Author: Alan, 5B4AHJ.


On 15 October 1991, Bosnia & Herzegovina became a separate DXCC entity.


Initially, stations located in Bosnia & Herzegovina retained their Yugoslavian calls. These calls used the prefixes 4N4, 4O4, YT4, YU4 and YZ4.


On 11th May 1993, the T9 prefix was allocated to Bosnia & Herzegovina, and the prefixes 4N4, 4O4, YT4, YU4 & YZ4 were withdrawn. However, for political reasons, some stations refused to use the T9 prefix, and continued to use their old, but now invalid, calls. These calls are not accepted for DXCC after 10th May 1993. Consequently, Club Log maps these calls to "INVALID", with the exception of 4O4, which is mapped to Montenegro from 11th May 2007.


DXNS #1568, dated 1993-05-26, reports:

"The DX Bulletin carried the following announcement: "The use of the new T9 prefix for Bosnia-Hercegovina 

spells the end of the credit for Serbian stations operating in Bosnia-Hercegovina. The  DXCC Desk had been accepting these stations for DXCC Credit despite the fact that they were  operating under Yugoslavian authority and not Bosnia-Hercegovina licensing. Now that the  legitimate Bosnia-Hercegovina stations are using the T9 prefix, the Serbian stations usillg all Yugoslavian prefix such as 4O or 4N will no longer count for DXCC Credit."


DXNS #1569, dated 1993-06-02, reports:

"To clarify the situation - the DXCC Desk has confirmed that QSL cards from 4N4 and 4O4 stations will be suitable for DXCC credit for QSOs up to 11 May. QSOs from 12 May onwards must be with T9 stations".


On 8th August, 2007, the E7 prefix was allocated to Bosnia & Herzegovina. Progressively, over a period of several months, the T9 prefix was withdrawn, and all stations, including those that had been using the invalid 4N4, 4O4, YT4, YU4 and YZ4 prefixes, began operations with E7 calls.


The DXCC mapping used by Club Log is summarised below:


ADIF Name ADIF DXCC No DXCC status Date Prefix Note
Serbia 296 Current Before 1991-10-15 4N4, 4O4, YT4, YU4, YZ4 This summary ignores call areas 0-3 & 5-9 as they are not relevant to the subject
Bosnia-Herzegovina 501 Current From 1991-10-15 until 1993-05-10 4N4, 4O4, YT4, YU4, YZ4 Email from NC1L of the ARRL DXCC desk confirms these are the only dates these prefixes count for Bosnia-Herzegovina
- - Invalid From 1993-05-11 until 1997-12-30 4N4, 4O4, YT4, YU4, YZ4 Some hams from Bosnia-Herzegovina continued to use calls with these prefixes during this period, but their QSOs are not valid for DXCC
Serbia 296 Current From 1997-12-31 4N4, YT4, YU4, YZ4 This summary ignores call areas 0-3 & 5-9 as they are not relevant to the subject. 
A few hams from Bosnia-Herzegovina continued to use their illegal 4N4, 4O4, YT4, YU4, YZ4 calls
Serbia 296 Current From 1997-12-31 until 2007-05-10 4O4 The 4O prefix was allocated to Montenegro from 2007-05-11
Bosnia-Herzegovina 501 Current From 1993-05-11 until 2007-05-10 T9 No new calls were issued after 2007-05-10, but T9 calls continued to be used legally until replaced by an E7 call
Bosnia-Herzegovina 501 Current From 2007-05-11 E7 T9 calls were replaced by E7 calls over a period of several months. Those who had been using the illegal 4N4, 4O4, YT4, YU4, YZ4 prefixes also began using E7 calls
Montenegro 514 Current From 2007-05-11 4O Montenegro was added to the DXCC list w.e.f. 2006-06-28 and used the prefixes 4N3, 4N6, 4O3, 4O6, YT3, YT6, YU3, YU6, YZ3, YZ6 until the 4O prefix was allocated

Note: Serbia returned the 4N and YZ prefixes to the ITU in 2007.