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LPFM Dues / Reserving Your Call Sign by Kai Aiyetoro April, 2004 LPFM Dues Since April 2002, funding from the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has allowed NFCB to subsidize the dues for LPFM applications and stations. With that funding coming to an end in June 2004, LPFM member dues for 2004-2005 will increase to $200. Reserving Your Call Sign Congratulations! You finally got your construction permit from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Now what do you do? One of the first things is to secure your call letters. Call letters should be on file with the FCC 30 days after receipt of your construction permit. Are you east of the Mississippi, or west of the Mississippi? That's the first question to ask, because those east of the Big M have call letters that start with a "W," and those west must start with a "K." Make a list of four-letter combinations that might have meaning to your organization or your mission. Here are some examples: WKIU-LP means "We're Kickin' It Up" in Tupelo, MS, and KPOV-LP stands for "Point of View" in Bend, OR. Whatever you choose to symbolize with your call letters will become the identifying marks of your new radio station. Your logo and promotional materials are usually developed around these four little letters. Okay, so how do you acquire them? Here are the steps: You will need to open an account with the FCC, so have your organization's EIN number available. This is the employer ID number that all businesses must have on file with the Internal Revenue Service. For more information about how to apply for an EIN number see: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97860,00.html. You will also need an email address for correspondence purposes with the FCC. Make sure you establish a business email address for the station. You will probably want another one with your new call letters for general public use. Go to the FCC website at: www.fcc.gov/lpfm. Left of the purple LPFM Search area, you will see "Call Sign Reservations and Authorizations". When you click on this, it will take you to section to query call letters. But first, let's get your CORES registration out of the way. Click on Call sign/CORE Pre-form. Then register in CORES. This is one of the FCC accounting systems. Complete the information as requested and submit it. Remember the password that you used for future use in the system. You will receive an instant reply from the FCC with all of the information that you entered along with an FCC Registration Number (FRN). Print the page for your records. You will also need the number from your construction permit to complete the call sign request. Now we can go back to the Call Sign Query. Enter one set of letters and make a query. If you are lucky, the call sign that you enter will be available; if not, then you have to keep trying until you find a set that are available. Once you have found that set, reserve it! By the way, KZQP is available! Enter your email address and hit "Initial" for Permittee Initial Request. Do not close out the Permittee Initial Request screen. Minimize it to retrieve your validation number. You will receive an instant email from the FCC with a validation code that must be copied onto the labeled field on the Callsign Request Form before your request can be submitted. Go back to the Permittee Initial Request screen and enter the number from your construction permit and make sure the "service" indicates FL - Low Power FM. Submit this information. Now, this is as far as I could go without violating the FCC system, so now you are on your own, but as long as you have the information readily available as mentioned above, you will end up with a set of call sign letters that will represent your station for years to come. I have compiled the call signs that LPFM are using now (current call signs in use), but note some of them should be made available again if they have been dismissed. You would need to contact the FCC to get these put back on the list of available call letters. You may change your call sign in the future, but remember that you
must research the FCC database again before making any changes. Your
ideal letters may belong to someone else. Good luck! Kai Aiyetoro
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