Sorry for the top-post, but good that a Canadian who understands their
system straightens this out.

Thanks.

bob

"Michael Black" wrote in message
...
"R J Carpenter" ) writes:

Yes and no. Agreed, code proficiency is not related to the ABILITY to
do
homebrew.

If, as I think is true , the authorities (Canadian) forbid you to use a
homebrew transmitter with a no-code licence, it is wrong to say that
code
proficiency doesn't come into it. OK, you could build the transmitter,
but
it would be illegal to use it. As an aside, I wonder what happens to a
US
no-code ham with a homebrew transmitter who operates in Canada....

73 de bob w3otc


No, code has nothing to do with it.

It's the written test that determines whether or not someone can build
their
own transmitter, or rather use it.

Up till 1990, there were two licenses, amateur and advanced, and each had
a code test. (Oh, there was also the digital license, introduced in 1978,
that required no code test, but was limited to only some VHF/UHF bands,
and the focus was for digital work. It barely got noticed after it was
introduced.) But then restructuring came along. The code test was spun
out, and the test for the entry level license was apparently simplified.
I've never really seen the new test, but the whole point of the
restructuring was to make it easier for newcomers to the hobby. And for
the basic license, it was decided that few were interested in building,
so there was no sense making the test to deal with such details. The
tradeoff
was that you cannot use a home made transmitter with that license.

The advanced test allows for building transmitters, and higher power (a
kilowatt instead of 250W), and I think it is needed to run a repeater.

The code test was not required for either license, but then you could not
operate below 30MHz. Hence, you could have an advanced license, but not
have passed the code test, and the result was you'd have full priviliges,
but only above 30MHz.

There were two levels of code test. 5wpm got you full privileges below
4MHz, ie 160 and 80 metres, but nothing else at HF. (I think that may
have
been changed, for more HF useage, but I can't remember.)

The 12wpm code test gave in effect full priviliges, minus the bits the
advanced test allowed.

So it was rather a mix and match system.

Michael VE2BVW