| LICENSES:
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
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