Do I need a license?
- A license is not needed in the sense you can still communicate without a license. A radio license is not like a software license where the software is restricted without obtaining a license or quits working after the trial period ends. A radio will transmit on whatever frequencies it is designed to transmit on regardless of license. However, depending on the frequencies you want to transmit on and what country you are located in a license may be required by the government. There is a caveat in the United States, FCC rules state during a situation where the threat of loss of life or property exists anyone may transmit on any frequency if no other means of communications are available.
- Having said all that I highly recommend getting an Amateur Radio license if for nothing else the little knowledge required to pass the test(s) will be useful in a crisis situation. There are three levels of Amateur Radio class licenses available currently. There are 3 other classes that are no longer available but are grandfathered for those that have those license classes. I’ll not discuss those here. Learning Morse Code is no longer required for any of the available license classes. However not being required does not mean you shouldn’t learn it as Continuous Wave (CW) modulation (the method Morse Code is transmitted with) is very viable in poor propagation conditions and the equipment is simpler/smaller and requires less power to operate. I’ll discuss more on CW later.
- Each higher class license gains the legal use of more radio frequency spectrum but requires more advanced knowledge of the required information. The entry level license, Technician, grants all modes on amateur frequencies above 30MHz, CW on portions of some of the amateur HF frequencies, and FM/SSB on portions of the amateur 10 meter band. The next higher class, General, grants privileges on a lot of the HF frequencies (on all the amateur bands) as well as all the privileges of the Technician license. The highest class license, Extra, grants privileges on all the amateur frequencies.
- The license class I recommend studying for is the General class license. It grants privileges on most of the frequencies on all the amateur bands. Only a small portion of each band is not legally available to a General class licensee. However remember during a life/property loss situation all that goes out the window anyway. In order to test for the General class license you will also need to pass the Technician license test. All tests can be taken at the same sitting for one testing fee but you must take each one in sequence.
- The main reason I recommend getting your amateur radio license is the pool of resources opened to you in the way of other amateur radio enthusiasts, clubs, Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) membership (though actually you don’t need to be licensed to be an associate member of the ARRL), actual practical legal use of the radio frequencies and the camaraderie and networking available to you as a duly license Ham. Without a license most of this invaluable resource pool will be unavailable. Hams are cliquish in that respect, but to be in the clique all you need is a valid callsign.
- Another good reason to get an amateur license is that obtaining Amateur radio gear will be a lot easier and less expensive. Without a license obtaining a radio will be akin to buying one off the black market. They are available but you will pay more for one. Being a newly licensed operator may get you some free used gear from another licensed Ham or at least decent pricing.
- In the end WTSHTF you won’t need a piece of paper to press a button and speak into a microphone to call for assistance.
Why do you recommend I at least
obtain a General class license?
- A portion of the 10 meter band (28-28.5MHz) is available to the Technician class licensee. During periods of active solar activity the 10 meter band is a viable means of long haul communications on little power. The problem is the peak of the solar cycle comes every 11 years and only lasts 3 to 4 years with a fairly steep ramp up and down. 2 years may be the prime timespan for good communications on 10 meters. That leaves less than 9 years where the band is not the best and during the few years of solar minimum 10 meters is pretty much useless outside of local communications.
- In contrast the 20 meter band even during the solar minimum can and does propagate during the day enough for high reliability modes like CW or PSK31 to be considered a viable means of communication. During the last solar minimum which was of a record setting length with nearly twice the number of days with no solar activity (821days) than a normal year (about 480 days) I was able to communicate from my residence in Florida all up the eastern coast and across the great circle route into Europe and eastern Russia. In the reverse direction I was able to communicate to all of the South Americas albeit to a less dense Amateur population. I also communicated with California, Alaska, Hawaii, and even Japan (on SSB voice no less). This was from a simple setup with a radio that was over 30 years old through a simple homemade dipole antenna hung at only 20’ through an oak tree and radiating 50 watts or less. I mainly used a mode called PSK31 which is why I was able to do this on such a modest system. As a Technician I would not be legally allowed to use this band at all. As a General class licensee a majority of this band is available for legal use.
- The amount of study is not much more for a General class license than for a Technician class license. If you know the theory behind the questions asked for the Technician license you are well on your way to knowing most of the General license material. The main difference between the tests is knowing the theory rather than memorizing the material. To study for the Extra license class involves yet more theory and advanced mathematics. For the extra privileges gained it may not be worth the extra effort especially if you are pressed for time in your preparation work. However since the entire question pool and answers are available for study, if you can memorize the material you can pass all of the tests and gain all of the privileges. Knowing the theory does go a long way to understanding the questions though.
- One of the major reasons many people don’t want to obtain a license is they want to maintain anonymity and since license information is publically available to include mailing address they deem this as a major OPSEC violation. And they are right to think that to some extent I suppose, especially if the mailing address points to where they will be retreating during the crisis. The same can be said for ordering supplies/guns/ammo and shipping them direct to the retreat address. I wouldn’t recommend doing that nor do I recommend putting a secure location on your amateur radio license application. The FCC rules state the address must be located in an area governed by the FCC and you can receive your USPS mail at that address and no mail is returned to the FCC (a license revocation offense). So don’t use your retreat address for a license application just like you wouldn’t use it to deliver goods to. OPSEC adhered to and legally licensed!
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