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Scope of the term "Amateur"
On 7/4/2016 5:34 AM, Rob wrote:
Roger Hayter wrote: Rob wrote: Michael Black wrote: On Thu, 30 Jun 2016, Jeff wrote: I forgot to mumble something about which bands require an amateur license and which do not under Part 15. The lowest frequency band that requires a ham license is 160 meters (1.8 to 2.0 MHz). http://www.arrl.org/frequency-allocations That of course depends on which country you live in. In the UK 137kHz is an band that requires an amateur licence, with a power limit of 1W ERP (a significant difference to 1W into the PA stage)!! 427 to 479kHz is also an amateur band in the UK with a 5W erp limit I think the US is a tad behind, but that may have already changed. Here in Canada we definitely have one of the new LF bands, but I can't remember the details. As long ago as WARC 79 there was talk of making that low frequency license free band a ham band, so finally that's come to fruition, more or less. Here in the Netherlands amateur radio licenses have been scrapped some ten years ago. We have no licenses anymore. The amateur bands are now all "license free bands with obligatory registration", like maritime VHF radio. You just apply for a callsign and away you go, without license. To apply for a callsign you still need to pass an exam, just like with maritime VHF. So to the outsider the system may look the same. And in fact, many amateurs still talk about "the license". But there isn't any. Does that mean anyone in the Netherllands can transmit on amateur frequencies provided they don't a callsign that sounds like an amateur one? In practice yes, but I think that is true in any country. However, to legally transmit on the amateur bands you need to register a callsign at the authorities. You can register any callsign within the range PA1-PH9 that has not yet been registered by someone else. To be able to do such a registration, you must first prove your technical knowledge by passing an exam at an accredited organization. Before this change, the authorities organized the exams and those that passed were issued a license, with associated callsign. The change was motivated as "deregulation" and "cost saving" (the license had a yearly fee and the registration was free), but in the meantime a yearly fee for registration has been introduced, albeit much lower than the previous fee for a license. Maybe I'm a little slow, but I don't see what the difference is between "license" and "registration". Both require passing a test, getting a call sign and paying a yearly fee, even if the fee is less and the test easier to pass and picking your own call sign. What am I missing? BTW, the range PA1-PH9 is only 80 unique combinations, no (or is it only 72 since it seems to exclude '0')? How can that work? Maybe PA1 means something other than what I am thinking? -- Rick C |
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Scope of the term "Amateur"
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Scope of the term "Amateur"
rickman wrote:
Maybe I'm a little slow, but I don't see what the difference is between "license" and "registration". Both require passing a test, getting a call sign and paying a yearly fee, even if the fee is less and the test easier to pass and picking your own call sign. What am I missing? There is no real difference, but it is felt that way by some. Note that most of the regulations that originally were attached to the license have been dropped. Essentially the authorities don't care what you do, as long as you do it within the bands and with proper identification. About the only exception is willful interference to others and unattended/automated transmission. For that, a license is still required and issued. |
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Scope of the term "Amateur"
Jeff wrote:
BTW, the range PA1-PH9 is only 80 unique combinations, no (or is it only 72 since it seems to exclude '0')? How can that work? Maybe PA1 means something other than what I am thinking? The PA1-PH9 is the prefix, so the callsigns run from PA1AAA to PH9ZZZ Yes byt also from PA1A to PH9Z and from PA1AA to PH9ZZ. PA0 is excluded as a compromise to old guys who have a PA0 call and don't want newbies to share that privilege. A proposal has been made to end that situation but it has not been implemented yet. |
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