Chapter 4
Figuring Out the Licensing System
IN THIS CHAPTER
Finding out about the amateur service
Understanding license types
Studying the exam questions
Studying for and taking the license exam
Getting a call sign
Unlike some of the other types of radios available to the public, you can’t transmit on a ham radio without a license. Hams call it a “ticket” for good reason since it’s a ticket to enter all of what ham radio has to offer. Like most people, you’re probably familiar with the process of getting a license to drive your car, to fish, or to get married, but ham radio licensing is a little different. The process is easy to deal with when you know how it works, however.
Amateur radio is one of many types of services that use the radio waves to communicate. Other services include broadcast (AM and FM radio, television), public safety (police and fire departments), aviation, and even radar systems (radionavigation).
When the name of a specific service is capitalized, such as Amateur Radio Service or Citizens Band, that’s a formal reference to the set of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules for that service. Each service has a different set of rules for its type of operating and use.
To maintain order on the airwaves, the FCC requires that each signal must be transmitted by a licensed or otherwise authorized station. Stations in all the different services must abide by FCC regulations to obtain and keep their licenses, which give them permission to transmit according to the rules for that service. That’s what a ham license is: authority for you to transmit on the frequencies that licensees of the amateur radio service are permitted to use. This chapter explains the FCC licensing system for amateur radio in the United States.
Getting Acquainted with the Amateur Service
By international treaty, the amateur service in every country is a licensed service — that is, a government agency has to grant a license for a ham to transmit. Although regulation may seem to be a little quaint, given all the communications gadgets for sale these days, licensing is necessary for a couple of reasons:
- It allows amateurs to communicate internationally and directly without using any kind of intermediate system that regulates their activities.
- Because of amateur radio’s broad capabilities, hams need some technical and regulatory training. This allows hams to share the radio spectrum with other radio services, such as broadcasting.
FCC rules
By maintaining the quality of licensees, licensing helps ensure that the amateur service makes the best use of its unique citizen access to the airwaves. Licensing sets ham radio apart from the unlicensed services and is recognized in the FCC rules, Part 97. The very first rule states the basis and purpose for ham radio as Rule 97.1:
- Recognition of ham radio’s exceptional capability to provide emergency communications (Rule 97.1(a))
- Promote the amateur’s proven ability to advance the state of the radio art (Rule 97.1(b))
- Encourage amateurs to improve their technical and communications skills (Rule 97.1(c))
- Expand the number of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts (Rule 97.1(d))
- Promote the amateur’s unique ability to enhance international goodwill (Rule 97.1(e))
Pretty heady stuff! Ham radio does all these good things in exchange for access to a lot of very useful radio spectrum. You can find all the pertinent rules at wireless at fcc.gov/index.htm?job=rules_and_regulations; click the Part 97 link for the amateur radio rules. Plain-English discussion of the rules is available in FCC Rules and Regulations for the Amateur Radio Service, published by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL; see Chapter 3).
Frequency allocations
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which today is part of the United Nations, provides a forum for countries to create and administer rules of radio spectrum use. This helps keep order between all the services around the world.
The ITU divides the spectrum into small ranges in which specific types of uses occur (see Figure 4-1). These ranges are frequency allocations, which hams call bands.
FIGURE 4-1: ITU region map showing the world’s three administrative regions for telecommunication.
The world is divided into three regions, as follows:
- Region 1: Europe, Russia, and Africa
- Region 2: North and South America
- Region 3: Asia, Australia, and most of the Pacific
Within each region, each type of radio service — amateur, military, commercial, and government — is allocated a share of the available frequencies. Luckily for amateurs, most of their allocations are the same in all three regions, so they can talk to one another directly.
Figure 4-2 shows the high-frequency (HF) range frequencies (from 3 MHz to 30 MHz). This allocation is very important, particularly on the long-distance bands, where radio signals might propagate all the way around the Earth. Talking to someone in a foreign country is pretty difficult if you can’t both use the same frequency.
FIGURE 4-2: Hams are allocated “bands” of frequencies across the radio spectrum, such as the HF bands shown here.
To get an idea of the complexity of the allocations, browse to the Region 2 allocation chart at www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/2003-allochrt.pdf. (If you have a PDF reader app, you can download and display the chart in full color.) The individual colors represent different types of radio services. Each service has a small slice of the spectrum, including amateurs. (Can you find the amateur service on the chart? Hint: It’s green.)
Amateurs have small allocations at numerous places in the radio spectrum, and access to those frequencies depends on the class of license you hold (see the next section). The higher your license class, the more frequencies you can use. The “ham bands” are shown in a chart you can download at www.arrl.org/graphical-frequency-allocations.
Learning about Types of Licenses
Three types of licenses are being granted today: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra.
By taking progressively more challenging exams, you gain access to more frequencies and operating privileges, as shown in Table 4-1. After you pass the test for one level of license, called an element, you have permanent credit for it as long as you keep your license renewed. This system allows you to progress at your own pace. Your license is good for ten years and you can renew it without taking an exam.
TABLE 4-1 Privileges by License Class
License Class |
Privileges |
Notes |
Technician |
All amateur privileges above 50 MHz; limited CW, Phone, and Data privileges below 30 MHz |
|
General |
Technician privileges plus most amateur HF privileges |
|
Amateur Extra |
All amateur privileges |
Small exclusive sub-bands are added on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters. |
Technician class
Nearly every ham starts with a Technician class license, also known as a Tech license. A Technician licensee is allowed access to all ham bands with frequencies of 50 MHz or higher. These privileges include operation at the maximum legal power limit and using all types of communications. Tech licensees may also transmit using voice on part of the 10 meter band and Morse code on some of the HF bands below 30 MHz.
The Technician exam is 35 multiple-choice questions on regulations and technical radio topics. You have to get 26 or more correct to pass.
Morse code was once required for amateur operation below 30 MHz. At the time international treaties were adopted, code was used for a great deal of commercial and military radio traffic was — news, telegrams, ship-to-ship, and ship-to-shore messages. Emergency communications were often in Morse code, too. Back then, using Morse code was a standard radio skill. It’s still a very effective part of ham radio. Its efficient use of transmitted power and spectrum space, as well as its innate musicality and rhythm, make it very popular with hams. It’s easy and fun to use, too! Chapter 8 tells you all about Morse code.
General class
After earning the entry-level Technician license, many hams immediately start getting ready to upgrade to a General class license. When you obtain a General class license, you’ve reached a great milestone. General class licensees have full privileges on nearly all amateur frequencies, with only small portions of some HF bands remaining off limits.
The General class exam, which includes 35 questions (you have to get 26 right to pass), covers many of the same topics as the Technician exam, but in more detail. The exam introduces some new topics that an experienced ham is expected to understand.
Amateur Extra class
General class licensees still can’t access everything; the lowest segments of several HF bands are for Amateur Extra class licensees only. These segments are where the expert operators hang out and are considered to be prime operating territory. If you become interested in contesting, contacting rare foreign stations (DXing; see Chapter 11), or just having access to these choice frequencies, you want to get your Amateur Extra license — the top level.
The Amateur Extra exam consists of 50 multiple-choice questions, 37 of which you must answer correctly to pass. The exam covers additional rules and regulations associated with sophisticated operating and several advanced technical topics. Hams who pass the Amateur Extra exam consider their license to be a real achievement. Do you think you can climb to the top rung of the licensing ladder?
Grandfathered classes
The amateur service licensing rules have changed over the years, reducing the number of license classes. Hams who hold licenses in deleted classes may renew those licenses indefinitely, but no new licenses for those classes are being issued.
Two grandfathered license classes remain:
- Novice: The Novice license was introduced in 1951 with a simple 20-question exam and 5-words-per-minute (WPM) code test. A ham with a General class (or higher) license administered the exam. Originally, the license was good for a single year, at which point the Novice upgraded or had to get off the air. These days, the Novice license, like other licenses, has a ten-year term and is renewable. Novices are restricted to segments of the 3.5, 7, 21, 28, 222, and 1296 MHz amateur bands.
- Advanced: Advanced class licensees passed a written exam midway in difficulty between those for the General and Amateur Extra classes. They received a few more frequency privileges beyond the General licensees.
Table 4-2 shows the relative populations of all types of U.S. license holders as of August 2017.
TABLE 4-2 Relative Populations of U.S. License Classes
License Class |
Active Licenses |
Share of Active Licensees |
Technician |
374,378 |
50.2% |
General |
173,471 |
23.3% |
Amateur Extra |
144,654 |
19.4% |
Advanced |
43,070 |
5.8% |
Novice |
9,309 |
1.3% |
Total |
744,882 |
100% |
Source: www.ah0a.org/FCC/Licenses.html
Getting Licensed
To pass the exam, you’ll need to do a little studying and there are plenty of opportunities to practice. Then you’ll take your exam, administered by volunteer hams who were also in your shoes once upon a time. After you pass, you’ll receive a call sign that is yours and yours alone: your radio name. Ready? Let’s go!
Studying the exam questions
ARRL (www.arrl.org) and other organizations publish study guides and manuals, some of which may be available through your local library. Also, online tests are available, listing the actual questions that are on the test (see Chapter 5). Take advantage of these materials, and you’ll be confident that you’re ready to pass the exam on test day.
The pool of exam questions changes every four years. Make sure that you have the current version of study materials, containing the correct questions and any recent changes in rules and regulations. Each license manual should clearly show its “expiration date” on the cover.
I cover the process for studying the questions in Chapter 5.
Taking your license exam
In the Olden Days, hams took their licensing tests at the nearest FCC office, which could be hundreds of miles away. I vividly remember making long drives to a government office building to take my exams along with dozens of other hams.
Nowadays, although the FCC still grants the licenses, it no longer administers amateur radio licensing examinations. In the United States, these exams are given by volunteer examiners (VEs); some VEs even file the results with the FCC. This process enables you to get your license and call sign much faster than in the days when the FCC handled everything on paper.
Exam sessions are usually available a short drive away at a club, a school, or even a private home. As of mid-2017, it costs up to $15 to take an exam for any of the license elements.
See Chapter 6 for full details on finding an exam session near you and taking your test.
Volunteer Examiner Coordinators
A volunteer examiner coordinator (VEC) organization takes responsibility for certifying and coordinating the volunteer examiners (VEs) who run the exam sessions. The VEC also processes FCC-required paperwork generated during the session. Each VEC maintains a list of VEs, upcoming exam sessions, and other resources for ham test-takers. It can also help you renew your license and change your address or name.
The VEC with the most VEs is the group run by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL-VEC), but 13 other VECs are located around the United States. Some VECs, such as ARRL-VEC and W5YI-VEC, operate nationwide; others work in only a single region.
You can find VEC groups that conduct exams in your area at www.ncvec.org.
Volunteer examiners
VEs make the system run. Each exam requires three VEs to administer or proctor the session and to sign off on the paperwork. VEs are responsible for all aspects of the testing process, including providing the meeting space and announcing the exam sessions. (For remote communities, exam sessions can be administered online by a VE team with local volunteers. This is discussed in Chapter 6.) If they incur any expenses, such as for supplies or facility rental, they’re allowed to keep up to $7 per person of the test fee; any left-over fees go to the VEC to cover its expenses.
VEs are authorized to administer license exams for the same class of license they hold themselves or for lower classes. A General class VE, for example, can administer Technician and General exams but not Amateur Extra exams.
General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra class licensees can become VEs by contacting one of the VEC organizations and completing whatever qualification process that VEC requires. The ARRL-VEC, for example, provides a booklet on the volunteer licensing system and requires applicants to pass a short exam. VE certification is permanent as long as it is renewed on time with the VEC.
VEs are amateurs just like you; they do a real service to the amateur community by making the licensing system run smoothly and efficiently. Don’t forget to say “Thanks!” at the conclusion of your test session, pass or fail. Better yet, become a VE yourself. It’s fun and rewarding. As a VE, I’ve given dozens of exams to hams as young as 10 years old.
Receiving Your New Call Sign
Each license that the FCC grants comes with a very special thing: a unique call sign (call to hams). Your call sign is both a certification that you have passed the licensing exam and permission to construct and operate a station — a special privilege. If you’re a new licensee, you’ll get your call sign within seven to ten business days of taking your licensing exam.
Your call sign becomes your on-the-air identity, and if you’re like most hams, you may change call signs once or twice before settling on the one you want to keep. Sometimes, your call sign starts taking over your off-the-air identity; you may become something like Ward NØAX, using your call sign in place of a last name. (I have to think really hard to remember the last names of some of my ham friends!)
Hams rarely use the term handle to refer to actual names; it’s fallen out of favor in recent years. Similarly, they use the term call letters only to refer to broadcast-station licenses that have no numbers in them. Picky? Perhaps, but hams are proud of their hard-earned call signs.
Chapter 7 provides full coverage of call signs. In this section, I give you a brief overview.
Call-sign prefixes and suffixes
Each call sign is unique. Many call signs contain NØ or AX, for example, but only one call sign is NØAX. Each letter and number in a call sign is pronounced individually and not as a word — “N zero A X,” for example, not “No-axe.”
Hams use the Ø (ALT-0216 on keyboards) symbol to represent the number 0, which is a tradition from the days of teleprinters and typewriters. It avoids confusion between capital-O and zero.
Ham radio call signs around the world are constructed of two parts:
- Prefix: The prefix is composed of one or two letters and one numeral from Ø to 9. (The prefix in my call sign is NØ.) It identifies the country that issued your license and may also specify where you live within that country. For U.S. call signs, the numeral indicates the call district of where you lived when your license was issued. (Mine was issued when I lived in St. Louis, Missouri, which is part of the tenth, or Ø, district.)
- Suffix: The suffix of a call sign, when added to the prefix, identifies you, the individual license holder. A suffix consists of one to three letters. No punctuation characters are allowed — just letters from A to Z. (The suffix in my call sign is AX.)
The ITU assigns each country a block of prefix character groups to create call signs for all its radio services. All U.S. licensees (not just hams) have call signs that begin with A, K, N, or W. Even broadcast stations have call signs such as KGO or WLS. Most Canadian call signs begin with VE. English call signs may begin with G, M, or 2. Germans use D (for Deutschland) followed by any letter; almost all call signs that begin with J are Japanese, and so on. You can find the complete list of ham radio prefix assignments at www.ac6v.com/prefixes.htm#PRI.
Class and call sign
Your license class is reflected in your assigned call sign. When you get your first license, the FCC assigns you the next call sign in the heap for your license class, in much the same way that you’re assigned a license plate at the department of motor vehicles. And just as you can request a specialty license plate, you can request a special vanity call sign — within the call-sign rules, of course. The higher your license class, the shorter and more distinctive your chosen call sign can be.