United StatesW8: Great Lakes East
Callsigns beginning with W8 were issued in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, in United States. The same area appears in the series K8, N8, AA8, AB8, AC8, AD8, AE8, AF8, AG8, AI8, AJ8, AK8.
Call area
United States spans CQ zones 3, 4, 5 and ITU zones 6, 7, 8, and a call keeps its area when its holder moves: ask the station for its zone.
How call areas work in United States
The FCC divides the United States into ten call districts, numbered 1 to 9 and 0. The digit names the district where a call was first issued: W1 and K1 calls come from New England, W6 from California, W0 from the plains between Minnesota and Colorado. The K, N and W prefixes and the AA to AK series share the same digits.
Today a licensee does not have to change call after moving, so a W6 call may be heard from Florida. Alaska (AL, KL, NL, WL), Hawaii and the Pacific territories (AH, KH, NH, WH) and the Caribbean ones (KP) are separate DXCC entities.
Portable and moved stations
Operators away from home often add a suffix such as /P or the number of the area they are in, and many keep a W8 call after moving. For awards the place of operation counts, so the prefix is a strong hint, not proof.