UK vs US Amateur Examinations/Licences...

We all have our personal views on the pros and cons of these two systems of Amateur Radio Licensing and here's mine...  With the recently announced removal of the Morse Code requirement for access to HF, the UK Amateur Radio Licensing system is now one of 3-tiers:

• Foundation - limited to 10W into feeder, HF privileges except 10m, no amateur satellite access
• Intermediate - limited to 50W, HF privileges
• Advanced - like the name suggests, full access to all bands

Unlike the old system you will not be able to jump straight to the top, you must have completed and passed the Foundation and Intermediate courses before you ca apply for a Full Licence.

Now this in itself is not a bad idea - I agree that you should progress through a structured system before you obtain full privileges.  However, as I understand it you must attend a full weekend course to obtain the Foundation class Licence and likewise the Intermediate course, although I believe this may be accessible to those who wish to self-study.  Finally, of course, you move onto the Full exam which can be self-studied.

Let's now look at the FCC system...  Once again it's a 3-tier system:

• Technician Class - access to all bands above 30MHz at full power and limited access to HF with CW ticket
• General Class - access to all bands not some parts of some HF bands
• Amateur-Extra Class - full access to all bands including exclusive access to some sections of HF some bands

Unlike OfCom, the FCC is retaining the 5wpm CW test for the time being for the General and Extra classes.

You may ask why bother getting an FCC licence if you hold a UK licence and can therefore operate in the US?  Well, regarding foreign amateurs' in the US, the FCC rules state that foreign amateurs operating under CEPT T/R 61-01 must not use frequencies they could not normally use in their home countries.  In a nutshell, you wouldn't be allowed to use the sections of 2m and 70cm not available in the UK, i.e. 146-148 and 420-430/440-450MHz.  In the US most repeaters reside in the 146-148 part of the band, rendering them inaccessible to UK Amateurs.

If you're interested in taking the ARRL exams, you can obtain the books from Amazon.co.uk and exams are held in the UK by Paul GØVEP.

What do you think?  Any comments will be received with interest!

73 de Martin, GØOXZ/KG4VUI