Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - What does IRO stand for?

Does anyone know what IRO stands for, assuming its an acronym at all? This just occured to me today, and I have a policy against buying from stores with acronyms that I don't understand.

ha ha...i do, actually.

I don't think it's an acronym. Isn't it pronounced "Eye-ro"? I remember reading that on here before. Could be total horse**** though.

ah nevermind, i didnt search hard enough

So here we go.

The name IRO. (eye ro) or ( I. R. O.). I use both. It is not my family name but I have been called Tony IRO for a while now. IRO is the suffix of my radio call sign KB2IRO. Back in the days when the Mir space station and the shuttle were docked I spent as much time as I could speaking with the Cosmonauts and Astronauts. As they spoke to me on the radio they referred to me as IRO. My niece started calling me Uncle IRO, my friends heard her call me Uncle IRO and started calling me Mr. IRO and just ended up as Tony IRO. ….. So why not IRO Cycle.

Tony

still didnt explain why he picked it as his call sign though

still didnt explain why he picked it as his call sign though

He probably didn't. You can get a vanity callsign, but people usually do something special if they're going to go through the trouble of that. kb2iro looks like a fairly typical call issued by the FCC. The different parts of the callsign can be interpreted: usually a K sign is from west of the Mississippi and a W sign is from east. The second letter is just to make more possible combinations; they start with KA, then use KB, then KC, etc. The number refers to a region: in this case NY/Jersey. The IRO is just a sequentially issued suffix.

-TZF

- good post...

- i guess since i have a Kilo-Golf-Four call i'm must be from Gitmo?

:-)

If that is the case, how does he have a K(denoting West of the Miss) along with the 2(which you say means NY/NJ)?
Just wondering...

If that is the case, how does he have a K(denoting West of the Miss) along with the 2(which you say means NY/NJ)?
Just wondering...

I was actually wondering that too, as I typed it. I was too lazy to research it, so I just added the 'usually' to cover my posterior. :rolleyes:

I thought maybe I had it backwards, but it looks like there is indeed a bit of a contradiction. I'm also pretty sure that both Jersey and New York are quite solidly east of the Mississippi.



Broadcast stations in North America generally use call letters in the international series. There are some common conventions followed in each country. In Canada, call signs begin with the letter C, except for four stations in St. John's which begin with VO. Mexican call signs begin with an XE for medium-wave (AM) radio stations and XH in other cases. In the United States, the first letter generally is K for stations west of the Mississippi River and W for those east of the Mississippi. There are a number of exceptions, most of which are located in the states immediately to either side of the river.

Anyone happen to know where Mike is from?

I was actually wondering that too, as I typed it. I was too lazy to research it, so I just added the 'usually' to cover my posterior. :rolleyes:

I thought maybe I had it backwards, but it looks like there is indeed a bit of a contradiction. I'm also pretty sure that both Jersey and New York are quite solidly east of the Mississippi.




Anyone happen to know where Mike is from?

It's "K" for west, "W" for east...but that's for broadcast radio and TV stations. Note that the Wiki article was about broadcast stations, meaning the stations you listen to on your AM/FM transistor radio. It doesn't work that way for hams; in California you'll see W6es, K6es, N6es, and the occasional A6. The geographical distinction in the letters of the prefix isn't needed, because the number tells you where the ham was originally licensed.

I Rule, Obviously

I Read Orwell.

I don't think it's an acronym. Isn't it pronounced "Eye-ro"? I remember reading that on here before. Could be total horse**** though.

That was Eeyore.