Introduction
The Foundation Licence has been designed and
introduced for people of all ages. To
take this course you do not need to have any formal qualifications (indeed your
academic background is relatively unimportant) to be able to benefit from this
interetsing hobby. You will make
friends from all walks of life. The aim
of the Foundation Licence is to facilitate a simple entry into Amateur Radio as
a hobby. We hope that as experience and
confidence increase, Foundation Licensees will progress along the Amateur Radio
pathway to more Advanced Amateur Licensees, with all the attendant
privileges.
This information sheet aims to answer questions
about how to become a Foundation Licensee and how it fits within the amateur
radio licensing system. The questions
are by no means comprehensive, and if you would like some further information
on Amateur Radio as a hobby, please contact the Radiocommunications Agency at
the number on the last page
Q. Why do I need a licence?
A. You must obtain a licence from the
Radiocommunications Agency before you may legally send and receive messages by
radio, unless you are operating under the direct supervision of a full
licensee. The licence document BR68
sets out the conditions that apply.
Q. What’s is the difference between an Amateur
radio enthusiast and a person who operates Citizens’ Band Radio?
A. A CB licensee does not have to pass any
examinations or take any qualifications to operate. The service is normally short range, with a limited coverage area
and may be used for business purposes, e.g. taxi companies. Amateur radio, especially in the HF bands,
can enable a contact with other countries, but use for business is not allowed.
Q. What frequencies can a Foundation Licensee use?
A. The frequencies are set out in BR68/F, a draft
copy of which is enclosed in this information pack.
Q. What will the foundation licence enable me to
do?
A. The Foundation licence will allow you to operate
and transmit within the limitations set out in BR68F.
Q. What qualifications do I need?
A. You will need to have completed a course of
approximately 10 hrs in duration followed by an assessment consisting of 20
multiple-choice questions administered by a registered body (such as a local
amateur radio club). The qualification
will be on ‘a know what do to’ basis.
Q. Will knowledge of the Morse code be necessary?
A. The International Radio Regulations require
that, to operate on the HF frequencies, the operator must “demonstrate
an ability to send correctly by hand and to receive correctly by ear, texts in
Morse code signals”. In practice, this
could consist of a simple test using crib sheets to encode messages into Morse,
for example ● ▬ = the letter A,
so you would look at the crib sheet, write down the letter A as a series of
dots and dashes and then transmit. The
same would work in reverse when decoding a series of dots and dashes – you
write them down and using the crib sheet, translate them into letters.
Q. What does the training course consist of?
A. The course will be very basic and will last
about 10 hours. A copy of the syllabus
is enclosed in this information pack.
Q. Could a home designed and built transmitter be
used by a foundation licensee if it is ‘signed off’ by an existing licensee?
A. No. Home
build transmitters (i.e. equipment constructed by the amateur without using
commercially produced kits) will not be allowed under the Foundation
licence. The reason for this is that
home build equipment requires greater technical knowledge than the Foundation
course would provide, and there is a risk that the equipment may cause
interference to other radio users.
Q. How much does the training course cost?
A. This has still to be decided, but should be
relatively inexpensive – we are thinking of pounds rather than hundreds!
Q. What is the fee for the Foundation Licence?
A. The annual fee will be £15, but the licence will
be free to those aged under 21 or 75 years or over.
Q. Are there any age restrictions to taking the
test?
A. No – if you are good enough to pass, we feel
that you are entitled to hold a licence.
Q. How much will it cost to operate as a Foundation
licensee?
A. This depends on you. There is a wide range of
radio equipment commercially available, at different prices. You will have to
decide how much you wish to spend on your hobby. A cheap way to start would be to join a local amateur radio club,
where you may be able to use existing equipment.
Q. What callsign is available for me?
A. The callsign will be in an M2 series. You can
ask if a particular callsign is available, for example if it matches you name –
M2 SID
Q. Does my licence cover anyone?
A. No-one may transmit under your supervision. A
licensed amateur may operate your equipment under their own callsign, using the
suffix /P and entering the details in their own logbook.
Q. How much further can I progress in the Amateur
Hobby?
A. There will be two further stages that you can
progress to – An Intermediate Licence and a Full licence. Each licence will require that you obtain
more detailed knowledge of different aspects of radio, and take additional
examinations. The syllabi for these two
licences has not yet been agreed, but they will roughly equate as follows:
Intermediate licence would equate to the current
Novice Licence Class
Full licence would equate to the
existing Full Class A and B licences.
Q. When will these new licence classes be
introduced?
A. There will be a pilot scheme for the Foundation
Licence starting in October, and the Foundation licence will be introduced
completely in January 2002. The
Intermediate and Advanced licences will be introduced during 2002/3, although
there is nothing to prevent you from taking the existing examinations for the
Intermediate and Full Amateur licences before that date.
Q. What
about the Morse test, will it go in 2003 if it is removed at the world radio
conference, WRC2003.
A. Whilst
it is expected that WRC2003 will remove the Morse requirement there is always
the possibility that it will not. The
UK has an obligation to abide by international rules.
If it is abolished then the UK can consult its
amateurs and decide for itself. It is
considered likely that the ‘A’ and ‘B’ class distinction in the current
Novice/Intermediate and Full licences will be removed and everybody will have
the privileges of the current class A licence.
Q. Can
existing ‘B’ class Novices and Full licensees’ get access to HF.
A. Yes,
there are two methods available.
Firstly they can pass the 5 wpm Morse test and gain ‘A’ class
privileges, which in the Full licence will be 400W transmit power. Alternatively they can attend a small part
of the Foundation training course, including the Morse test, and sit the Foundation
test paper which lasts only half an hour.
Q. But why
attend the Foundation training and test.
A. The
Foundation syllabus includes actual operating experience on HF, unlike the
existing Novice and full licences. It
is only those items not previously covered that need to be attended.
Q. I am an existing Amateur. Is not the
introduction of the Foundation Licence lowering the entry standards for Amateur
Radio?
A. Clause 1(1) of the Amateur licence makes it
clear that Amateur Radio is a service of self - training. The Agency and the
believes that a sensible balance needs to be struck between an entry hurdle
that is high enough to ensure levels of safety and competence, and yet is not
so high as to discourage those who, with the right encouragement, will go on to
progress up the licensing structure to Intermediate or Full level. It is this
balance that the Foundation Licence seeks to achieve.