UK Amateur Radio Licence Training
KLARC provide formal training for both the Foundation and Intermediate Amateur Radio licensing, The training is provided at no cost and there is no requirement to become a club member (but this is encouraged), all we ask is that you throw £1 per evening in the pot to cover Tea/coffee.
Foundation
The entry Level is the Foundation licence. This licence is designed to get you involved in amateur radio as quickly as possible, but before you are allowed to transmit ‘live’ it is important that you know a little bit about how your radio works, the dangers of interfering with other radio users, how not to upset your neighbours and the rules and regulations relating to a radio transmitting licence.
You learn these new skills by taking the Foundation licence training course, which is an integral part of of obtaining a Foundation licence. Most of the training is practical. There is a small amount of radio and electronics theory but only enough for you to appreciate things like using the correct fuses in your equipment and how to build an antenna to get the most out of your radio station.
Our courses are run in a friendly informal atmosphere by experienced radio amateurs. Courses run over a number of weeks. Once you have passed the exam and have received your ‘Pass’ certificate, you are on your way! When you have been issued with your own individual M6 series callsign you will be able to operate on all bands without supervision but with a power restriction of 10 Watts. This is a fairly low level of power but with the experience you will quickly gain this will enable you to communicate around the world.
KLARC Foundation courses are run over several club nights, usually 6 (but may vary depending on students ability).
Exams are only arranged when all students are ready.
Doing your exam online
One of our members has recently completed his exam online, and has considerately written this set of instructions for anyone thinking of doing theirs that way. Thanks Lockdown Andy (M7ASQ)
Intermediate
Once you have gained experience at the Foundation level, we are sure you will want to take the next step up, the Intermediate licence. The Intermediate licence gives access to the Intermediate frequency allocations within the amateur bands and permitted power levels are increased to 50 watts.
To obtain the Intermediate licence it is advisable to take a training course. This course is more substantial than the Foundation course and aims to teach many of the fundamentals of radio in a stimulating way by actually undertaking practical tasks such as soldering, building a small project and a variety of other exercises building on the experience you have gained as a Foundation licence holder.
After completing the course candidates sit the Intermediate Licence Examination. Again this examination is a multiple-choice test based on what was learnt on the course, covering the basic concepts of radio operating on the amateur bands and the licence conditions. With both of these successfully completed an Intermediate licence can be obtained.
KLARC Intermediate courses are run over several nights, usually 8 for intermediate (but may vary depending on students ability).
Again the exams are only arranged when all students are ready.
Advanced / Full
At this time KLARC does not run a formal training course for the advanced exam. Our tutors will, however, provide any advice and guidance to those who wish to self study. If required we can facilitate you sitting the exam, please contact us for further details.
KLARC TRAINING DATES
Course dates for 2019 TBA
As we cater for all ages and abilities we DO NOT run intensive weekend courses, our instructors know that people learn at different speeds, and would rather take their time to ensure every student understand the subjects properly before sitting an examination.
Training resources
Training books can be obtained from the RSGB web shop for all 3 licence levels.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SYLLABUS IS IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING, all exams after July 2019 will be based on the new syllabus, ensure you buy the correct version as second hand books or those on ebay/amazon sites may not be up to date!
RSGB- https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/
Essex Ham- lots of info and slides for foundation – https://www.essexham.co.uk/amateur-radio-training
Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society – http://www.g0mwt.org.uk/training/courses/index.htm
RSGB sample exam papers here – https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/training-resources/
RadioTutor Online tests to help you revise at all three levels.