Amateur radio licensing in the United States

In the United States, amateur radio licensing is governed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Amateur radio licenses in the United States are issued and renewed by the Federal Communications Commission.

Each question in a section asks about radio or electronic theory, regulations, safety topics, or the meaning of diagrams or schematics.

When the FCC made the most recent changes it allowed certain existing operator classes to remain under a grandfather clause.

Any individual, except for a representative of a foreign government, regardless of citizenship who wishes to apply for a US amateur radio license must appear before Volunteer Examiners (VEs); any person who qualifies by examination is eligible to apply for an operator/primary station license grant.

[7] VEs are licensed radio amateurs who conduct examination sessions, frequently through permanently established teams on a monthly or quarterly basis.

[8] The two largest VEC organizations are W5YI-VEC, a privately held company, and one sponsored by the non-profit American Radio Relay League (ARRL)[citation needed][according to whom?].

In the 1950s and 1960s, Novice, Technician and Conditional exams were given by licensees acting as volunteer examiners[citation needed].

At first, the Amateur Second Grade license required the applicant to certify that he or she was unable to appear at a field office but was nevertheless qualified to operate a station.

This allowed amateurs to upgrade and use reserved radiotelephone bands without having to pass a difficult code examination.

Required holding an Advanced, General or Conditional for at least 2 years, plus 20 wpm code and an added written test.

[12] The 1951 restructuring meant that anyone who wanted HF 'phone on the bands between 2.5 and 25 MHz would have to get an Extra if they didn't get an Advanced before the end of 1952.

However, near the end of 1952, FCC reversed its policy and gave full privileges to Generals and Conditionals, effective mid-Feb 1953.

In 1964, the FCC and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) developed a program known as "Incentive Licensing," which rearranged the HF spectrum privileges.

It was hoped that these special portions of the radio spectrum would provide an incentive for hams to increase their knowledge and skills, creating a larger pool of experts to lead the Space Age.

Incentive licensing was not without controversy; a number of General class operators, unhappy at having their privileges reduced, dropped out of the hobby rather than upgrade.

[citation needed] One of the first foreign born non-citizen Ham radio operator was Julio Ricardo Ahumada LU7BD - from Argentina.

[13] The changes also granted Novice and Technician classes limited voice privileges on the 10-meter HF band.

For the first time, Novices and Technicians were able to operate using single sideband voice and data modes on HF.

It was hoped that this would prompt more hams to move up to General, once they had a chance to sample HF without a Morse key.

Beginning on February 14, 1991, demonstration of proficiency in Morse code telegraphy was removed from the Technician license requirements.

If a Technician passed any of the contemporary Morse tests, he or she gained access to the so-called Novice HF privileges, essentially "upgrading" to what a Tech had before the new rules went into effect.

[17][18] In 1999, the FCC moved to simplify the Amateur Radio Service operator license structure, streamline the number of examination elements, and reduce the emphasis on telegraphy.

[19] The major changes were: In addition to the above changes, the FCC instituted an additional system of identification for all licensees (even beyond amateur radio itself) in the United States, named the "CORES" (COmmission REgistration System"), which added a ten-digit "FRN" ("FCC Registration Number") to all licensees' paper licenses, generally in the same Y2K-timeframe.

Additionally, an expired or unexpired Novice class license could be used as credit toward the 5 WPM Morse code examination when upgrading.

In 2003, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ratified changes to the Radio Regulations to allow each country to determine whether it would require a person seeking an amateur radio operator license to demonstrate the ability to send and receive Morse code.

The effect of this revision was to eliminate the international requirement that a person demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an amateur radio operator license with transmitting privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz.

The format of the callsign is often abbreviated as X-by-X where a number in place of the X indicates the quantity of letters, separated by a single digit of the call district.

Whereas at one time the callsign W1xxx would have been solid identification that the station was in New England (district 1), that is no longer the case, and W1xxx may be located anywhere in the USA.

This system is based on the alphabetized regional-group list for the licensee's operator class and mailing address.