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Greetings Message Facility Extended to all Radio Amateurs |
RA Press release - 21 December 1998
The Radiocommunications Agency announced today that the greetings message facility has been extended to all holders of a full Amateur Radio Licence. Until now only clubs and special event stations have been able to allow non-licensed persons to operate amateur radio, sending short "greetings messages" to stations in the UK and a small number of foreign countries. This extension will allow radio amateurs to encourage non-licensed persons to sample the hobby for themselves and hopefully go on to become a licensed radio amateur in their own right.
The Agency has also taken this opportunity to make a number of minor changes to the licence. In particular, UK licensees operating abroad under CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 will only need to abide by the licence conditions of the country they are visiting and will no longer need to also abide by UK licence conditions.
Notes for Editors
1. The qualifications required for an Amateur Radio Licence are a pass in the Radio Amateurs’ Examination and, for a Class A Licence an additional pass in the Radio Society of Great Britain’s 12 words per minute Morse test.
2. Operation will be under the direct supervision of the Licensee who must operate the transmitter and identify the station. Greetings messages can be sent received only within the UK or to and from stations in Canada, Falkland Islands and Pitcairn Island. Existing arrangements for clubs and special event stations will be unaffected by this extension.
3. CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 allows UK radio amateurs to operate in a number of countries for short periods without having to apply for a licence in that country.
4 These changes are permitted by a variation to the Amateur Radio Licence Terms, Provision and Limitations Booklet BR68, published today in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes.
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