Foundations of Amateur Radio

The other day a fellow amateur revealed that they qualified for membership of the QWCA, the Quarter Century Wireless Association .. twice over .. there may have been some innocent whistling involved.

During the ensuing discussion it emerged that it all started with a crystal radio set built together with dad, which triggered a whole lot of memories and made me consider just how you'd get into the hobby of amateur radio today.

I think it's important to notice that amateur radio is a hobby. There are public service and emergency communication aspects to the experience, but it's essentially a hobby. It's supposed to be fun. I'm mentioning this because that might get obfuscated when I tell you that in order to actually be a radio amateur, you need a license.

This license is required because when you transmit, radio waves don't know about international borders, don't know about interference, don't know about priorities and other aspects of our deeply interconnected world. Think of it as a way to formalise your responsibilities.

Note that I said "when you transmit". You don't need an amateur radio license to listen, which you can do right now using all manner of online tools in your web browser, "WebSDR", "KiwiSDR" and "shortwave listener" are useful search terms if you're inclined.

Getting an amateur license is not difficult. There are many amateurs who were licensed as a teenager, or even younger. It sets you up for life and amateur radio license in hand, you can start transmitting on dedicated amateur frequencies or so-called "bands".

A license is required in every country and how that specifically happens in your country will require that you do a little research. Most countries have a so-called "peak body", an association that represents amateur radio to their government, it's a good place to start. In Australia where I live, it's called the Wireless Institute of Australia or WIA. In the United States, it's the ARRL, the UK it's called the RSGB. Searching for "amateur radio peak body" and your country should get you there. If you're stumped, your national telecommunications regulator is often another good place to find information, ultimately you'll be obtaining your amateur license from them anyway, even if they don't actually run courses and exams, though some do.

Essentially what you're looking for is, where you need to go to get an amateur license and what's involved. As far as I know, most of this infrastructure is run by volunteers, fellow radio amateurs, even if there's a fee involved.

You should also know that amateur licenses generally come in different flavours or levels. For example, in Australia there's currently three levels of license, Foundation, Standard and Advanced. The USA has Technician, General and Extra. The UK has Foundation, Intermediate and Full. The Netherlands has Novice and Full. In other words, what it's called and how many levels there are is country dependent, as are their requirements.

I'll also mention that whatever license level you pursue, it's your hobby. You get to decide if, how and when you look for more responsibilities with a higher level of license. It might surprise you to know that I hold the basic Foundation license in Australia. I've held it since 2010. So-far I've yet to have a need to pursue anything further, despite regular "encouragement" to "upgrade" to a "real" license. You do you. It's your hobby.

Some countries allow all of this to happen online, others require that you use pen and ink in person in a dedicated classroom, and everything in between. If you are hard of hearing, blind, or unable to physically attend, there are often specific tools and processes available to help you, make sure you ask.

As an aside, I will mention that, as in life, there are people in this community who are less than welcoming and will go out of their way to be obnoxious, obstructionist or worse. Fortunately, while vocal and destructive, they are in the minority. Don't let their behaviour dissuade you from participating.

You'll find amateurs all over the planet who will welcome you into the community with open arms. There are thousands of local amateur clubs, online resources and of course potentially a couple of million radio amateurs at the other end of your antenna.

It's important to understand that the journey into amateur radio is different for everyone. For many long term amateurs the experience came from a family member or neighbour. While that route still exists, it's much less common as an introduction as it used to be.

I first came across it as a teenager during a sea scouting event called JOTA or Jamboree On The Air. Whilst memorable, it wasn't until two more amateur radio interactions, decades apart, that I finally got to the point of actually discovering the hobby.

For your journey, just being here, today, right now, is already a start. Welcome, it's nice to have you here. You've found the community! What are you waiting for?

I'm Onno VK6FLAB