Amateur Radio or
ham radio licensing varies from country to country. This writeup describes the licensing process in the
United States and
Canada. Information is current as of August 2010.
UNITED STATES
In the
United States there are
three classes of
Amateur Radio license, governed by
four different examinations.
5-WORD PER MINUTE (WPM) MORSE CODE EXAMINATION. Element 1. Not a
terminal exam but an
endorsement for all following exams. Not necessary for the Technician exam, but permits the "Tech" endorsement holder
privledges on
HF (
shortwave).
Required for the
General and
Extra licences. Usually consists of
listening/
copying five minutes of
code, then taking a ten-question "
fill-in-the-blanks" test on the material or presenting one minute of mistake-free copy. A sending test is no longer required.
UPDATE: All morse code testing has been discontinued as of February 2007.
TECHNICIAN Requires passing the Element 2 written exam on the basics of
VHF/
UHF radio use. Mostly concerned with
regulatory necessities, the
frequency boundaries of the given license, and
RF energy safety (i.e. "How far should an
operator hold a
handheld transciever from the
body while
transmitting?"), and some
antenna design. Technicians can operate only on frequencies above 50 MHz, but may use
CW (
morse code) on these frequencies without taking the code test. This is by far the most
popular ham radio license in the US.
GENERAL Requires passing Elements 1, 2, and 3. Since this license is the "
gateway" to HF operation, Element 3 tests regulations specific to these frequencies, as well as the
rudiments of
etiquette and frequency boundaries. Other topics include
emergency operations, radio wave
propagation, use of non-CW
digital modes,
meters and
filters, and some brief
electronics algebra. General Class operators have the use of the majority of HF frequencies, being excluded from some areas rich in
DX or rare
foriegn countries. Until early
2000, Generals required completion of a 13 word per minute code exam to gain the license.
EXTRA. The Extra Class is the
terminal Amateur Radio license. Many have distinctive
call signs, usually consisting of four
characters, that are desired for their
brevity. Until early
2000 Extras had to sit for a 20 word per minute code exam, most having prepared by spending a year or two
on the air honing their code skills with contacts. Having recieved my Extra in early 1996 I was a bit
frustrated to learn a few years later that the "new" Extra did not require
high speed code
proficency. Predictably, many "old" Extras
cried foul when the new
regulations were proposed. Nevertheless, the universal 5 word per minute regulations are here to stay, probably because the United States was one of the last fast speed testing holdouts. Many amateurs who recieved Extras before the reform qualified for very
prestigious call signs under a brief
FCC call sign recycling program, so the truly
snobbish (like me) can revel in holding the most sought after call
combinations.
The current
incarnation of Extra requires passing Elements 1, 2, 3, and 4. The Element 4 exam focuses primarily on
space and
data communications, electronics math and
circuitry, being an
examiner and
test coordinator, and
regulatory information on the names of different types of
radio spectrum emissions. Also included are questions on proper
antenna setups, as well as the ever present test on amateur radio frequency boundaries. Extra holders are permitted use of all frequencies given to US amateurs by
ITU law. An Extra license is crucial for working the rare DX and
contesting, or multi-day radio competitions in which competitors scrounge to make the most and rarest contacts in the briefest period possible.
Until the 2000 reforms, two other license classes existed -- the
Novice and
Advanced Classes. The
Novice was designed as an Amateur Radio "
learner's permit", consisting of the 5 wpm exam and a brief exam pretty much testing the user on the minimum electrical know-how to build a radio without dying of
shock. By the late 1990's most hams were entering at the Technician level with
store bought radios. That, an a decline in CW and HF operations, rendered the Novice class little more than 50's
nostalgia for older hams.
The
Advanced slotted between the
General and
Extra. No code testing beyond the old 13 wpm exam was necessary. A long exam, it focused primarily on electronics
equasions, reading of
schematics, and quizzing on
abbreviations and technical terms. Many hams considered the Advanced exam harder than the Extra. In my opinion the Advanced and Extra written exams were
bookends. One was the higher level electronic theory exam, the other the final regulatory exam. One could argue that the Advanced evolved into little more than a
speed bump on the way to Extra.
As of 2010,
Technician Plus licensees have been merged with the
Technician class at renewal time. No new
Novice and
Advanced licensees are being issued. However, these licenses are renewable.
All exams are administered by a
Volunteer Exam Coordinator, or
VEC. The
American Radio Relay League (
ARRL) is the largest, not suprising since the ARRL is the
national ham radio organization. Since examiners must be of a higher class than their testers, most
volunteer examiners (VE's) are Extras. The examination
pools are available
online and
in print from a number of
sources.
Most of this is from my
bank of
general knowledge, though I did look at the
online ARRL/VEC test pools at http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/pools.html to get a sense of testing changes.
CANADA
The Canadian ham radio licensing system is less complex than the American model.
5 WPM CODE TEST The exam allows Basic license holders
HF operation at 250 W.
BASIC. 50 question exam on elementary operating procedure and electronics. This license allows operation on all frequencies above 50 MHz at 250W. Pass is 70%.
BASIC +. A person who passes the Basic exam at 80% ("Honours Pass") is allowed to operate on HF at 250W. In other words,
Industry Canada waives the 5 WPM code test for a person that passes the Basic with distinction.
ADVANCED. The full license. The exam covers intermediate electronics theory. Unrestricted operation on any amateur radio frequency alloted to Canada. Kilowatt power allowed. An advanced licensee may operate a
repeater or trustee a
club station (a radio station shared by a number of
hams).