Online callbooks
QRZ.com
QRZ is probably the most well known call book amongst Hams. QRZ was founded in 1992 by Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ as a spinoff of what was once called the “Callsign Project”, a cooperative effort designed to obtain and distribute FCC database tapes. The “project” part of the call sign project consisted of obtaining the FCC data tapes and then making copies of it for distribution to other interested parties. Fred’s first experience with the callsign project was largely uneventful since the total distribution consisted only of about 40 copies. Soon, six months had gone by and again it became necessary to obtain a fresh set of FCC tapes. Tired of spending his spare time making tape copies, Fred began to wonder about CDROM — a new but emerging universal format. Thinking ‘outside the box’, Fred began wondering if perhaps there might be an existing shareware CDROM already in publication that possibly had enough unused or spare space to accomodate the callsign data. At the time, the total size of the FCC database was only about 50 megabytes compressed, so it sounded like there might be a possibility.
With this in mind, Fred contacted a well known CDROM shareware publisher, Bob Bruce at the now defunct Walnut Creek CDROM, and popped the question: “Do you think you might have an existing CD with 50MB of free space available?”. To Fred’s surprise, Bob replied with “Why don’t we just put together a Ham Radio CDROM? Just send us the material and we’ll press it.”. With this simple exchange on the phone, Fred started working on his first CDROM project. Shortly thereafter Fred decided on using the ham radio shorthand term QRZ as a name for the new product. It was short, catchy, and 100 percent ham radio!
This activity generated a lot of excitement and soon Fred (a software engineer by profession), started to work on the second edition and a new Windows callsign program. Three years later Fred wrote the Windows 95 version of his program and QRZ became the first ham radio CDROM to ship with full 32-bit “designed for Windows 95” lookup software. During this same period the World Wide Web was born and on October 28, 1993, QRZ went online with http://www.qrz.com and a web based callsign lookup server. QRZ holds the distinction of being one of the first 5,000 websites in existence (there are many millions today). And what do the letters QRZ stand for? Well, back in the days when radio telegraphy was widely used, QRZ was a shorthand code which meant “Who is Calling me?” To access all of QRZ.com’s features one needs to register and pay a yearly fee. https://www.qrz.com/
HamQTH
This callbook provides all data for free and you will not have to log in to see any detail unlike other sites. It includes also XML access for logging programs. By registering , you can edit or correct your information and write a little about yourself and/or add photos. The unique thing is you can choose if you want your address or other personal details to be shown to unregistered users. Your address will be shared by anyone, unless you choose otherwise. This call book has a host of features. https://www.hamqth.com/
Hamcall.net
The HamCall database has been available in several different forms over the years. It all began in 1982, when HamCall was first published in soft cover book form (US only) with 1,027 8.5x11, pages. The hardcopy continued in 1983 and in 1984 we produced a callsign directory for the ARRL. In 1982 we also produced the first Name Index (sequenced by last name) and also the Geographical Index (sorted by State & City). These additional volumes were over 500 pages each.
HamCall Timeline:
- 1982 — Buckmaster “Amateur Radio Call Directory” books first published (Callsign, Name, Geographical)
- 1985 — Call Directory published on standard 98 frame, 24x microfiche
- 1989 — First HamCall CD-ROM published
- 1992 — International callsigns added to the HamCall CD-ROM
- 1994 — World Wide HamCall™ Callsign Server debuts on the Internet
- 2001 — HamCall becomes the first (and still the only) callsign CD-ROM to offer update files over the Internet
- 2002 — HamCall 20th anniversary
- 2003 — HamCall offers Internet-only callsign lookup subscriptions
- 2004 — HamCall on the Internet 10th anniversary (22 years total)
- 2005 — HamCall database is now 1,800,000 callsigns!
- 2008 — HamCall database is now 1,900,000 callsigns!
- 2009 — HamCall database has now reached the 2,000,000 callsigns milestone!
- 2012 — First released on DVD, September 2012 (we needed the extra storage.)
QRZCQ.com
QRZCQ.com is another ham database built on similar properties and features as QRZ.com. It also has a paid and free version. So in actual fact you could choose which one to use or both of them. https://www.qrzcq.com/
