Another OFCOM balls up.

[WhiteNoisePoetry]

Just come to validate my licence,as I do every year (cos I'm nice - honest!).
And with their new portal comes a complete loss of login details (again) and you are forced to re-register.
I've lost count of the number of time OFCOM have lost login details or forced users to re-register over the years.
OFCOM (like the RSGB) couldn't organise an orgy in bleedin' brothel !

73 de WNP

[Tigersaw]

I've heard you don't have to anymore unless you change your details

[Admiral]

I guess it's your choice, you can validate every half hour if you want, but once a year seems a bit keen.

[Metradio]

What kind of licence would that be ? Amateur one needs validating every five years...

[WhiteNoisePoetry]

I might not remember in 5 years time, so it's easy to do an annual renewal and easy to remember.
I think many others do the same out of old habit.

The sick joke is, that OFCOM actually wanted genuine lifetime licences when online licencing was first being mooted.

But the RSGB objected, spouting crap about "radio amateurs are all potential terrorists" and "homeland security" might be risked due
to incomplete radio amateur databases. (Yep those actual words, as written by a certain GM who stole £40k from the till and published in
Radcom). The reality was they were peed off that their callbook sales would be ruined, so OFCOM relented and settled on 5 years validation.

73 de WNP

[Adriano9966]

I'm still trying to figure out how to print off a copy of my licence on the new system.... perhaps it's me or if not the function is available elsewhere on the new Ofcom site.

How can you take a copy of your licence with you when visiting other countries if there is no function to print it?

[kr0ne]

OFCOM actually wanted genuine lifetime licences when online licencing was first being mooted.

But the RSGB objected, spouting crap about "radio amateurs are all potential terrorists" and "homeland security" might be risked due
to incomplete radio amateur databases. (Yep those actual words, as written by a certain GM who stole £40k from the till and published in
Radcom). The reality was they were peed off that their callbook sales would be ruined, so OFCOM relented and settled on 5 years validation.

How do you know this?

The bit about protecting callbook sales doesn't even really make sense if you think about it for more than two seconds...

[dt307]

I'm still trying to figure out how to print off a copy of my licence on the new system.... perhaps it's me or if not the function is available elsewhere on the new Ofcom site.

How can you take a copy of your licence with you when visiting other countries if there is no function to print it?

save the ink m8
there is a brand new ham licence with every pack of werther's original untill stocks last

[WhiteNoisePoetry]

OFCOM actually wanted genuine lifetime licences when online licencing was first being mooted.

But the RSGB objected, spouting crap about "radio amateurs are all potential terrorists" and "homeland security" might be risked due
to incomplete radio amateur databases. (Yep those actual words, as written by a certain GM who stole £40k from the till and published in
Radcom). The reality was they were peed off that their callbook sales would be ruined, so OFCOM relented and settled on 5 years validation.

How do you know this?

The bit about protecting callbook sales doesn't even really make sense if you think about it for more than two seconds...

Why ?

OFCOM in their original consultation wanted to simply have an address to issue a licence and that was it.
So a 5 year old could get his FL, live till 90 yrs and only ever given one address in his lifetime. That would soon trash any call book scheme.

It's all in the OFCOM / Radcom archives.

Anyway, give it another 10 years and OFCOM will start announcing that the burden of maintaining a database of crappy amateur licences isn't
giving the taxpayer value for money and they need to make cuts, and then all this validation will die anyway.

73 de WNP

[Metradio]

I'm still trying to figure out how to print off a copy of my licence on the new system.... perhaps it's me or if not the function is available elsewhere on the new Ofcom site.

How can you take a copy of your licence with you when visiting other countries if there is no function to print it?

My Licences.
View.
Look for the 'i' symbol. allows you to download licence in PDF..

Mike

[Adriano9966]

My Licences.
View.
Look for the 'i' symbol. allows you to download licence in PDF..

Mike

Many thanks Mike I downloaded the PDF this afternoon

[kr0ne]

OFCOM in their original consultation wanted to simply have an address to issue a licence and that was it.
So a 5 year old could get his FL, live till 90 yrs and only ever given one address in his lifetime. That would soon trash any call book scheme.

It's all in the OFCOM / Radcom archives.

Do you have a link to these Ofcom archives by any chance?

Presumably it would still be a requirement of any license to immediately notify Ofcom if you change your main station address, just as you have to now if you move house part-way through the current 5 year re-validation period. How else would they contact you to inform you of future variations or revocations etc.?

Besides, Ofcom can't pass your details to the RSGB without your express consent anyway...

[takara]

Just come to validate my licence,as I do every year (cos I'm nice - honest!).
And with their new portal comes a complete loss of login details (again) and you are forced to re-register.
I've lost count of the number of time OFCOM have lost login details or forced users to re-register over the years.
OFCOM (like the RSGB) couldn't organise an orgy in bleedin' brothel !

73 de WNP

Same here, best part was able to re-register using same details used on old portal.

I've heard you don't have to anymore unless you change your details

I've also heard this, from someone who rang to update a Club licence. Just wonder how they plan to revoke unvalidated licences if it's not necessary to re-validate anymore. Probably didn't want the workload in checking up on them.

[WhiteNoisePoetry]

OFCOM in their original consultation wanted to simply have an address to issue a licence and that was it.
So a 5 year old could get his FL, live till 90 yrs and only ever given one address in his lifetime. That would soon trash any call book scheme.

It's all in the OFCOM / Radcom archives.

Do you have a link to these Ofcom archives by any chance?

OK here's a link to spoon feed you

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consul ... io/summary

You'll see that the original proposal was a lifetime licence + no fixed period to validate + only update details when they changed.
This was their own recommendation at the bottom of the document.

Then there were two alternatives, a total deregulation like CB with or to maintain the status quo with extended renewal period.

As you can see, OFCOM's preference did NOT propose a 5 year validation period, or ANY period. That was an RSGB whinge, which we all knew
was because they wanted to preserve their silly callbook integrity. The pages of Radcom, newsgroups report the various machinations at the time.

Of course, the callbook stuff was never mentioned directly, it was all skirted around with other excuses, but it was plain for all to see.

73 de WNP

[Admiral]

Slightly OT, but still licensing, and stuck record time, I still feel strongly that the old class B licence should now be re-introduced as an exam-free licence. The Foundation is a firkin joke for radio knowledge but still discriminates against some that are visually impaired, or don't have a great command of written English either through education, word blindness or migration.
Leave HF to the hammies, intermediate and full, and open up V/UHF to those serious CBers and others that either didn't bother because of time, red tape or 'can'tbearseditis'. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.