so i passed my general back in october and got my sequential callsign assigned pretty quick, like within a few days of my license showing up in the FCC database. its a fine callsign i guess but its kind of long and clunky sounding on the air, one of those 2x3 deals with letters that just dont flow great when youre doing CW or whatever.

anyway my buddy told me i should apply for a vanity call and i looked into it a little bit but the whole process is kind of confusing to me. like i understand theres a window system based on license class and there are preferred calls you can pick from available 1x2 or 2x1 or 2x2 formats depending on what youre eligible for as a General. but i guess my question is do i just submit through the FCC ULS and then wait and see? is there a specific application form or does it go through ARRL or some third party or what. and how long does it usually take to hear back. i submitted something a few days ago and im not sure if i did it right honestly

also is there a fee now? i heard something changed with that

yeah the process changed a bit in recent years, there is a fee now — think its around $35 last i checked, could be slightly different so worth verifying on the FCC site directly. you apply through the FCC ULS portal yourself, no need to go through ARRL or any third party for the vanity app itself, though some folks use AE7Q or other sites to check whats available and track the status of applications.

the window system works like this — when you submit, there's a filing window that opens and closes, and if multiple people apply for the same call during that window they do a tiebreaker, i forget exactly how they determine it but i think its somewhat random or based on some criteria. if you're the only one who applied for a particular call during that window you'll pretty much get it. after the window closes it usually takes a few business days to process and youll see it update in the ULS database. AE7Q.com is really handy for watching the status, way easier than checking ULS directly every five minutes.

as a General you're eligible for 2x2 calls in any district and 1x3 calls too i believe, the shorter 1x2 and 2x1 calls are reserved for Extras. so if you had your eye on one of those shorties you might need to upgrade first. good luck with it, vanity calls are kind of fun to pick out

i went through this exact same thing like 8 months ago lol. what helped me was just spending like an hour on AE7Q before doing anything, you can search available calls and see what formats youre eligible for. made it way less confusing once i could actually see the options instead of just reading about it in the abstract. my vanity came through in about 4 or 5 days after the window closed if i remember right