There are multiple reasons why folks get a 1×1 call sign. It’s usually for a special event or for some contest. I know I like to know who I made a contact with regardless and finding info on QRZ.com for some special events leaves you out of luck. The below is often helpful to find approximately where someone was operating from and get a general idea of their grid square, which I like to have for every contact.

http://www.1x1callsigns.org is a web site that lists out 1×1 call signs so you can see at least who requested the  call sign. For example, I had a contact yesterday with K8O during the Ohio QSO Party. If I go to the site and click the Search 1×1 Calls link and then enter in K8O, it lists many references with the latest being K8O for the Ohio QSO Party. If I click the details link for that entry it shows that it was issued to K2KW. I can then lookup K2KW on QRZ.com and get a feeling for where he was likely located. It might not be exact but it is better then knowing nothing about the contact. This site, as you can see in the above example, also has historical information on the call sign.

Another place to look up 1×1 or special event info is on the ARRL site at http://www.arrl.org/contests/spev.html which is useful if it isn’t a 1×1 call sign listed on the above site.  CQ also has a web page at http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/AnnoAug09.html to list special event stations, though the URL is month/year specific. It would be nice if they created a URL which is always consistent and redirects to the current month.

Hope that helps a bit in identification of 1×1 calls and special event stations.

73,
K2DSL