How can an enthusiast get an amateur call sign and start celebrating April 18th

April 18, all progressive humanity celebrates Amateur Radio Day.

It so happened that I have been participating in the amateur radio movement since 1979. Like most of my peers, I started my way on the air with work at a collective radio station. There I learned how to conduct radio communications and got the basic skills of working with a wireless telegraph. By the end of high school, I collected the Radio 76 transceiver from the designer and received an individual callsign.

I found my mentors in the radio circle. Someone met a mentor while serving in the communications forces. Someone worked as a radio operator in the Navy and found his mentor there. In any case, there was a meeting with an enthusiast on the radio amateur’s life.

Why with an enthusiast? Because it is such according to the official wording of Clause 1.3 of Order No. 184 of July 26, 2012 of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation: “The amateur service and the amateur satellite service (hereinafter referred to as the amateur service) in the Russian Federation are a radio communication service for the purpose of self-improvement , mutual communication and technical research carried out by amateurs, that is, persons with the appropriate permission and engaged in radio engineering solely for personal interest and without extracting material ode ". In fact, the existence of radio amateurs on the territory of the Russian Federation is legalized by this order.

Despite the widespread availability of the Internet and mobile communications, ham radioists quite exist. Someone receives rare and very remote broadcast stations (DX-ing), someone communicates in the C-B band from their car, and someone conducts radio communications on amateur bands.

To understand whether you are interested in amateur radio, you need to listen to the broadcast, watching the work of other radio amateurs. For this, earlier it was necessary to have an antenna and a radio observer receiver at home, as it is impossible to accept the work of amateur radio on a broadcast receiver with HF bands. Now you can find a WebSDR receiver on the Internet and listen to the broadcast from it. I must say right away that listening to the air is fascinating. The air lives its own life: among the interference, a weak signal from a distant radio station suddenly appears, an echo of a wave circling the globe on the other side is suddenly superimposed on a powerful signal. It still seems like a miracle to me ...

If amateur broadcast is your everything, if you are ready to spend time and money on transceivers, antennas and conducting radio communication sessions, then you need to perform several formalities:

1. Pass the exam for the category.
2. Receive a call sign.
3. Register the transceiver.

The functions of the Telecommunication Administration on the territory of the Russian Federation are carried out by the Ministry of Telecommunications of the Russian Federation . The control over the activities of the amateur service is entrusted to two organizations subordinate to the ministry, Roskomnadzor and the Main Radio Frequency Center (FSUE GRCHC). Roskomnadzor keeps a record of amateur radio electronic equipment (RES). FSUE “GRCHC” generates call signs for identification (issues radio callsigns to radio amateurs) and monitors the proper use of radio frequencies and civilian electronic equipment.

The procedure for the formation of call signs is established by order of January 12, 2012 No. 4 of the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation. Requirements for amateur RES, as well as the allocation of frequency bands, types of work and permissible capacities for them, are indicated in the decision of the State Committee for Emergency Situations dated 07.15.2010 No. 10-07-01. The solution has several editions.

The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations ( CEPT ) recommends three types of amateur radio licenses to participating countries: an entry level license; novice license full license.

Four amateur amateur qualification categories have been introduced in the Russian Federation:

1. The first qualification category is fully licensed by CEPT T / R 61-01. To obtain it, you must pass the theoretical exam under the full license program CERT T / R 61-02 (HAREC), correctly answering 40 questions out of 45 in 90 minutes. The practical part of the exam consists of receiving no more than three errors, radiograms of 250 (50 groups of 5) characters at a speed of 60 characters per minute;
2. the second qualification category is fully licensed by CEPT T / R 61-01. To get it you need to pass the theoretical exam under the full license program CERT T / R 61-02 (HAREC), correctly answering 25 questions out of 30 in 60 minutes;
3. the third qualification category corresponds to the ECC (05) 06 novice license. To get it, you need to pass the theoretical exam under the ERC32 novice license program (ARNEC), correctly answering 20 questions out of 25 in 60 minutes;
4. the fourth qualification category of conformity does not have any CERT license. To get it, you need to pass a theoretical exam under the ECC 89 entry-level license program, correctly answering 15 questions out of 20 in 60 minutes.

Exam questions are simple. The list of exam questions is available on the website of the State Researcher Center. On the website of the Union of Radio Amateurs of Russia, you can pass a test exam . Personally, I used this Android application to prepare for the exam . In principle, the exam for the second category can be prepared in a few days. The third category exam is even easier. Why someone might need the fourth category, I don’t know ...

You can pass the qualification exam in two places:

1. the qualification commission of the local branch of the Union of Radio Amateurs of Russia: you need to find contacts on the CPP website , agree on the time and place of delivery with the chairman of the qualification commission and pass the exam;
2. at the local branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “State Reserves Center”: you need to find contacts on the website of the State Reserves Center , arrange an exam, conclude an agreement, pay for services under an agreement, and pass an exam.

The difference here is not only that the services of the State Reserves Center are paid. CPP simply may not agree to take the exam in the second (first) category if the applicant does not have at the time of passing the required work experience in the third (second) category from the point of view of CPP. The State Reserves Center does not put forward such additional requirements for the applicant: paid for the exam in the required category, take it.

As a result of the successful passing of the qualification exam, an extract from the protocol of passing the exam should appear on hand. A scan of this extract and an application for the formation of an identification call sign is submitted through the applicant’s Cabinet of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “State Rescue Center for Civil Protection”. The process of forming a callsign lasts from two to 14 days. The certificate of the formation of the call sign can then be downloaded electronically from the applicant’s office.

Now you have six months to register at the local branch of Roskomnadzor your transceiver (amateur RES), which I hope has already been purchased or assembled independently.
Registration procedure for RES: find the site of the territorial division of Roskomnadzor. Find in the menu the item “Direction of activity” - “Permit work” - “Registration of RES and VChU”. Application forms for registration of RES and TTX list are located here somewhere. Fill in the forms, attach a printout of the certificate of education of the callsign, agree on the delivery method, send. The transceiver itself does not need to be presented. You are waiting for a call from Roskomnadzor that the certificate of registration of RES is ready.

So:

1. You have confirmed compliance with the minimum qualifications.
2. An identification call sign has been created for you.
3. Your amateur RES is registered.

Connect the antenna and go on the air. You absolutely officially became a radio amateur! April 18th is your holiday! Someday you will become the same enthusiast ...

PS It should be noted that the TTX list form in this bureaucratic epic is the most incomprehensible document to fill out, especially if the transceiver is homemade. Therefore, I will give an example of filling