Government regulations require a license to operate any radio transmitter in India. It is illegal and punishable to possess a radio transmitter without proper license. At present there are four operating licenses and one receiving license available. They are Advanced, Grade I, Grade II and Restricted Amateur Wireless telegraph Station License and Short Wave Listeners (SWL) License. With the SWL license, you can possess only a Communication receiver. But with the other four, you can possess and operate transmitting and receiving set-up. The minimum are is 12 years for Restricted and Grade II, 14 years for Grade I and 18 years for Advanced License.

LICENSING EXAMINATIONS:

To obtain any of the operating licenses, you have to take the respective Amateur Station Operator’s Certificate (ASOC) Examination conducted by the Wireless planning and Co-ordination (WPC) Wing of the Ministry of Communications, at any one of the monitoring Stations around the country. For the SWI License, there is no examination - just send the application form and License fee to WPC.

The A.S.O.C. Examination has two parts:

• Part I is the written examination - Section I Radio Theory & practice; and Section II, national and International Radio Regulations as applicable to the operation of an Amateur Radio Station.
• Part II is the practical examination is sending and receiving Morse code @ 12 words per minute for Advanced and Grade I and 5 words per minute for Grade II. There is no part II examination for Restricted Grade License. These examinations are not difficult and you can pass them with an- hour-a- day study for about a month.

THE FIRST STEP:

The best way to begin is to join an amateur club / society in your area. If you do not have one in your area, form one. Not having the license is the best reason to join the club.

To View the Application Form Click here