RSGB temporarily allows remote Foundation exams, waives practical assessments

[Station X]

I find it rather odd that someone with a Foundation licence can't build or repair a transmitter, but someone with no licence at all can. Surely the restriction should be on operating equipment, not building it?

[Graham G3ZVT]

Originally Posted by Station X

I find it rather odd that someone with a Foundation licence can't build or repair a transmitter, but someone with no licence at all can. Surely the restriction should be on operating equipment, not building it?

I think it's less strict than that.

"The Licensee shall only use transmitting equipment conforming to EC standards or commercially available kits transmitting inside amateur bands only"

So in theory he or she could go the same route as I did when I was licenced 50 years ago, and build a 10W valve transmitter for topband they just won't have the fun of sourcing the components individually.

Yes I know it's a highly unlikely scenario, but I did say "in theory".

Golly, I also said "50 years ago". Not till November!

[Sinewave]

Local repeaters are reasonably busy at the moment, so that's quite encouraging for those looking towards gaining their licence.

[Radio Wrangler]

There will be pressure growing for them to do something about the other two exams as well.

David

[Nicola_Jayne]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

There will be pressure growing for them to do something about the other two exams as well.

David

as Inter-to Full has no practical assessments i suspect that will be the next step

foundation to Inter however poses the issue of tx construction etc ...

[veedub565]

I did this recently and passed my foundation exam online.

I'd been trying for ages to get and do the exam, but I work away a lot and couldn't commit to being there every week at a club. I missed the boat a few times.

I already work as an electronics engineer, and I've been listening on the air for some time. I just wanted someone to put me through the exam. That is surprisingly difficult thing to do it seems. So the option to do it online was good for me... In a way.

See although I've done the online Essex Ham training, and I've done some of the practical at a club. And I know the theory, but I'm lacking a bit the confidence to actually get on the air and speak to people. This I think is where doing it at a club, and getting the practical experience would have been more beneficial. To me anyway.

Once the restrictions start getting lifted I can get back to the local club and get some practise in under guidance.

Regards actually doing the exam online, it was a very easy and pain free process.

73

Ben
M7SCY

[SiriusHardware]

Ben, I think you might be surprised to know how many on this forum are active, occasional, dormant or former radio amateurs.

Anyone in the Birmingham area up for a 'sked' (arranged contact) with Ben to get him up and running?

[dodgy-dxer]

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

Ben, I think you might be surprised to know how many on this forum are active, occasional, dormant or former radio amateurs.

Anyone in the Birmingham area up for a 'sked' (arranged contact) with Ben to get him up and running?

What is amazing is how FEW of them want to give out their callsign!!!

73 Fred
G4BWP

[SiriusHardware]

My amateur callsign is associated with my full name and address, so by stating my callsign here I would essentially also provide my name and address to the internet at large.

Quite a few people here are obviously OK with that, but it's not information that I feel the whole world needs to have. I'm not on any form of social media either.

In point of fact, if you were to put your name and address here in an open post you would soon find that it would be removed by the mods.

Same here, I give out as little as possible. Back to M7SCY just try going on air, saying I am new give me some guidance. The only thing you need to do on the legal side is give your call sign at the start of transmission and every now an again afterwards.

Something like "This is M7SCY calling, my first time on the air and I would like some assistance. Pop that into a repeater and help will flood forth.

[dsergeant]

Unless you have specifically requested with Ofcom for your details not to be published (which in itself is now somewhat harder than it used to be) your address details will already be widely available on the internet. Having been an amateur for over 50 years it is not something I really worry about, though I do refuse to place my actual QTH marker on the QRZ.COM maps as a small step in that direction.

73 Dave G3YMC and proud of it.

[SiriusHardware]

I'm also proud to be a radio amateur, I just keep my online identity and offline identities separate, as far as is reasonably possible. I'm not sure if dodgy-dxer was suggesting that a lot of us find it embarrassing to admit that we are Radio Amateurs - totally not in my case.

I remember the very first contact I made on Amateur Radio, on 2m. I drove up into the wilds of Northumberland and onto some high ground that I knew about and put out a call, reasoning that if I made a total hash of things not many people would hear me doing it. In the event, my call was answered by a GM7 near St.Boswells, and the experience couldn't have been easier as it turned out we had a lot in common. If you are a radio amateur, let's face it, you already have at least one thing in common with anyone you are likely to get talking to on Amateur Radio.

[veedub565]

Putting my callsign out there on an open forum and the possibility of it being easily traced back to my address isn't something I'd thought about. I don't think QRZ lists that detailed information, someone would have to go through Ofcom and request the address wouldn't they?

I only have a HF transceiver at the moment with 40, 20, 17, 15, 10 meter elements in a fan dipole. 2 meter would prob be an easier one to get started on and it's a bit easier to hear people on 2m too. I listen in on a reciever but will have to look out for a transceiver.

There was a Russian station with a special callsign calling out CQ the other day, it was quite a strong signal and I thought about responding. He had a queue of people backing up though and I wasn't sure when to break in. I guess as soon as he said QRZ that's my que to speak. As soon as he stopped speaking though someone else started and I didn't want to key over them.

[SiriusHardware]

The RSGB produces (or did produce) a 'telephone directory' of Radio Amateurs, containing the callsigns and names and addresses of all amateurs who have not specifically requested that their details be withheld. It's also possible that the same information is available in electronic form, and from there on it's a simple matter for anyone who wants that information to skim it and put it online.

Working DX can be difficult because you can usually only hear the station you are interested in working - there may be 30 other people around the world who can also hear him, also trying to work him and not able to hear you. Sometimes you just have to be lucky.

One thing you can try is to call back after about one and a half seconds rather than immediately - everyone who calls him back instantly will clash with one another, and your delayed call may be the only one he hears clearly.

[Radio Wrangler]

They still do. It used to be called the callbook, now they call it their yearbook. It also sorts callsigns by surname and by postcode which makes it handy for finding any in your area... if someone knew about the book and didn't get put off by the price.

On-line, yes, no problem. Already there. Ofcom have recently released the UK database, which doesn't include those who chose particulars to be withheld (and they've made that a bit more awkward to do)

But fastest of all is international lookup possible on the website QRZ.com You have to do an email address and password registration.

Stolen amateur radio gear has proven hard to move-on safely. Magazines circulate serial numbers and when something comes to light questions get asked and things traced back.

I can say it works because I've done it. Something rather expensive (£5000 list) was stolen, not from me personally. I got the magazines to run a 'stolen in the .... area' announcement without mentioning who from as they did not want publicity themselves... it was on loan to them from the importer and was the actual unit which had appeared on the front covers of saif magazines. They might as well have nicked the latest Ferrari, the demonstrator which had been reviewed by all the car magazines and appeared on top gear

An amateur across that water from here read the announcement (Thank-you Rob Mannion at PW) and phoned me up, not the police number in the announcement.... was it anything to do with me? ...er, yes, not mine personally but I knew who and where and I'd been using that box a couple of weeks before it vanished. We'd just taken delivery of five of these radios and the loaner was wanted to go back. Could they find it? could they hell. It took a weekend and drafted-in people to search the place. No sign. There was only one conclusion. I suggested I contact the editors So we weren't 100% sure, but it was the only likely possibility. Fractionally ahead of space aliens and spontaneous wormhole formation.

Anyway, the thing had been stolen by a security guard, of the firm with the guarding contract. He passed it on to a 'fence' who couldn't get it to do anything so he got some people on the unclean side of the law to have a look at it. Well they used CB. They had a go at fixing it, unsuccessfully. There was nothing wrong, it was just set to remote control mode from being used by the software developers when last powered. Suffice it to say
it wasn't put back together in quite the same arrangement it had been in.

The next move was to flog it as a non worker. It was obviously some sort of super duper scanner with built in screen and everything. An old rather infirm guy ponied up a significant fraction of his savings for it. His hobby was listening to aeroplanes, he'd ask a friend about getting it fixed.

THat was the guy who phoned me. The old guy was innocent and didn't want to get into trouble. The subject of burying it in the garden did come up. I asked him again, very very carefully if he was sure the old guy was not involved in the criminal side. He confirmed this, so I asked him to phone the police number. Then I got onto the bosses of the firm concerned.

The police tracked it back through the guy who'd sold it to the old chap, got to the fence, who to keep himself out of court immediately did a deal and ratted on the original thief.

So he was caught. Myself and a couple of other people went into the court as witnesses, but were never called he changed plea to guilty as things started up. The price of the thing had whomped the case up a level in the legal system.

I'd had a phone call from his lawyer, sounding out the case. I used that Ferrari analogy, above. It probably helped him to choose damage limitation mode.

The old guy was looked after. Multi-billion multinationals can afford to do that and do it properly. What they can't afford is not knowing who was running around the place that they couldn't trust. He got his money restored, and a brand new radio.

It's a shame the fence got off scot-free, he was the hub of a lot of thefts, but he was certainly going to put around the message that amateur radio is a small and close knit world where it was impossible to sell anything hot anywhere it would fetch worthwhile money without it causing a stir. It would be worthless elsewhere.

A couple of months later, a colleague arrived back from a disastrous business trip (luggage lost in both directions... is this how you become 'The world's facourite airline'?) To find his kitchen door flapping. He'd been burgled. Quad amps, Meridian CD, big leak speakers, but they only took the top boxes, camera and other personal bits. I knew someone looking for a 33/303 so I phoned him to warn him of a hot one on the lose in the area. "Oooo Errr... he went." Not him, but a pal who worked Saturdays in a shop might be about to buy a set. Bingo! He'd been in a day before the burglary to ask the value of certain items. You've got to love professionalism. For maximum anonymity he had a tattooed cobweb on his neck. He was also already in the nick for something else by the time he was caught up with.

No, I'm not a Poirot.... more like Clouseau*. I just happened and I happened to be there.

David

(* Forget Kato, I'd rather do a Jacky Chan impersonation)

[hamid_1]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

They still do. It used to be called the callbook, now they call it their yearbook. It also sorts callsigns by surname and by postcode which makes it handy for finding any in your area... if someone knew about the book and didn't get put off by the price.

On-line, yes, no problem. Already there. Ofcom have recently released the UK database, which doesn't include those who chose particulars to be withheld (and they've made that a bit more awkward to do)

But fastest of all is international lookup possible on the website QRZ.com You have to do an email address and password registration.

Well, I didn't know that OFCOM had published personal details of all radio amateurs. I just Googled my callsign but found nothing relevant.

I assumed that OFCOM have the information but only release it under limited circumstances such as suspected interference, a bit like vehicle registration number owners' details.

I'm aware of the RSGB callsign directory, but I haven't found an online searchable version of it, and presumably it will only include details of RSGB members who have agreed to be included.

Likewise, qrz.com is a privately-run website with no connection to RSGB or OFCOM. Data is submitted to it voluntarily, i.e. you opt-in. I'm sure it said that they couldn't obtain callsign details directly from Ofcom, although I believe some countries do openly publish callsign details and those are included in qrz.com since they are already public knowledge.

Also, regarding the new online Foundation exam, isn't there any practical requirement at all now? I did mine in the traditional way last year. There was definitely a practical element to it which I had to complete before the written multiple-choice test. Or is the Foundation practical just temporarily suspended?

[m0cemdave]

Ofcom released the database (with ex-directory amateurs readacted) about ten years ago, but then retracted it again after the RSGB complained nobody would want to buy their "yearbook" any more.
Needless to say it was linked on the internet immediately, but of course that version is now very out of date.

[SiriusHardware]

I think I bought the first one with my original class 'B' callsign in it and the first one with my class 'A' callsign in it. I've never bought one since.

I've often had the experience, actually, of amateurs, especially overseas, asking me to clarify my stated location because I'm not where I should be, ie, they have looked me up online in mid-QSO. I'm especially prone to this because I do a lot of my operation mobile when I'm on holiday, particularly in Scotland, so my callsign often has an 'M' in it that wouldn't normally be there.

[Radio Wrangler]

Ofcom have released a recent version. It's a bit buried on their site and not in the easiest format. I think they've had second thoughts about favouring one organisation's commercial venture based on their data and not letting anyone or everyone else have a go. Oddly, the RSGB mentioned its existence fairly recently. Their book is probably worth it on the ease-to-use basis, but QRZ.com wins there.

The RSGB book includes callsigns of people whether or not they are RSGB members. They used to and might still include a searchable CDROM.

David

[dsergeant]

Ofcom and other licensing authorities round the world have always released registered callsign information to the RSGB and other national societies for inclusion in callbooks. Maybe that has changed very recently with GDPR? As well as the RSGB callbooks many other societies produce them and for many years there was the big two volume Callbook produced in the USA. You didn't have to do anything for your call and address details to appear in these. When QRZ.COM (and its copies) was set up it used the information from the international callbooks, you would be in it whether you ever visited it or not.
So basically your call and details are public knowledge. And if you go on the air you will find yourself in all sorts of places. If a Google picks nothing up then I guess you have never used your call on the air - one CQ call on CW will get you picked up by the RBN networks, similarly on data. One QSO in a contest, even if you don't submit a log, will get you in Google.

73 Dave G3YMC