Welcome to the Marple Newtown Amateur Radio Club

Licensing


There is great news for those interested in joining the ranks of the amateur radio service... you no longer need to learn Morse code, otherwise known as CW.


The FCC has done a good job outlining the requirements for becoming a licensed amateur radio operator. For your convenience some of these requirements taken from the FCC website are quoted below:


"The amateur and amateur-satellite services are for qualified persons of any age who are interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest" and "Operation of an amateur station requires an amateur operator license grant from the FCC. Before receiving a license grant, you must pass an examination administered by a team of volunteer examiners (VEs). The VEs determine the license operator class for which you are qualified through the testing of your skills and abilities in operating an amateur station."


There are no age restrictions or U.S. citizenship requirements to become a licensed amateur radio operator and the number of available licenses has been streamlined to three: Technician, General, and Extra. Each license provides an increase in operating privileges.


The American Radio Relay League offers a plethora of information to help you understand how to get your license and the operating privileges associated with each class of license. Here is some information on getting your:

If you prefer to attend an on-line testing session, check the public exam listings at https://hamstudy.org/sessions and sign up for any available sessions that work for you. Note that a very limited number of VECs and VE Teams are currently offering fully-remote exams, but any of them that are using ExamTools should be listed as a hamstudy.org session. It is very important to read the special instructions provided within the session information prior to signing up as additional scheduling steps may be required by the VE Team administering that specific session. Remember, you must have a FCC FRN Registration Number and valid email address to participate in any VE testing session. Instructions for obtaining an FRN Registration number will be found here.


Frequency allocations for each license class can be viewed here.


Newcomers can begin studying for the Technician class license by downloading the "No Nonsense Technician Class License Study Guide".


Study books for the Technician, General, and Extra class licenses are available from the ARRL and Part 97 of the FCC rules governing the amateur radio service can be had here.




Looking for an amateur radio license exam session? Find it here.