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Old 05-31-2015, 09:50 PM   #2
NN5I
Carl, nn5i
 
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 1,441
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It's no longer required anywhere, either in or out of CONUS. Same for "mobile".

Many people still use these modifiers, and there's no reason not to. Many, alas, use them imprecisely. But, used correctly, they provide info that may sometimes be useful to other hams.

Classically, The ham license was actually two licenses: a station license and an operator license. These were sometimes issued separately; I had an operator license in San Diego in 1957, but no station license or call sign. Later, having moved to Kentucky, I got a station license too, with callsign KN4SCK; then upgraded and got K4SCK. Later I was N5DRU, then KD5BH, and (since 1982) NN5I.

Properly, "portable" indicated a fixed station at a location other than the location shown on the station license. "Mobile" indicated a station that could be operated while in motion. Each of these required written authorization from, or (later) notice to, FCC (depending upon what year we're talking about). Nowadays, the station license and the operator license are one, and none of these designations are required, and you don't have to tell FCC; the rules have relaxed a lot over the years.
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