Ham Radio in the UK - all sorts of Government Changes

[Strawberry]

Maybe l'm being cynical but bet they'll be some more bellyaching in the hobby about foundations being granted more privileges.

The world will still keep turning though.

Too true, let the whingers bellyache, just squelch them out.

To put things into perspective though like my old mate Steve used to say, '100 Watts is almost precisely exactly the amount of power consumed by a 100 Watt lightbulb and also if you consider most kettles are 2.5kW you would be waiting a long time for your cup of tea if you had 1kW kettle'.

[26mb04]

I don't know if you can run a repeater without paperwork, but you *can* set up a remote link:

Assuming a Foundation licence, you can set up a remote link with an ERP of 500mW. It's basically a repeater, but it's for your use only. You must ensure nobody else can easily access it, so ideally use CTCSS. (You CANNOT use encryption for this.) 500mW will go for miles if you get the antenna high enough. To get the ERP low enough using something like a Wuoxun quad bander, you can run through a power reducer or some kind of attenuator.

The info is all there in the licence document. I managed to understand it, so it isn't complicated.

[Wriggly Ron]

New licence parameters are now in effect (from 21st February 2024). Increased power limits (now 25W for Foundation from 10W, 100W for Intermediate and 1000W for full licence), also all licences can supervise unlicensed use. Changes to licence callsigns coming later in 2024.

https://www.essexham.co.uk/new-licence- ... -2024.html

[Transwarp]

Happy days, might blow the dust off my gear and licence and rock out at 25 watts for a bit.

[Buick Mackane]

Wondered why my lights kept dimming, Its all those 1 kilowatt amps being fired up

[Auldgeek]

Wondered why my lights kept dimming, Its all those 1 kilowatt amps being fired up

2kw mucker. I have 3db loss!

[KILLERPARSNIP]

I have an M0 call with a Morse pass and wanted to revert back to my G7 call as the M0 doesn't mean anything anymore since they started to hand them out to people with no Morse pass. So I'm a little peeved about that. I think this dropping restrictions is what destroyed ham radio in the first place with none qualified people with not enough interest to put the effort in now able to get on the bands I can only see it getting worse. When the license was quiet restrictive with 2E calls only being allowed 70cm with 3 watts and without a Morse pass only being able to use VHF and up it encouraged people to gain more knowledge and upgrade. I think now it is nothing more than glorified CB radio. The use of internet links also put a lot of people off and all the people I knew before are never heard anymore. It's a shame really as those were the ones who put the effort in .

[Whisky1]

I have an M0 call with a Morse pass and wanted to revert back to my G7 call as the M0 doesn't mean anything anymore since they started to hand them out to people with no Morse pass. So I'm a little peeved about that. I think this dropping restrictions is what destroyed ham radio in the first place with none qualified people with not enough interest to put the effort in now able to get on the bands I can only see it getting worse. When the license was quiet restrictive with 2E calls only being allowed 70cm with 3 watts and without a Morse pass only being able to use VHF and up it encouraged people to gain more knowledge and upgrade. I think now it is nothing more than glorified CB radio. The use of internet links also put a lot of people off and all the people I knew before are never heard anymore. It's a shame really as those were the ones who put the effort in .

It is at a point now where they may as well give a license away online, totally destroyed the other side.

[M5AKA]

RSGB have done a great job in working with Ofcom to modernise the licences and abolishing almost all the silly restrictions. Foundation can now:
- operate from a vessel in International Waters
- design, build and use their own transceivers or modify PMR etc equipment for use in amateur bands
- supervise unlicensed people on-air
- operate with up to 25w on all the main bands only real exceptions are 472 kHz band and those special 5 MHz channels agreed with MoD
- control their station remotely via the Internet
- run unattended Digipeaters
- operate airborne mobile
What’s not to like.
The hobby has been in decline for the past 30 years, you can see it in just about every radio club. Overwhelming majority of members over 65 and in many cases no members at all under 45. We’ve already seen clubs fold as a result, in one case despite the club having £9,000 in the bank and 32 fully paid up members !! Those members were almost all in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and no longer felt up to taking on a demanding volunteer role like being on the committee - so no committee, no club.
The new licence is just what’s needed, it’ll make the hobby more attractive to a new younger generation

[dc260]

I have an M0 call with a Morse pass and wanted to revert back to my G7 call as the M0 doesn't mean anything anymore since they started to hand them out to people with no Morse pass. So I'm a little peeved about that. I think this dropping restrictions is what destroyed ham radio in the first place with none qualified people with not enough interest to put the effort in now able to get on the bands I can only see it getting worse. When the license was quiet restrictive with 2E calls only being allowed 70cm with 3 watts and without a Morse pass only being able to use VHF and up it encouraged people to gain more knowledge and upgrade. I think now it is nothing more than glorified CB radio. The use of internet links also put a lot of people off and all the people I knew before are never heard anymore. It's a shame really as those were the ones who put the effort in .

That is quite frankly an awful attitude, why is making the license more open to those who may not thrive in a traditional academic sense detrimental ?

[NightProwler]

It is certain peoples attitudes on this thread that put me off using the ham bands since I am a M6 licence holder and it also puts me off progressing further. There is none of this bad attitude on 11M.

[paulears]

I stopped using ham radio for work reasons and had a 20 year absence, then I started again, and heard all the new fangled callsigns. I had NO idea what exam they had passed or what the callsigns denoted. It took ten minutes to realise that the callsign type had nothing whatsoever to do with my desire to talk to them. I still have no idea what they mean and have not bothered to find out. Callsign one-upmanship is the same now as then, a method to make one person appear 'better', and it's rubbish. I went from G8 to G4 for one reason - I WANTED to use CW.

To my brain, it's the kind of hobby where if you want to learn, and have access to better and more interesting things, you can - or you just spend 40 years chatting about the weather.

It's actually very similar to education, where your exam 'class' sets status. When I did the flat hat ceremony because I was now a real teacher, loads of my colleagues wanted to do Masters, then Doctorates but I wanted to teach. I soon discovered all the rubbish teachers also had Masters degrees in Business!! MBa everywhere. I even shared an office with a Doctor, and he found amazement in the most tiny and unimportant technical things, and was clueless in everything apart from English Literature, his speciality.

[Transwarp]

Just enjoy the hobby and your thing within it folks, don't bother about the class actors because they don't matter. Enjoy it in your own (responsible of course) way

[NightProwler]

I do and I will and I like to think I am a very sensible operator. Ive been using 20M a lot lately and really enjoying it but I always have that thing in the back of my mind..."Foundation holder eh? Im better than you"

If I had the time I would go for my intermediate licence but with work and 3 kids, a dog, a goldfish and a rabbit I don't have much time

[Transwarp]

Well for me it's like this, l wanted to get onto the ham bands legally back in the early noughties, and the foundation course was how l did it. I thought it could end up leading me right into the hobby deep but it didn't and so a foundation l have stayed and have no desire to go any further.

That's my story and I'm proud to be an M3.