Signs used to identify radio & TV stations in South America
Call signs in South America
are used for a variety of purposes, including identifying radio and TV stations.
Argentina
and
Brazil
both have broadcast call signs systems. Some stations still broadcast their
call signs
a few times a day, but this practice is becoming very rare. Call signs were first assigned to South American countries in 1913,
[1]
and the call sign blocks were expanded to include amateur radio in 1947.
[2]
In 1995,
Brazil
,
Argentina
,
Peru
,
Uruguay
and
Venezuela
signed up to the International Amateur Radio Permit agreement requiring governments to mutually recognize amateur radio licenses issued to citizens of other participating countries.
Canada
and the
United States
are also party to the agreement.
[3]
Argentina
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]
Argentinian broadcast call signs consist of two (or, more recently, three) letters followed by multiple numbers. The second letter, as used in television call signs from the 1960s, traditionally indicated the region; LS call signs were given to stations in
Buenos Aires
, LT in the northeastern region, LU in the southern region, LV in the central region and LW in the northwestern region. (LR was used for some radio stations, especially in Buenos Aires; the earliest radio stations in the Argentine capital had call signs of LR plus one digit.) Most TV stations had call signs with higher two-digit numbers. The five main stations in the Buenos Aires area had call signs from LS 82 to LS 86, while stations in
Rosario, Santa Fe
had call signs LT 83 and LT 85.
Amateur radio call signs are used to uniquely identify 37,000 licensed amateur operators in
Argentina
. Call signs are regulated internationally by the
ITU
as well as nationally by the Comision Nacional de Comunicaciones of the Argentine government. Foreign amateurs can obtain permission to operate in the country from can contact the Radio Club Argentino.
[4]
Since 2000 or earlier, call signs beginning with LR and a third letter, as well as have been assigned,
- LRA exclusively assigned to Radio Nacional, regardless of its location, or mode of transmission.
- LRF - LRU In Tierra del Fuego, Chubut, Santa Cruz
- LRG - LRT In Neuquen, La Pampa, Rio Negro
- LRH - LRR In Chaco, Formosa, Corrientes, Misiones
- LRI - LRM - LRP - LRS In Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, Entre Rios
- LRJ - LRN - LRT in Cordoba, Mendoza, San Luis, La Rioja, San Juan
- LRK - LRQ in Salta, Jujuy, San Juan, Catamarca, Santiago del Estero
- LRL - In Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires and its Metropolitan Area (but not exclusively, a station in Santa Fe has been assigned with this call sign)
For instance, LRL 421 is
Canal 21 in Buenos Aires
.
There are other Callsigns almost unused, I.E. AYP 75 FM 99.5 MHz. in Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, and LOL Observatorio Naval (National Observatory, a time signal station which operates in Shortwave.
Brazil
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For more information the page
Indicativo de chamada (in Portuguese)
has a complete description of Brazilian call signs. For TV and radio stations the letters
ZY
are used, followed by one letter and three numbers.
ZYA
and
ZYB
are allocated to television stations,
ZYI
,
ZYJ
,
ZYK
and
ZYL
designate AM stations,
ZYG
is used for
shortwave
stations,
ZYC
,
ZYD
,
ZYM
and
ZYU
are given to FM stations.
For example, ZYB-883 (analog channel 18) is TV Tribuna in
Santos
.
References
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