operator's licence vs. station licence
 

How many countries have two kinds of licences: operator's licence and
station licence? You only get your callsign (station licence) after
you bring your rig in for inspection, whereupon you are granted a
callsign whose letter reflect the level of operator's licence you have
achieved. Taiwan is one.

This seems like a commercial radio concept dragged over into ham radio.
One would think one equipment approval would be enough too, as all
rigs on the market already have local FCC approval.

Dan Jacobson wrote in
:

How many countries have two kinds of licences: operator's licence and
station licence? You only get your callsign (station licence) after
you bring your rig in for inspection, whereupon you are granted a
callsign whose letter reflect the level of operator's licence you have
achieved. Taiwan is one.

This seems like a commercial radio concept dragged over into ham radio.
One would think one equipment approval would be enough too, as all
rigs on the market already have local FCC approval.


This is the system in Spain, although they only have to write a description
of their station to get the station licence (and, of course, pay an
additional fee!).

US military enclaves (Guanatanamo, etc, can't remember all of them right
now) all have the same system.

One advantage in both of those systems is that a licence issued anywhere in
the world is accepted as the operator's licence. Other than that, it does
seem terribly redundant.

Dan Jacobson wrote:
How many countries have two kinds of licences: operator's licence and
station licence? You only get your callsign (station licence) after
you bring your rig in for inspection, whereupon you are granted a
callsign whose letter reflect the level of operator's licence you have
achieved. Taiwan is one.

This seems like a commercial radio concept dragged over into ham radio.
One would think one equipment approval would be enough too, as all
rigs on the market already have local FCC approval.

The FCC had some strange license concept like this years ago.
Lately they changed it to match most hams' thinking. That the
callsign is associated with the person. Most hams, when visiting
a friend ham and borrowing the shack, would use his own call.
That he would "inspect" the equipment ("yes, it looks like a
Kenwood") and uses it.

Back in the olden days, two brothers living at the same house
got their ham licenses. But the FCC, seeing the same address,
made them share the same callsign, as they shared the same shack.

When was the last time a ham was busted for bad equipment?
All the NALs I've seen are for some stupid *use* of equipment
(jamming a repeater, dirty words, broadcasting, pecunary
interest violations, and such) or a lower level licensee
caught in say the extra portion of 20m. And one has to
work at it to get a NAL it seems. An occasional error
will usually pass unnoticed; the FCC figures that most hams
will spot the error and correct it themselves.

"Dan Jacobson" wrote

How many countries have two kinds of licences: operator's licence and
station licence?

Each individual licensed by the FCC has both an operators license and a
station license --- see §97.5(b)(1). The are granted on the same
document and run concurrently, but there are two separate licenses
granted.

73, de K0HB
--
My name is Hans and I improved this message.

In article , Robert Casey
writes:

Back in the olden days, two brothers living at the same house
got their ham licenses. But the FCC, seeing the same address,
made them share the same callsign, as they shared the same shack.

When was this, Robert?

I know of two brothers with licenses who lived at the same address and had two
different callsigns - more than 30 years ago.

Going back into the 1950s, I've read of husband-and-wife hams at the same
address with different callsigns.

So it would go back to pre-1950 or so.

More fun facts:

At the start of WW2, the FCC cancelled all amateur radio station licenses, and
stopped issuing new ones. But you could still get an amateur radio operator
license - there were just no legal amateur stations where you could use it.

For many years, FCC and its predecessors would allow the same individual to
hold multiple station licenses. This was fairly common back when portable
operation required you to identify as such, and when you had to notify FCC if
you operated away from home for more than 48 hours. Hams with a second
residence, or who went away to the same place regularly, sometimes got second
station licenses to avoid all that. Here in EPA, where it's common for
well-to-do hams to own places "down the shore" in SNJ, more than a few hams
held two station licenses - one with a 3-land call and one with a 2-land call.
When those old rules changed, one of those calls had to be given up.

73 de Jim, N2EY

N2EY wrote:
In article , Robert Casey
writes:


Back in the olden days, two brothers living at the same house
got their ham licenses. But the FCC, seeing the same address,
made them share the same callsign, as they shared the same shack.


When was this, Robert?


Sometime in the 20's or 30's, IIRC.

In article , Robert Casey
writes:

N2EY wrote:
In article , Robert Casey
writes:


Back in the olden days, two brothers living at the same house
got their ham licenses. But the FCC, seeing the same address,
made them share the same callsign, as they shared the same shack.


When was this, Robert?


Sometime in the 20's or 30's, IIRC.

Ah - that fits. In that era, mobile and portable operation by hams was not
allowed. A station license was for one location only! The rules changed in the
very late '20s and '30s to allow portable and finally mobile operation. (Until
1949, mobile operation was not allowed below 25 MHz, and for a time in the
1930s, portable operation required a special "Z" or "ZZ" license with four
letters after the number. W6AM got callsign "W6ZZAM" for portable use.)

73 de Jim, N2EY

Subject: operator's licence vs. station licence
From: PAMNO (N2EY)
Date: 10/19/2004 4:42 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:


(Until 1949, mobile operation was not allowed below 25 MHz...(SNIP)

Considering that you almost needed a seperate trailer to carry the gear,
this was hardly an impediment!

...(UNSNIP).. and for a time in the
1930s, portable operation required a special "Z" or "ZZ" license with four
letters after the number. W6AM got callsign "W6ZZAM" for portable use.)

I wonder who came up with that idea?

73

Steve, K4YZ

Subject: operator's licence vs. station licence
From: (N2EY)
Date: 10/19/2004 4:04 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

(Steve Robeson K4CAP) wrote in message
...
Subject: operator's licence vs. station licence
From: PAMNO (N2EY)
Date: 10/19/2004 4:42 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:


(Until 1949, mobile operation was not allowed below 25 MHz...(SNIP)

Considering that you almost needed a seperate trailer to carry the
gear,
this was hardly an impediment!

Not really. Look at an ARC-5 receiver, and how much could be packed
into a small space using mid-1930s technology. Hams could, and did,
build very compact equipment without "miniature" parts.


...(UNSNIP).. and for a time in the
1930s, portable operation required a special "Z" or "ZZ" license with four
letters after the number. W6AM got callsign "W6ZZAM" for portable use.)

I wonder who came up with that idea?

The govt. was very cautious in those days about such things. Spies and
all that.

Ya thik a spy would apply for a license in ANY radio service, Jim?

Steve, K4YZ