CONFIDENTIAL
12
141702
MDLIAN 5445
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 2160
EAKC 193/1 HKC193/1
3 0 JUL 1990
RY
OF 11090OZ JULY 90
TRY
un Taken
INFO PRIORITY PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
@ DIST?
Minute to Ther Depts.
YR TELELETTER OF 9 JULY: ALLOCATION OF CALL SIGNS TO HONG KONG
pa fm, 7/7.
1. IN RESPONSE TO PARA 3 OF YR 22 MAY TELELETTER, WE CONFIRM THAT THE USE OF THE 5-CHARACTER CALL-SIGN SYSTEM WOULD YIELD SUFFICIENT CALL-SIGN COMBINATIONS FROM ONE SERIES ('VR' OR 'VS') FOR HONG KONG'S FORESEEABLE FUTURE NEEDS. HOWEVER, THE ALLOCATION OF A SINGLE SERIES FOR USE IN THIS WAY WOULD CAUSE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DISRUPTION THAN THE ALLOCATION OF BOTH THE 'VR' AND 'VS' SERIES, AS DETAILED BELOW.
2. OF HONG KONG'S CALL-SIGNS CURRENTLY IN USE (TOTALLING ROUGHLY 2,350), 263 ARE IN THE 'VR' SERIES COMPRISING 205 CALL-SIGNS ALLOCATED TO MERCHANT SHIPPING AND 58 TO REGISTERED AIRCRAFT. THE AIRCRAFT ARE USING 5-CHARACTER CALL-SIGNS, WHEREAS THE SHIPS CURRENTLY USE 4-CHARACTER CALL-SIGNS.
3. IF HONG KONG WAS ALLOCATED THE 'VR' SERIES ONLY, THIS WOULD REQUIRE OVER 2,000 CALL-SIGNS CURRENTLY IN THE 'VS' AND OTHER SERIES TO BE CHANGED. HOWEVER, THE 58 CALL-SIGNS ALLOCATED TO REGISTERED AIRCRAFT WOULD BE UNAFFECTED, AND WE SEE NO GREAT PROBLEM WITH THE 205 CALL-SIGNS CURRENTLY ALLOCATED TO MERCHANT
SHIPPING IN THE 'VR' SERIES REMAINING AS 4-CHARACTER CALL-SIGNS UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE 'VR' SERIES BEGAN TO RUN OUT.
4. IF THE 'VS' SERIES ONLY WERE ALLOCATED TO HONG KONG, THE CALL- SIGNS OF ALL REGISTERED AIRCRAFT (58) AND MERCHANT SHIPPING (372), AS WELL AS 83 CALL-SIGNS FOR MISCELLANEOUS PURPOSES, WOULD NEED TO CHANGE, I.E. 513 CALL-SIGN CHANGES. WE RECOGNISE THAT THE CHANGES REQUIRED IN RESPECT OF AIRCRAFT (REPAINTING OF MARKINGS AND CHANGES TO DOCUMENTATION) ARE NOT TOO DISRUPTIVE, ALTHOUGH WE WOULD STILL PREFER TO AVOID THEM IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. FOR THE MERCHANT SHIPPING, THE DISRUPTION IS MORE SERIOUS, WITH MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED TO RADIO EQUIPMENT BY A SHORE ENGINEER IN A SUITABLE PORT.
5. ALTHOUGH THE ALLOCATION OF THE 'VS' SERIES ONLY WOULD INVOLVE FEWER HONG KONG CALL-SIGNS HAVING TO CHANGE COMPARED WITH THE
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