Evening star., 1922-07-19
ASSIGNING RADIO
CALLS BIG PUZZLE
5000 Stations Barring
Problem for Commerce De-
partment inspector.
N FOR NAVY, W FOR ARMY
KoP WET, KEG Among Odd
Combinations-One Ship Has
xxx. Another IWW.

Ass;oning radio calls 10 sometnins
,,;o,, and with the constant In
crsase of stations. 1t Is IN 'ne
-, Incoming an art. In this country
,e have but three initial letter caiA
for about 5000 official ana coni"e.
cial stations, which makes the oesie
nation of appropriate calls aimos' ~"
n<,,h,. Having only the letters ~
y and w to start a word with' e'ei.
.b,mnion word makers, VINO spe''
,bou.and, of words out OF 'r"e
..ms. would be stumped In the po
sition of chief radio inspector
.pepartment OF Commerce.
In some instances ne ha ,,;th
nretty well. All calls star.nhs nnro-
ave naval which is very app o
a'e ia tba Army calls commenSe
,,.;,h W which is somewhat sls ~.
can't as referring to the caljs
nantuent The rest of the ,ann
he heedlessly assigned to tne .,;nr x
nsrt of the United States. lea ssr-
FOR the west coast: Ih1 nv WaH went
ssp; a;t1- IN Alaska. while to nav,
.,afion at Savannah. Ca, ne onId
the letters NEv (Nev). WHICH " Citv
t tne s,,;tsd a station in Carson lily
far better.
Some Appropriate Calls
When the inspector got down ,.p .p
zac;fc stations, however, ne uiu
hetter: what could be more Datroit
than the call assigned 70 'n1 nmistak
pSia, pS Tn view Of the recent asse.
sions by AdoIphus Busch. some oa ~. e
Sbinn;nr Boards calls seem wv. .
spprcpriate The craft KNOW" .isn;fi-
Wet Cotomska carries tne Snd
can't call WET. while the Hi1 the
answers to the car % o' signal. but
t'hambiee has the same Hs, Hart
.nsils 4, KEGG. while the West mar
,and makes 1t plural. EGS. :,.;r
Sneaking liquorishly. Great Ih;. br,thii
~ni gem of a call in the anu,pron.T,.
on sigma ssEsi,1 GIN a1a Other slsG; letters,
ms call VOP-significant Of very nhe .he
brand in the old days. Russia WIZ VIA we rvt
i.tter r. Of course, has rum snra,i,s
shins. Another vessel OF the nntppl"s Hv,aa.
Board has a startling gaE tit,s wnsh %h,eh cf some
,s.t. to radio ,Isis1 Belongs to Irel.nd-:hu'
that one has already been pulled. vs..
'nTt rhe on" chief call asslgner Of Great Hriy:
.,n with the letters B and ano VI,
had a lot more chance 70 oisp'
versatility y,,.h in tssnln1Is an1I. are svD. dor
un9svaip u more suitable for America, ii
would seem.
other Unusual Calls.
rb. station made famous by Radie
De has been Identified as the Cnlteo
states destroyer Parker, bearing ~ us
ali MIX. The Navy got a few nesat,x
csiis including NIT, NOT ana Nnr a.,
YES falls to Great Britain, put ~
hannens 10 be Danish instead OF Frenen
sSpwins that other radio inspectors u
= wrong. shiv
hears the title Of a famous soutnsli
Fraternity, xxx, and an ltan.s :.s ~, ~
. temporary goes 1t one netteI .~sn 80
well known call. IWW., Japan 90, 20
o,n;.h one r. far from suitable; the Ar:
!. the station JAP and the other u
isbeied JEW. A French radio sta
,;on carries the designation FUN am
1r;tish sub. the Polly Anna, the uu'
ci.AD Another English sub oeafs
=.ha name Of Gaby, formerly o.
france. FAN aptly denotes ON
French operator. and an unIoftuna'>
Madarascan station got FLY.
some American naval stations my
calls which spell the names OF tneii
.weethearts, NAN and MEL, WINE an, an,
other ship has the sentimental call
TISS Radio broadcasters have a per
go light TO kick when assigned sucr
,alIs as WEAK and WEEP. yet two
suffer under those titles despite sooo
seryice. showing the faiiings OF tne
radio inspector. who made anotnei
mistake when he gave the signlncan.
c.u WEAR to newspaper 1nsteae
If tn John wanar1aker. Gimbel Bros
ar Strawbridge & Clothier, whose
calls fail to identify their businesses