding passes and said she would see if there were any alternatives. She pulled up the flight information for us and announced loudly 'you are on a US Air flight, I cannot do anything for you' (as if I was hard of hearing perhaps?). I politely said that all of my boarding passes say UNITED AIRLINES, not one of the boarding passes said "US AIR". She abruptly laughed out loud and said 'look... we are UNITED you bought a US Air ticket, we will get you to Denver on the flight you were on, you should call US Airways and see what they will do for you' and then turned her back on me to send me away.
4) I called Expedia to advise them of the issue and after about 30 minutes of explaining and waiting, I was told that 'We (Expedia) booked your travel, now it is up to the airlines to make it right', 'nothing more we can do, call US Air and see if they can help'
5) I then called US Airways and after 15 minutes of being on hold, I finally reached "Martin" who really tried hard to get to the bottom of the issue and make it right. But before he was able to do so, enough time had elapsed that we needed to board the flight. So Martin advised me to get on the flight to Denver and he would work with United to get us to Aruba as soon as possible.
6) Arrived at the United gate in Denver at ~1am, I was greeted by a United representative who informed me that they made arrangements to get me on an American Airlines flight at 6am and as the airport was closed, they made arrangements to put us up in a Hotel for about 4 hours of sleep before our AA flight to Miami. They said that a shuttle was waiting right outside to take us to the hotel immediately.
7) We waited about an hour for that shuttle to arrive to finally get us to the hotel, for what was now about 3 hours of sleep before the next flight.
8) Finally on the flight to Miami, AA is smooth so far... land in Miami, a long layover ~4 hours but we made the connection and boarded a plane for Aruba.
9) We land in Aruba, nice landing... crew was pleasant. We go to our baggage claim and to our surprise... bags are missing! (what a surprise). The AA attendant there said, 'don't worry, this happens often from Miami and Philadelphia', then proceeded to fill out some forms to track our bags, saying 'they will probably show up tomorrow, if so, we will drive them to your hotel, if not we will call you to give you some status'. I asked if they had any 'travel kits' as we had been traveling for a long time and needed something to brush our teeth (at least) as all clothes were checked in baggage. He stated: 'oh, we ran out of those... you should ask at the hotel and see if they have any, if not just go buy some to last you one more day'
10) Aruba was an amazing place, great people... Marriott nice. Spend some good times there with family, but finally had to come back home. Via Expedia, we booked shuttles to and from the airport.. the shuttle on the way to airport was great... however, the shuttle never showed on our return to the airport, leaving us to hire a cab and spend another 30 dollars to get back home!
So not only did we lose a day in Aruba due to all the flight challenges, we also went without food or sleep on the travel there... our bags were lost... and services that we paid for were not delivered... and people ask why the travel industry is not profitable and people are taking smaller vacations now and avoiding the airlines...
IT IS ALL ABOUT SERVICE... or the lack thereof.
It turns out that this was THE ONLY easy part of the entire travel experience (Aruba itself was awesome but getting to and from Aruba was HORRIBLE). Let me walk you through the experience, in the same way I experienced it.
1) I booked travel on Expedia.com, super simple, super easy... painless experience selecting the vacation spot, reserving hotel and airfare. There is a catch however, my itinerary stated that I was staying at the Marriott (was true) and was flying via US Airways (was completely UNTRUE).
2) With itinerary in hand, I brought my family to SFO with 2.5 hours of leeway (just doing my part to ensure a smooth travel experience), walked up to the US Airways counter and presented my passport and itinerary. I was told: 'oh this is not with us, it is with United Airlines you need to go check in with them in that terminal', I then politely showed my paperwork that showed US Airways as the carrier... to which I got a laugh and the US Airways employee told me this is a "code-share" and I would need to get to the "United" counter to check in. So I grabbed my stuff and took my family on a 15 minute walk through the airport between terminals to get to the "United" check-in facility.
I think if you bought a ticket from an Airlines, you should likely check in there codeshare or not.. making the customer experience easier, in addition I would say that Expedia could have highlighted it if indeed it was a United flight instead of a US Airways flight.
3) Checked in at the United counter and all seemed to appear to go smoothly, so went through the security gates and off to our boarding gate. (This is where smooth stopped).
About 30 mintues before the flight was scheduled to board, we were notified via loudspeaker that our flight would be delayed due to "mechanical issues", so I approached the counter and asked how long the delay was, explaining that we are connecting in Denver on our way to vacation in Aruba.
The counter attendant, looked at me blankly and said.. 'oh, you won't make that connection', so after 30 seconds of silence, I asked what I should do... she asked me for my boarding passes and said she would see if there were any alternatives. She pulled up the flight information for us and announced loudly 'you are on a US Air flight, I cannot do anything for you' (as if I was hard of hearing perhaps?). I politely said that all of my boarding passes say UNITED AIRLINES, not one of the boarding passes said "US AIR". She abruptly laughed out loud and said 'look... we are UNITED you bought a US Air ticket, we will get you to Denver on the flight you were on, you should call US Airways and see what they will do for you' and then turned her back on me to send me away.
4) I called Expedia to advise them of the issue and after about 30 minutes of explaining and waiting, I was told that 'We (Expedia) booked your travel, now it is up to the airlines to make it right', 'nothing more we can do, call US Air and see if they can help'
5) I then called US Airways and after 15 minutes of being on hold, I finally reached "Martin" who really tried hard to get to the bottom of the issue and make it right. But before he was able to do so, enough time had elapsed that we needed to board the flight. So Martin advised me to get on the flight to Denver and he would work with United to get us to Aruba as soon as possible.
6) Arrived at the United gate in Denver at ~1am, I was greeted by a United representative who informed me that they made arrangements to get me on an American Airlines flight at 6am and as the airport was closed, they made arrangements to put us up in a Hotel for about 4 hours of sleep before our AA flight to Miami. They said that a shuttle was waiting right outside to take us to the hotel immediately.
7) We waited about an hour for that shuttle to arrive to finally get us to the hotel, for what was now about 3 hours of sleep before the next flight.
8) Finally on the flight to Miami, AA is smooth so far... land in Miami, a long layover ~4 hours but we made the connection and boarded a plane for Aruba.
9) We land in Aruba, nice landing... crew was pleasant. We go to our baggage claim and to our surprise... bags are missing! (what a surprise). The AA attendant there said, 'don't worry, this happens often from Miami and Philadelphia', then proceeded to fill out some forms to track our bags, saying 'they will probably show up tomorrow, if so, we will drive them to your hotel, if not we will call you to give you some status'. I asked if they had any 'travel kits' as we had been traveling for a long time and needed something to brush our teeth (at least) as all clothes were checked in baggage. He stated: 'oh, we ran out of those... you should ask at the hotel and see if they have any, if not just go buy some to last you one more day'
10) Aruba was an amazing place, great people... Marriott nice. Spend some good times there with family, but finally had to come back home. Via Expedia, we booked shuttles to and from the airport.. the shuttle on the way to airport was great... however, the shuttle never showed on our return to the airport, leaving us to hire a cab and spend another 30 dollars to get back home!
So not only did we lose a day in Aruba due to all the flight challenges, we also went without food or sleep on the travel there... our bags were lost... and services that we paid for were not delivered... and people ask why the travel industry is not profitable and people are taking smaller vacations now and avoiding the airlines...
IT IS ALL ABOUT SERVICE... or the lack thereof.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Aruba: Some Observations
Well, back from my travels to Aruba, as it was my first time I thought I would write a bit about it to let others know about the country, interesting things to do / see and other hints about travel to and from there.
General Information:
Aruba is a country off the coast of Venezuela, in an area known as the Dutch Antilles (which is comprised of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
For more country specific info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aruba
Cash is king, USD all the way in this country.. especially if you are in the capital or in the tourist zones, if your not... then you will probably need to carry some Arubian Florin (exchange rate is about 1.79 florin to 1 USD). Don't be fooled by the exchange rates... the cost of living is pretty high there... in fact for those of you versed in Hawaiian travel, I would say a bit more costly than "The Islands" so bring lots of greenbacks you will need all you bring.
Language:
You can likely get along anywhere in Aruba using English, but the local language there is Papiamento (a mix of Spanish, Portuguese and some Dutch and others). If you speak Spanish you can go anywhere and do anything, essentially ensuring that you will have a fairly rich travel experience. Again, English will get you around... but you may be missing out a bit.
Weather:
Can you say "Hot and Humid" all year around? When I was there the temperature ranged from 81F to about 91F, with a high humidity.
Of note, there are pretty strong tradewinds that blow all day and night there (about 10-15 mph on average), but you kind of appreciate these winds after a while as they keep the temperature moderate, without them I am sure it would be about 120F all day and night. :-P
Aruba Activities:
Water sports of all kinds including; Parasailing, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, SeaDoo's, Kite Surfing, Windsurfing (see notes above about wind), Kayaking (although kayaking specifically is not recommended, as the winds are high and the sea lanes are crowded with speedboats, etc... making it a dangerous deal)
I would highly recommend the snorkeling trips as you go out on a Catamaran and you get to see some pretty interesting finds like a WWII German freighter that was sunk by its crew, you will not believe how big and cool this ship is for a snorkeling adventure. The snorkeling trips are actually pretty reasonable overall as well making it a must do while on the islands.
If you are so inclined you can party all night long in Aruba (and rather safely overall I might add), there are plenty of places to drink and dance if you desire, or you can just relax and watch some amazing sunsets while lounging in a beach chair... Island life is easy and laid back here.
Prices:
Overall, you can expect good deals on hotel rooms and flights etc, especially during the "low season" which is between April to July (spring break is an exception), the "high season" is July to October and is the time when things generally cost a bit more. Plan accordingly.
You will find that in the hotel zones, the restaurants are very pricey (especially in the "High Rise" hotel district) with an average dinner costing about 2-3x what it would cost to go out to dinner in California. There are many "off" places to go downtown where you can get GREAT food for very reasonable prices if you want to go that route.
I have travelled lots of places and I can say that Aruba is very safe overall and I wouldn't worry much about safety there, as usual just be cognizant of your environment *just as you should anywhere in the world*
What to know about before you go:
1) If you rent a car, make sure that you turn it in the DAY BEFORE you depart, especially if you are taking an early flight out. The rental agencies don't normally open before 6am and you will get a rush of people trying to fight to turn in cars, this could be problematic if you are supposed to be on one of the 7:50am flights.
2) Pack some clothes (at least one days worth) in your carry on bag, it is not uncommon that luggage is "misplaced" (ours suffered this fate) if you are transferring from either Philadelphia or Miami airports. If you are lucky like we were, you will get your bags the next morning the following day, if not... then you can find some cheap clothes downtown @ the Aruba Discount Center ;-)
3) US Customs happens IN ARUBA, so plan accordingly... I would recommend 2.5 hours prior to your flight so you make it past the check-in counters and US Customs.
4) Travelers checks can be exchanged in the hotels at zero fees, but are not widely accepted outside the hotels, so either brings loads of cash or bring tons of travelers checks and just cash them as you need them. I would recommend travelers checks in general and in larger denominations to avoid the "hand cramps" from all the signing / dating you will need to do when exchanging them.
That is it for now, if you have other questions.. let me know and I can give you what I know / learned.
General Information:
Aruba is a country off the coast of Venezuela, in an area known as the Dutch Antilles (which is comprised of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
For more country specific info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aruba
Cash is king, USD all the way in this country.. especially if you are in the capital or in the tourist zones, if your not... then you will probably need to carry some Arubian Florin (exchange rate is about 1.79 florin to 1 USD). Don't be fooled by the exchange rates... the cost of living is pretty high there... in fact for those of you versed in Hawaiian travel, I would say a bit more costly than "The Islands" so bring lots of greenbacks you will need all you bring.
Language:
You can likely get along anywhere in Aruba using English, but the local language there is Papiamento (a mix of Spanish, Portuguese and some Dutch and others). If you speak Spanish you can go anywhere and do anything, essentially ensuring that you will have a fairly rich travel experience. Again, English will get you around... but you may be missing out a bit.
Weather:
Can you say "Hot and Humid" all year around? When I was there the temperature ranged from 81F to about 91F, with a high humidity.
Of note, there are pretty strong tradewinds that blow all day and night there (about 10-15 mph on average), but you kind of appreciate these winds after a while as they keep the temperature moderate, without them I am sure it would be about 120F all day and night. :-P
Aruba Activities:
Water sports of all kinds including; Parasailing, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, SeaDoo's, Kite Surfing, Windsurfing (see notes above about wind), Kayaking (although kayaking specifically is not recommended, as the winds are high and the sea lanes are crowded with speedboats, etc... making it a dangerous deal)
I would highly recommend the snorkeling trips as you go out on a Catamaran and you get to see some pretty interesting finds like a WWII German freighter that was sunk by its crew, you will not believe how big and cool this ship is for a snorkeling adventure. The snorkeling trips are actually pretty reasonable overall as well making it a must do while on the islands.
If you are so inclined you can party all night long in Aruba (and rather safely overall I might add), there are plenty of places to drink and dance if you desire, or you can just relax and watch some amazing sunsets while lounging in a beach chair... Island life is easy and laid back here.
Prices:
Overall, you can expect good deals on hotel rooms and flights etc, especially during the "low season" which is between April to July (spring break is an exception), the "high season" is July to October and is the time when things generally cost a bit more. Plan accordingly.
You will find that in the hotel zones, the restaurants are very pricey (especially in the "High Rise" hotel district) with an average dinner costing about 2-3x what it would cost to go out to dinner in California. There are many "off" places to go downtown where you can get GREAT food for very reasonable prices if you want to go that route.
I have travelled lots of places and I can say that Aruba is very safe overall and I wouldn't worry much about safety there, as usual just be cognizant of your environment *just as you should anywhere in the world*
What to know about before you go:
1) If you rent a car, make sure that you turn it in the DAY BEFORE you depart, especially if you are taking an early flight out. The rental agencies don't normally open before 6am and you will get a rush of people trying to fight to turn in cars, this could be problematic if you are supposed to be on one of the 7:50am flights.
2) Pack some clothes (at least one days worth) in your carry on bag, it is not uncommon that luggage is "misplaced" (ours suffered this fate) if you are transferring from either Philadelphia or Miami airports. If you are lucky like we were, you will get your bags the next morning the following day, if not... then you can find some cheap clothes downtown @ the Aruba Discount Center
3) US Customs happens IN ARUBA, so plan accordingly... I would recommend 2.5 hours prior to your flight so you make it past the check-in counters and US Customs.
4) Travelers checks can be exchanged in the hotels at zero fees, but are not widely accepted outside the hotels, so either brings loads of cash or bring tons of travelers checks and just cash them as you need them. I would recommend travelers checks in general and in larger denominations to avoid the "hand cramps" from all the signing / dating you will need to do when exchanging them.
That is it for now, if you have other questions.. let me know and I can give you what I know / learned.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
History of my callsign, KD1E
A little trivia on the history of my current callsign.
First, what is a callsign anyway?
- This one is simple, there is an FCC licensed activity called amateur radio, where you get to play with radio wave transmissions, contacting people from around the world, creating loads of headache for yourself in designing antennas, troubleshooting cable transmissions, standing wave ratios and many other fun things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio
- There are three "grades" of licenses, each getting progressively harder from both a technical aspect as well as the number of questions. These grades are Technician, General and Extra... the top level license. You may ask what the difference between them is and why someone would get the next level license, well when you get the top-level license you get some extra reserved spectrum and you get to challenge yourself by ensuring you learn / know the test material.
- You are assigned a "callsign" when you complete your Technician license, or you can pick one... it is far easier to just take the one that is assigned to you and from what I gather, that is what the majority of people do at the technician level. You can also choose a vanity callsign, but when you are a technician all the "cool" ones are not available.. you get stuck with a crappy selection. When you get your Extra license, you are allowed to choose from the "cool-pool", hence why I waited to get my "vanity callsign".
It is no cakewalk getting a vanity callsign, in fact I submitted about 25 "options" and ended up landing the 3rd.. in fact, to get the list of 25, I had to search a database to see what was available (you cannot just walk up and make one up after all).
Ok, so now that baseline is complete, on to the trivia:
So, my new callsign is KD1E, I chose that because it is my initials (KD) the number 1 and E, which I state stands for Extra Class Licensee...so, KD the number 1 Extra. :-) I am sure many other Extras would argue the point of being the number 1, but so what... that is my call and I say it stands for that. :-)
Now to take a history walk as far back as I can trace this call...
On Feb 27, 1981 a Gentleman named John Moore applied for a vanity callsign, he selected or was assigned KD1E. Mr Moore held onto that "call" until 1997, when he changed it to K1DE (I am going to get that one someday, "Ken 1 Distinguished Engineer") a callsign that he has to this very day (it expires in 2016, so I will be watching >:-)).
When he released it in 1997, it lingered until 2000.
In 2000, it was picked up by a Gentleman named, Keith Darwin (I understand KD1E with Mr Darwins initials as well as the fact that he was an Extra class licensee too).. Mr Darwin held that call until 2006, then somehow it just stayed in the "cool-pool" waiting for me to come along and claim it.
On 5/09, I relinquished my original callsign "KI6SCQ" to become KD1E, just in case I change my mind, KI6SCQ will be kept in a secure locker for 2 years (only kidding about the locker), so I can revert back to it if I choose to do so.
Now it may have been around longer than I can track it down, but it is mine until I decide to go after K1DE or not.. :-)
So let it be known that from this point forward on the airwaves, I shall now be known as KD1E...
First, what is a callsign anyway?
- This one is simple, there is an FCC licensed activity called amateur radio, where you get to play with radio wave transmissions, contacting people from around the world, creating loads of headache for yourself in designing antennas, troubleshooting cable transmissions, standing wave ratios and many other fun things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio
- There are three "grades" of licenses, each getting progressively harder from both a technical aspect as well as the number of questions. These grades are Technician, General and Extra... the top level license. You may ask what the difference between them is and why someone would get the next level license, well when you get the top-level license you get some extra reserved spectrum and you get to challenge yourself by ensuring you learn / know the test material.
- You are assigned a "callsign" when you complete your Technician license, or you can pick one... it is far easier to just take the one that is assigned to you and from what I gather, that is what the majority of people do at the technician level. You can also choose a vanity callsign, but when you are a technician all the "cool" ones are not available.. you get stuck with a crappy selection. When you get your Extra license, you are allowed to choose from the "cool-pool", hence why I waited to get my "vanity callsign"
It is no cakewalk getting a vanity callsign, in fact I submitted about 25 "options" and ended up landing the 3rd.. in fact, to get the list of 25, I had to search a database to see what was available (you cannot just walk up and make one up after all).
Ok, so now that baseline is complete, on to the trivia:
So, my new callsign is KD1E, I chose that because it is my initials (KD) the number 1 and E, which I state stands for Extra Class Licensee...so, KD the number 1 Extra. :-) I am sure many other Extras would argue the point of being the number 1, but so what... that is my call and I say it stands for that. :-)
Now to take a history walk as far back as I can trace this call...
On Feb 27, 1981 a Gentleman named John Moore applied for a vanity callsign, he selected or was assigned KD1E. Mr Moore held onto that "call" until 1997, when he changed it to K1DE (I am going to get that one someday, "Ken 1 Distinguished Engineer") a callsign that he has to this very day (it expires in 2016, so I will be watching >:-)).
When he released it in 1997, it lingered until 2000.
In 2000, it was picked up by a Gentleman named, Keith Darwin (I understand KD1E with Mr Darwins initials as well as the fact that he was an Extra class licensee too).. Mr Darwin held that call until 2006, then somehow it just stayed in the "cool-pool" waiting for me to come along and claim it.
On 5/09, I relinquished my original callsign "KI6SCQ" to become KD1E, just in case I change my mind, KI6SCQ will be kept in a secure locker for 2 years (only kidding about the locker), so I can revert back to it if I choose to do so.
Now it may have been around longer than I can track it down, but it is mine until I decide to go after K1DE or not.. :-)
So let it be known that from this point forward on the airwaves, I shall now be known as KD1E...
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