The Foundation licence is your gateway to amateur radio. The course and exam that leads to the licence provides you with an exciting introduction to the hobby while requiring an acceptable minimum level of skill and experience.
Your Foundation licence is recognised by the UK communications regulator Ofcom, and entitles you to take a unique identifier called a callsign which will be used to identify you when you are transmitting.
The course
TO BE UPDATED
The exam
TO BE UPDATED
What happens after the exam?
You will receive an official result sheet in the post from theĀ RSGB Examinations Department. Ā This takes at least six days working days from the of receipt of your exam paper at HQ.
If you have passed, you will at the same time receive a certificate and your candidate number. Ā The examination office will upload your pass to Ā the UK communications regulator Ofcom, who are responsible for issuing amateur radio licences.
You may then log on to the Ofcom licensing systemĀ to apply for your licence. Ā Please make sure that you have your candidate number to hand, because you will need this to complete the process.
If you apply for your Foundation licence on the Ofcom website, your licence is free of charge.
Visit the Ofcom websiteĀ to find out more about applying for an amateur radio licence.
Once you have your Foundation licence and haveĀ chosen a callsign from those available, you are ready to make your first transmission on the amateur radio bands; an exciting moment.
You are then free to operate on the most frequently used amateur bands, without supervision, up to a power of 25 watts.
This does not sound like very much power, but once you have acquired experience operating your radio you will find it is enough to communicate almost anywhere in the world.
To find out more , come and visit us at our Sheffield Wireless meetings .