UK Call Sign Changes in 2024

I have just posted the following message in the FAQ section of our website (www.dxmarathon.com). I did feel that this is very important to our participants and thought I would mention it in my personal news section here as well.

There has been a major change in the call system within the UK that is now in place as of February, 2024. The UK system has long had what it calls “RSLs” – the D in GD0ABC or the J in MJ0ABC. These are not actually part of the issued callsign, proper.
If GD0ABC operates in London, they simply can sign G0ABC; this has always been true.
What is new is that GD0ABC may now sign G0ABC even when operating on the Isle of Man.
But, anyone signing GD0ABC must be in the Isle of Man. Those are the current UK regulations.

Although on the surface the UK rule change does not appear to be a major change, it does in fact have an impact on the complexity that it introduces into the scoring of the DX Marathon Program.

In our interest to be transparent with our participants, we will be handling this situation as follows for the current 2024 DX Marathon period.

The DX Marathon will require a call with an RSL in it for credit outside of England.
For example, if you submit a QSO with GD0ABC, no problem. However, if you work G0ABC and this station happens to be on the Isle of Man, it will be scored as G, England.

“There is no official public list of UK calls and that is the problem. As such, it places a large burden on you the participant and we the scoring entity to figure out where the station was located when you worked them. So, if you are claiming a credit for a United Kingdom entity, it MUST have the RSL designation in the call otherwise it will default to England. (See the definition of UK below).

Of course, ordinary G or M calls in England (which normally do not have RSLs) will continue to be credited to England. Be aware some stations in England are using the “E” RSL (Regional Secondary Locator), so you may see GE1AAA or ME1AAA. These are definitely England.

The following may serve as help to many of our participants:

England - the largest “country” in Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

Great Britain: All countries on the island - that means England, Wales and Scotland.

United Kingdom: Great Britain plus Northern Ireland, Isle of Wight, Guernsey and Jersey

73 Mark