Wythall RC Amateur Radio Training Courses
Reluctantly we have had to close our training programme at Wythall Radio Club, although I still act as Training Coordinator for the Club. There are multiple reasons for this, principally my time now has to be spent looking after my wife and I felt that as there are now a number of good online courses *, it was not worth the effort of preparing updated online courses specifically for our Club. Covid and lockdowns and other circumstances have played their part. Due to loss of Rally income and increased rental costs at Wythall House we have had to lose our little used club training room although the Club still meets every Tuesday evening at Wythall House.
I still continue to act as a tutor to Steve Hartley’s (G0FUW) Intermediate and Full Training Bath Based Distance Learning programme and would strongly recommend anyone wanting to do the Intermediate or Full exam to sign up for his courses of which he runs an Intermediate in the first half of the year and the Full course in the second half.
*There are several excellent on-line Foundation courses available to those wishing to get their licence. Essex Ham and the OnLine Amateur Radio Club both have an excellent reputation for their courses and I believe some Midlands clubs, such as MARS are also doing a mixture of virtual/on-line and classroom courses.
If anyone wants advice on where to go, then please contact me via e mail g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk.
Chris G0EYO
HOW TO BECOME A RADIO AMATEUR
To become a licensed radio amateur you need to pass an examination at three levels.
It starts at Foundation level where you learn about important licencing conditions and good operating procedures as well as how to operate safely and not interfere with other radio users. At Foundation level you get an M7XXX callsign.
Once you have your Foundation licence you can proceed to the Intermediate level which adds to your technical knowledge. Again there is a multi-choice examination and once you have passed this you get more privileges including an increase in the RF transmitter power you can use. At Intermediate level you get a 2E0XXX call-sign.
Finally you can then go on to gain a Full Licence which adds to your technical knowledge and other skills and gives you full licence privileges including maximum transmitting power, access to all frequency bands and modes. Again there is a multi-choice examination and if successful you gain an M0XXX call-sign. The requirement to pass a morse test at 12wpm was dropped many years ago although many new hams, learn the skill and enjoy communicating with other hams via morse (known as CW)
The RSGB have introduced remotely invigilated on line examinations at Foundation, Intermediate and Full levels and Examinations can be booked via the RSGB website. Booking Exams
The RSGB publish course books which are obtainable from RSGB Bookshop for the Foundation, Intermediate and Full licences training programmes. You will need to purchase the appropriate book for the course you are undertaking.
