Call signs in Russia

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Call signs in Russia are unique identifiers for telecommunications and broadcasting. Call signs are regulated internationally by the ITU as well as nationally by Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation. The latter is responsible for providing policy on the allocation of Russia's radio spectrum to support efficient, reliable and responsive wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructure. [1]

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In 1991 Russia inherited the largest portion of the former Soviet Union's allocated call signs. The other post-USSR countries which inherited parts of the ITU UAA–UZZ call sign block are Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

Call sign blocks for telecommunication

The International Telecommunication Union has assigned Russia the following call sign blocks for all radio communication, broadcasting or transmission: [2]

Call sign block
RAA–RZZRussia
UAA–UIZRussia

While not directly related to call signs, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) further has divided all countries assigned amateur radio prefixes into three regions; Russia is located in ITU Region 1.

Call sign assignments for amateur radio

Amateur radio or ham radio call signs are unique identifiers for the 24,000 licensed operators.

Russia uses the following 1-letter and 2-letter prefixes in amateur radio call signs for normal operation: R, RA, RK, RN, RU, RV, RW, RX, RZ, and UA. Any of these prefixes can be used in any of Russia's federal subjects. The other prefixes are reserved for special operation.

It uses the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0 to separate prefixes from suffixes, and to indicate in which of the six regions the amateur was assigned the call sign.

Russia uses the first letter of the suffix to designate a specific federal subject in each respective region. This means that for most call signs the numeral and first letter of the suffix identifies which federal subject the operator was licensed in.

Russia's amateur callsign number regions Russia amateur callsign districts.svg
Russia's amateur callsign number regions

Combinations not listed are used by radio amateurs in the federal subject next to the listed combination immediately preceding it in the sort order; e.g., the 1B combination is used by radio amateurs in Saint Petersburg. Since 2010, call signs in the '3' region can also be issued with the numerals 2 and 5; in the '6' region with numeral 7; and in the '9' region with numeral 8. [3]

Special call signs

History of call sign allocation

Russia was not a signatory to the 1913 Berlin agreement but received the R block series. Amateur radio was not yet developed enough to be subject to this identification scheme.

In 1927 the International Telecommunication Union Conference in Washington (D.C., USA) established internally agreed upon call sign prefixes – Russia was now in the USSR and the latter was assigned the RAA–RZZ block.

At the 1947 Atlantic City ITU Conference, the USSR was assigned the following call sign blocks:

Call sign block1947 AssignmentPresent assignment
DRA–DTZBielorussian Soviet Socialist RepublicGermany (DR), South Korea (DS–DT)
EKA–EKZUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsArmenia
EMA–EOZUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsUkraine (EM–EO)
ERA–ERZUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsMoldova
ESA–ESZEstoniaEstonia
EUA–EZZUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsBelarus (EU–EY), Turkmenistan (EZ)
LYA–LYZLithuaniaLithuania
RAA–RZZUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsRussia
UAA–UQZUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsRussia (UA–UI), Uzbekistan (UJ–UM), Kazakhstan (UN–UQ)
URA–UTZUkrainian Soviet Socialist RepublicUkraine (UR–UZ)
UUA–UZZUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsUkraine
YLA–YLZLatviaLatvia
4JA–4LZUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsAzerbaijan (4J–4K), Georgia (4L)

As of 2010, several call sign codes were deleted or merged following the merger of the corresponding entity with a neighbouring subject of the Russian Federation between 2005 and 2008: [6]

Japan/USSR Disputed areas – WWII

Sakhalin Island has been disputed between Russia/USSR and Japan since the mid-19th century. From 1905 until after World War II, South Sakhalin Island was under Japanese control and was assigned the JP7 call sign prefix for radio purposes. From 1945 until the present the call sign prefix for all of Sahalin Island is UA0, with F as the first letter of the suffix. The Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration of 1956 laid down that Habomai Is. and Shikotan I. should be returnable to Japan, but Russia is still the administrative authority in the Four Northern Islands. [7]

Germany/USSR Disputed areas – WWII

While not strictly a Russian call sign issue, following World War II, Byelorussia inherited the DR–DT block at the Atlantic City Conference from the German D-block. [8] The block was then transferred back to Germany, and the DS–DT block subsequently given to South Korea.

See also

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Call signs are frequently still used by North American broadcast stations, in addition to amateur radio and other international radio stations that continue to identify by call signs worldwide. Each country has a different set of patterns for its own call signs. Call signs are allocated to ham radio stations in Barbados, Canada, Mexico and the United States.

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Call signs in New Zealand are no longer generally used to identify broadcast stations. However, New Zealand's radio stations were once known by their call signs and would usually broadcast their call signs as a number followed by X, Y, or Z, and another letter. Call signs are regulated internationally by the ITU and nationally by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), formerly the Ministry of Economic Development. The ministry is also responsible for providing policy advice to Government on the allocation of New Zealand's radio spectrum to support, efficient, reliable and responsive wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructure.

Call signs in Australia are allocated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority and are unique for each broadcast station. The use of callsigns on-air in both radio and television in Australia is optional, so many stations used other on-air identifications. Australian broadcast stations officially have the prefix VL- and originally all callsigns used that format, but since Australia has no nearby neighbours, this prefix is no longer used except in an international context.

Call signs in the Middle East are unique identifiers for telecommunications and broadcasting in the Middle East. Call signs are regulated internationally by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and nationally by local government and international agencies in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, The Palestinian Authority, occupied territories and other nations or DXCC entities.

Amateur radio call signs in Africa are codes used to identify all radio communications, broadcasts and transmissions. The International Telecommunication Union assigns Africa as ITU region #1. It has assigned call signs prefix blocks to countries including 77 DXCC entities in and off-shore of Africa. Western Sahara is not a DXCC entity but uses SØ as a prefix.

Call signs in Argentina are unique identifiers for communication. Call signs are regulated internationally by the ITU as well as nationally by the Comisión Nacional de Comunicaciones of the Argentine government.

Amateur radio call signs are allocated to amateur radio operators around the world. The call signs are used to legally identify the station or operator, with some countries requiring the station call sign to always be used and others allowing the operator call sign instead.

Call signs in Mexico are unique identifiers for telecommunications, radio communication, radio broadcasting and transmission. They are regulated internationally by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as well as nationally by the Federal Telecommunications Institute, which regulates broadcast stations, wireless telecommunications and spectrum use.

Call signs in Korea are unique identifiers for telecommunications and broadcasting on the Korean peninsula. Call signs are regulated internationally by the ITU as well as nationally in South Korea by the Korea Communications Commission in the Ministry of Information and Communication. Not much is known outside of North Korea how amateur radio is regulated, although a foreign amateur was asked to appear before the "Radio Regulation Board" in 2002. Also, North Korea's Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries recently issued an operating permit, which was countermanded by the Ministry of Telecommunications and Posts.

Call signs in Japan are unique identifiers for telecommunications and broadcasting.

Call signs in Asia are rarely used to identify broadcast stations. In most Asian countries, broadcast stations use other forms of identification. Few countries west of the Pacific Ocean, namely Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan are exceptions to this rule. Amateur radio stations in India, Pakistan, Korea and Japan are allocated call-signs.

Call signs in Europe are not formally used for broadcast stations.

Call signs in Oceania are currently voluntary in Australia radio and TV station, and were previously compulsory in New Zealand. In both countries, stations like 2GB and Newstalk ZB continue to use parts of the call signs in their branding.

Call signs in Canada are official identifiers issued to the country's radio and television stations. Assignments for broadcasting stations are made by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), while amateur stations receive their call signs from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Conventional radio and television broadcasting stations assignments are generally three, four or five letters long and almost exclusively use "C" call signs; with a few exceptions noted below, the "V" calls are restricted to specialized uses such as amateur radio.

Call signs in Antarctica include a three letter region code and a series of numbers and letters.

Call signs in Barbados include a three letter country code, and a series of letters and numbers.

Call signs in United Kingdom include a three letter country code, and a series of letters and numbers.

References

  1. ↑ Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications - in Russian
  2. ↑ International Telecommunication Union country call sign assignments Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Russian Call Signs (in Russian)
  4. ↑ New Russian Prefix System in Use
  5. ↑ "RI1ANO Callsign Page".
  6. ↑ Interactive Map of Russian Call Signs
  7. ↑ Japanese call sign history
  8. ↑ Atlantic City ITU Conference 1947 Archived July 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
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