ok so i just passed my general last month (finally) and ive been reading about vanity callsigns and honestly the FCC website is not helping me understand this at all. like i get that you can apply for a specific call but i dont really understand the sequential process vs the vanity process and whether i even need to wait or what.

right now i have a KD9 call which is fine but my dad was a ham back in the day and i was hoping maybe i could get his old call or something close to it. is that even a thing? i saw something about close relatives being able to apply for a deceased licensees call but i wasnt sure if that was still the case or if there were restrictions on it.

also how long does the whole thing take, the FCC website says something about 18 days but i saw people on reddit saying it went faster for them. just trying to figure out if its worth doing

congrats on passing general first of all. ok so the sequential vs vanity thing -- when you first get licensed the FCC just assigns you the next available call in sequence for your district, which is how you got your KD9. vanity is a totally separate process where you go through the ULS and actually request a specific callsign you want, assuming its available and you're eligible for that call format.

the relative thing is real, its called the primary preference and it lets immediate family members apply for a deceased hams call during a specific window before it opens up to everyone else. i believe its 30 days where only close relatives can apply, then it opens to other hams in a broader pool. you'd want to check the current FCC rules because i think theres some specifics about what counts as close relative but parent-child should definitely qualify.

the 18 day thing is kind of a minimum wait period baked into the process, but yeah in practice a lot of people see it move faster depending on how many applications are competing for the same call. if you're the only one going for it you might hear back sooner. worth doing for sure if there's sentimental value to your dad's old call, that's a really nice thing to have.

i went through the vanity process about two years ago and it really wasnt as bad as i expected honestly. the FCC's ULS system is a bit clunky but once you find the application section its pretty straightforward. just make sure the call you want actually shows as available before you go through the whole thing, theres a few sites that let you look up callsign status so you're not flying blind.

one thing i'll add -- if multiple people apply for the same call in that window they do a kind of lottery among the eligible applicants so its not first come first served exactly. caught me off guard when i learned that. good luck with it though, getting a call that means something is pretty cool