Ham Radio Car License Plates

[Rockbus]

Got a question for City, Sheriffs, and CHP Officers.

I've had HAM (Amateur radio) plates on my car since the early 80's. Over the last 4 years I've been pulled over 6 times because for some reason the officers can't find my license plates in their computer. My son has been pulled over twice going to and from school. So why does my Ham plates cause concern with the officers now and not 10, 20 or 30 years ago?

I emailed Gov Brown who had someone from the DMV call me and tell me there is nothing wrong with my car registration. The DMV contact told me to give the officer her contact info next time I get pulled over. Which is all good and well but I'd rather not be pulled over in the first place.

There are only 5 characters in my ham license, two letters and number and two more letters.

Any insight would be appreciated.

[Milsurps]

Got a question for City, Sheriffs, and CHP Officers.

I've had HAM (Amateur radio) plates on my car since the early 80's. Over the last 4 years I've been pulled over 6 times because for some reason the officers can't find my license plates in their computer.

Any insight would be appreciated.

"Amateur Radio plates" have always been a rarely known section of the Ca vehicle code that confuses the DMV and it's workers more often than not.
I've encountered total confusion at the DMV for years about Amateur Radio plates. The AAA does a better job of handling them.

My wife had the same issue you've had a few years back with her plate.
A CHP couldn't find her and let her go with a warning. Went to AAA and puled the record and all was good. Sigh...
I've never had the the problem in +30 yrs with mine. Go figure...


What agency(s) have you had the issue with ?


73

[IrishJoe3]

Actually pulled a car over for that exact thing. When I run a random registration check on a car, it comes back with the DMV registration return.

When I run a registration check on a HAM radio plate, it returns with record not on file; the same way a fake plate woud return. I'm not sure why that is, I've triple checked that I'm entering the plate numbers verbatim.

[Milsurps]

When I run a registration check on a HAM radio plate, it returns with record not on file; the same way a fake plate woud return.

Have you tried "Amateur Radio" plate term. DMV does call them Amateur Radio

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/dmv_content_en/dmv/pubs/reg_hdbk/ch21/ch21_5

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/vctop/vc/d3/c1/a8/5005

[FLIGHT762]

Here's a link to DMV which shows the various special plates out there. The "Citizens Band " plates are interesting. They were discontinued in 1983, but DMV will still replace them to license holders.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/plates/specialplates

[TURNKEY13]

When running a plate via MDT, the plate type defaults to passenger plate. The officer must manually change the plate type. There are many, and i mean many different plate type nowa days, ie, handicap, personalized, government, exempt, and so on. If the officer is unaware of the plate type, it makes it pretty hard to run it and get a correct return.

[gunner336]

plates

This

[mej16489]

There also used to be issues in the past with some MDT systems requiring the alphanumeric pattern to be entered in a specific way.

2 x 3s could be entered as normal, i.e. KB6JQT
2 x 2s had to be padded. i.e. AD6 DL (note the extra space)
2 x 1s had to be double padded. i.e. WA6 Q (2 extra spaces)
1 x Ns had to be padded as above for the suffix, plus an additional pad before the district number ( i.e. K6LIV as K 6LIV )

To this day, I'm not sure if those were MDT issue or DMV Database Access issue or what.

Also, take a look at registration paperwork on Amateur Radio plates...they have the same padding in them.

edit to add:
Amateur Radio callsigns follow a patter of letters with a number in the middle.
The number is a geographical indicator of where the person lived when the license was issued...6 is California, so you'll see that as the most common.
The portion before the number is the prefix - a prefix will always be one or two letters.
The portion after the number is the suffix - a suffix will be one to three letters.
A single letter suffix will nearly always have a two letter prefix (A 1 x 1 callsign is only issued to a special event station...it wouldn't even qualify for a plate in CA)
So the callsign K6LIV is a 1 x 3, KB6JQT is a 2 x 3, etc.

[CBR_rider]

I don't recall ever running one... though I have seen a few around while off duty. I'll try to find one or two while working and see if I can get the return easily or not.

[Milsurps]

Also, take a look at registration paperwork on Amateur Radio plates...they have the same padding in them.

I noticed that a few years back. I just figured it was a DMV at their best computer thing.

Nice to know.

[Bete Noire]

I've got em and no probs so far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[P5Ret]

When running a plate via MDT, the plate type defaults to passenger plate. The officer must manually change the plate type. There are many, and i mean many different plate type nowa days, ie, handicap, personalized, government, exempt, and so on. If the officer is unaware of the plate type, it makes it pretty hard to run it and get a correct return.

^ That right there, the entry code is different for all the different plates, most of them have some type of identifier on the plate like the disabled plate's do. Even those can be a pain because a disabled veteran plate is a different entry code than a plain ordinary disabled plate.

[Jwood562]

We used to have to enter the correct "type" of plate after entering the numbers. passenger was default, "C" for commercial, "S" for special (personalized) so there were many errors when cops were running plates because they did not know the type of plate to run.

Our new system runs it for you under all types to minimize mistakes. Have not tried it on a HAM radio plate and still no R/O information on dealer plates

[Rockbus]

Guys

Thanks for the information. Seems like the data bases between the DMV and your computers are not playing well together. Would it help if I add a bumper sticker referring to HAM radio Hobby?

But this brings up another question, why would an officer even try to enter my ham plates in the first place. I was not speeding, driving badly etc, so I do not know why the officers were looking up my call sign. Is there an automatic licence plate reader camera in the police cars that triggers a search?

It seems like a waste of time for an officer to see my car an then decide to enter my call sign on the computer, trying multiple databases, all the while following me as I drive along the road.

I know now when a police car (or three in a couple cases) is following me for more than a few blocks I'm going to get pulled over.

Thanks again.

[CBR_rider]

Guys

Thanks for the information. Seems like the data bases between the DMV and your computers are not playing well together. Would it help if I add a bumper sticker referring to HAM radio Hobby?

Probably not much. They issue an actual license with your radio ID on it, right? Maybe keep that behind your driver's license if you really wanted to. Otherwise just be sure to keep a copy of your registration with you while driving

But this brings up another question, why would an officer even try to enter my ham plates in the first place. I was not speeding, driving badly etc, so I do not know why the officers were looking up my call sign. Is there an automatic licence plate reader camera in the police cars that triggers a search?

A license plate reader could have been used and I wouldn't be surprised if some have a setting on them to alert when they run a plate but get no return (indicating a possible false license plate)

It seems like a waste of time for an officer to see my car an then decide to enter my call sign on the computer, trying multiple databases, all the while following me as I drive along the road.

I know now when a police car (or three in a couple cases) is following me for more than a few blocks I'm going to get pulled over.

The law allows law enforcement to run license plates pretty much "whenever" as long as they are not being run for personal reasons. I have literally run hundreds of plates on some cold winter nights with a partner while looking for stolen cars. We have found more than a few that way. I also do it to check for false registration (a pet peeve of mine).

Thanks again.

Answers in bold above