4A2Q authorization



To make our radio activity a little more interesting on the air, a few of the 4A2Q operators decided that a special Mexican callsign would be nice to have.  Of our group, Gerardo Varela XE2Q has the shortest callsign, and he filed the request with CoFeTel (Mexican Federal Telecommunications Commission) for the special call. 

In Mexico, one of the hams involved with a special event requests the special callsign from CoFeTel.  The special callsign is normally the number and suffix of the club or operator filing the request, but with a prefix other than the normal XE prefix (i.e., XF if the call will be used from a Mexican island, or other prefixes like 4A or 6D to make the callsign different).  CoFeTel requires the following before issuing a special call: 

  1. Request on behalf of a group of amateurs or a radio club, specifying where the special callsign will be used (and the timeframe for the event)
  2. Letter from a Mexican amateur with a class I or II license, formally accepting responsibility for the radio operating during the event where the special call will be used
  3. Photocopy of the current license for the radio club (if a club is applying for the special call)
  4. A list of all amateurs who will operate under the special call, along with photocopies of the current licenses for those amateurs
  5. Pay a fee
CoFeTel suggests that the request is filed at least 15 days before the start of the event.  Paperwork can be filed directly with CoFeTel in Mexico City, or through the offices of the Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (Ministry of Communications and Transport, known by its Spanish abbreviation of SCT), typically found in Mexican state capitals - and the offices where many Mexican amateurs file paperwork related to their licenses and pay fees for their licenses.  Since it takes a couple of weeks for paperwork to go between an SCT office and CoFeTel, the 15-day timeframe is only recommended for those filing paperwork in Mexico City.  The sooner the paperwork is filed - several weeks, or months, in advance - the better. 

Gerardo XE2Q filed the request for the special callsign on 12 March 2003, followed with another letter on 3 April 2003 formally accepting responsibility for the 4A2Q radio operations along with photocopies of the licenses of the 4A2Q operators.  We received an e-mail from CoFeTel on 23 April 2003 confirming the request for 4A2Q had been approved, and later (typical for CoFeTel) we received the one-page 4A2Q permit from CoFeTel (.JPG image of permit, will open in another browser window). 

Through this process, non-Mexican amateurs with Mexican permits can participate in activities normally forbidden under the terms of their permits.  Contests, DXpeditions, even operating from Mexican islands are all possible - as long as the ratio of Mexican amateurs to non-Mexican amateurs remains in favor of the Mexican amateurs.  With the relative ease in obtaining the 4A2Q authorization, despite the slowness in receiving the actual permit (over 2 months from the time the initial request was filed before we received the paperwork with the callsign on it), this is something that the Mexican hams who were at 4A2Q may want to do on other occasions in the future. 

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact 4A2Q. 



Updated 19 February 2007 1