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1A1 Recall that the amateur licence is for self-training in radio communications and is of a non-commercial nature. Business use and commercial advertising is not permitted
Amateur Radio dates back almost to the origins of radio communication itself some would say that Amateur Radio made radio communication possible.
However for the Foundation Licence you must be aware that the hobby is for self-training and that for the most part it involves some form of experimentation in aspects of radio communications. Such self-training could however be carried out in a group or club where others with more knowledge can show you how to make simple antennas, antenna matching units (also know as ATU Antenna tuner units) and to carry out other simple constructional project. Self-training on a solo basis means reading up on a topic and then within the limitations of your licence carrying through what you have learned whether that is in better operating practice, better station layout etc.
The course will explore all these avenues to help you to be aware of the great hobby you are entering.
You must be aware that unlike other radio communication users of the air waves it services is non-commercial in nature.
In summary you will find that Amateur Radio is of value to you from the point of view of :-
Technical innovation - there are always new ideas coming on stream.
Emergency communications (although in the Licence Conditions part you will learn that as a Foundation Licence holder you cannot actually take a full active part in emergency communications).
Development of skills for the United Kingdom - if you are a young student the hobby might well give you an idea to follow some form of electronics as a career which could be of benefit to the skills base of UK.
International friendship - as a Foundation Licence holder you gain access to amateurs world wide via the HF bands (1.8 to 30 MHz), and you may well strike up a friendship that could lead to an exchange visit to amateurs abroad.
Amateur Radio is also a recreational activity and with the hope of increasing leisure time will give the student who achieves their licence a hobby for life.
Remember that the Foundation Licence is the entry level to Amateur Radio in the UK and this course is based upon the ethos (concept) that you are entirely new to electronics in any form and even such words as the HF bands (1.8 to 30 MHz) means nothing to you at present, stay with the course and like many students before you let's hope you achieve your goal of a Foundation Amateur Radio Licence.
Types of licence and call signs
1A2 Recall the types of UK Amateur Licence
(Foundation, Intermediate, Full) and identify their call signs,
including Regional Secondary Locators and optional suffixes /A, /P, /M
and /MM.
Recall the meaning of 'Main Station Address', 'Alternative Address', Temporary Location' and 'Mobile'.
Recall that the Foundation and Intermediate Licences do not permit operation of the Radio Equipment from a Vessel at Sea.
Recall that airborne operation within the UK is not permitted at any Amateur Licence level.
NOTE: The optional club secondary locators are not examined.
Foundation Licence, the entry level
Intermediate Licence, next step
Full Licence, the fullest licence available in UK and for this you need to pass the Advanced Examination.
No grade of licence is prevented from building receivers as it is the transmitters that would cause interference to other pieces of electronic equipment, rather than a receiver.
The Foundation licence only gives you the permission to operate whilst in the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom includes:-
England, Scotland, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of man and Northern Ireland
This is because, whilst there is recognition for what are is called a "Full" UK Amateur Radio Licence for reciprocal operation in other countries, but there is no such blanket recognition of all the UK amateur radio licences. Further it is the choice of the administration of other countries to decide what reciprocal arrangements are made and not for the radio amateur to assume. Thus, as UK is the first country to have a "Foundation Licence" at the moment no mutual reciprocal agreements have yet been made.
Format of Foundation, Intermediate and Full call signs
Let's consider just England for a moment with regard to call sign structure:-
Foundation Licence M6AAA
M6+3 and M7+3 letters are current Foundation Licence call signs in England eg M6AAA
Intermediate Licence 2E0AAA
A 2E0+3 letter call signifies an Intermediate Licence holder grade and in England
Full Licence M0AAA
An M0+3 letter call both signify an Full Licence holder grade in England also called a FULL Licence Holder.
Why is England so important ?
The Amateur Licence areas in the United Kingdom is split up into regions :-
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey.
The call sign around which all other call signs are based at Foundation level is the England call sign of M6+3 letters and M7+3 letters.
To indicate a region other than England there are secondary identifiers used with the "England" call sign this is explained below.
Secondary identifiers also known as Regional identifiers
For the Foundation and Full licence levels Secondary Identifiers, sometimes called REGIONAL IDENTIFIERS are used, (note the absence of the mention of the Intermediate level we mention this just below the pictorial map).
Scotland M, Wales W, Northern Ireland I, Isle of Man D, Jersey J, Guernsey U.
With the Intermediate Call signs the E for England as used 2E0+3 letter call would be substituted for the other secondary identifiers Scotland M, Wales W, Northern Ireland I, Isle of Man D, Jersey J, Guernsey U. eg 2M1+3 letters for Scotland.
For the course exam you will be pleased to hear that you only have to learn how the Secondary Identifiers would be used for a Foundation Licence Holder.
As already stated :-
An M6+3 letter call (eg M6AVI) or M7+3 signifies a Foundation Licence holder in ENGLAND
For the other regions the secondary identifier is added immediately after the initial "M" as shown below.
MM6+3 call would indicate the licence holder has his main station address in SCOTLAND
MW6+3 call would indicate the licence holder has his main station address in WALES
MI6+3 call would indicate the licence holder has his main station address in NORTHERN IRELAND
MD6+3 call would indicate the licence holder has his main station address in Isle of Man
MU6+3 call would indicate the licence holder has his main station address in GUERNSEY
MJ6+3 call would indicate the licence holder has his main station address in JERSEY
1A3 Q1 Recall the Foundation Licence does not
permit the on-air use of own design and modification of transmitting
apparatus and that these privileges are available to holders of
Intermediate and Full Licences.
7(2) Where this Licence is a Foundation Licence, the Licensee shall only use commercially available Radio Equipment which satisfies IR 2028. Foundation Licence holders may also use Radio Equipment constructed using commercially available kits which satisfy IR 2028. OFCOM produce the IR2082 document which contains licencing parameters such as the bands table as in section 2c.1 above.
It possible as a foundation licence holder to build any equipment, but a foundation licence holder must not operate any transmitter that they have designed and built. This also means in our opinion equipment that has been made for the purpose of amateur radio is in the clear but ex-military equipment may not and could require the user to have a higher grade than a Foundation licence for them to legally operate within the terms of their amateur radio licence.
1A4 Q1 Recall that the Licensee must give immediate
notice to Ofcom of any change to the Licensee's name, Main Station Address
or mailing address.
The Licensee must give immediate notice to Ofcom either in writing or by means of Ofcom's on-line licensing system of any change to the Licensee's name, Main Station Address (or mailing address if different) from that recorded in this Licence.
Recall
that the licensee must confirm that the details shown on the licence
remain valid at least once every five years.
You must confirm your details at least once in 5 years else you could loose you licence. Thankfully this can be easily achieved on line to Ofcom's web site but if you have trouble doing that then a phone call will usually sort it all out for So you.
So any change in
your personal name, home address, or the main station address must be
updated to OFCOM. This information has to be verified to OFCOM within
every 5 years. Any failing to do so may result in your licence being
cancelled/revoked.
Recall
that the licence can be revoked by Ofcom for breaches of licence
conditions or for non-confirmation of licence details.
Being stupid when
operating or any other breaches of the licence conditions and or non
confirmation of details means your licence could be revoked that means
taken away from you so that you cannot any longer operate on the amateur
radio bands.
1A5 Q2 Recall the requirements for station
identification.
Note: For the purposes of the examination this includes identifying when there is a change of:
The station must be identified at all times by voice or mode of operation such as cw or rtty as frequently as is practically possible during transmissions.
This is easily done giving out your callsign. For example if you were out walking in Northern Ireland you could identify with a callsign like MI7XYZ/P.
Remember that the "I" in that call is the Regional Locator. You must identify your station on your first transmission such as when calling CQ, or replying to another station that called CQ.
After making contact with another station and you both decide to move frequency, then you must both identify again on the new frequency.
Similarly you must identify again after changing mode from e.g. FM to SSB.
The Licensee, shall transmit the Call sign specified in the Licence and any Modifier applicable under the provisions of this Licence:
If you are being
supervised and you change supervisors then you must identify this by
saying you have changed supervisor and give the supervisor's call
sign if you are using a club's call sign.
Should you change
your location into a different Regional Secondary Locator then again you
must identify your self and if under supervision advising that is the
case.
So think carefully
that :-
(a) The station is clearly identifiable at all times;
(b) The callsign is transmitted as frequently as is practicable during transmissions;
(c) The callsign is given in voice or other appropriate format consistent with the mode of operation;
(d) When calling CQ it is necessary to give your call sign for two reasons. Firstly because the Licence requires your station to be 'identifiable at all times' and secondly because the person answering, will want to know who you are and you will want to know they are replying to you by including your call sign in their reply.
Thus you do not have to start and finish an over with your callsign but it is polite to do so BUT not a requirement of your licence and NOT part of the exam
Modifiers are the Regional Secondary Locators as outlined above and modifiers.
Main Station Address means the main station address stated in the Licence;
A typical exam question might be
What are the requirements for Station Identification ?
Now the answers may not necessarily be exactly what is given in the licence as in (a) (b) and (c) above but may well be the question writer's interpretation of the licence conditions but meaning the same.
Thus
The station is clearly identifiable at all times might be written as the station is identified regularly
The callsign is transmitted as frequently as is practicable during transmissions might be written as the station is to be identified frequently during overs
The callsign is given in voice or other appropriate format consistent with the mode of operation might be written as The callsign is given in voice or in another mode of operation
The origin of some of the text on this page is from the RSGB with additions by the web master
