so i passed my general a few weeks ago and got assigned one of those sequential calls, mine is kind of long and clunky and i've been reading about vanity calls but honestly the FCC website is not the most friendly thing to navigate when you're trying to understand the process

from what i can tell you apply through the ULS and there's a 18 day window or something where you list your preferred calls in order and then if nobody else applied for the same one you get it? but i'm not sure if that's still how it works or if something changed recently

also do you have to wait a certain amount of time after getting your license before you can apply or can i just do it now? and does it cost anything these days, i remember reading something about the FCC starting to charge a fee but i dont remember the details

any help appreciated, just trying to figure out if its worth going through the hassle or if i should just stick with what i have for now

yeah the vanity process is actually not too bad once you understand the basics. you're right about the 18 day window, applications filed during that period all get considered together so it's not strictly first come first served within those 18 days. after that window closes the FCC processes everything and if you're the only one who applied for a particular call you'll get it, if multiple people applied for the same one it goes to whoever has highest license class and then other tiebreakers

as for timing you can apply pretty much immediately after getting your license, no waiting period. the fee thing is real though, i think it was $35 last i checked but you should verify that on the FCC site because it changed a couple times. worth doing in my opinion if there's a call you actually want, i got my dad's old call after he became a silent key and it means a lot to me

went through this exact thing about 6 months ago. one thing nobody told me that tripped me up — the call you want has to actually be available, meaning the previous holder has been expired long enough. i think its like 2 years after expiration before it goes back into the pool but dont quote me on that. i ended up not getting my first choice because someone else applied the same window but i got my second pick which im pretty happy with. the AE7Q website is super useful for checking availability and looking up call history, saved me a lot of time