Having messed around with MeshCore for a while I decided that I really ought to have a look at what it takes to become a Radio Amateur. I seem to remember lots of measuring antennas and tapping out morse code so I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere with it.
I did a bit of Googling and discovered that there are now three types of licences! Foundation, Intermediate and Full. I was very pleased to see that the Foundation licence requires no skills at morse code so there was hope for me! Ofcom are the people in charge of the airwaves and they have an “easy to read” explanation about what’s involved with getting the three different licences and you can find it here.
I have to say that I quickly lost interest when reading that but later found some good resources at the RSGB site. If you haven’t already joined the RSGB then I recommend it. You’ll get so much out of being a part of the Radio Amateur community.
I also found a superb website at EssexHam which has stacks of information about the hobby of amateur radio, the licences and how to get trained and certified. I spent ages reading their site and even joined their Discord server which is quiet but still interesting.
After hunting around their site I came across their online Foundation Course which you can even sign up to for free! That’s a seriously low cost for getting into a hobby like this. It’s run by other amateurs who are interested in getting you onboard. There are videos, slide shows and live sessions to help you learn everything you need to know to get your Foundation licence and the courses run every month.
Being the impatient type I paid a small fee (£6) to do the course in my own time and rattled through the training while carrying out mock tests after each module. At the end I sat a mock exam and was happy with the result so I booked my official exam with the RSGB for £35.50.
The exams are run online using a mix of exam software and Zoom with an invigilator watching over things. It’s serious stuff with checks made on what notes you can use in the exam and they even get you to point your camera around where you are working to make sure you aren’t cheating and putting notes all over your wall! As if I would!
My invigilator (another experienced Radio Amateur) was very helpful and even set up a Zoom call a few days prior to the exam to make sure we were all happy with how everything works. Not only that but he asked us various technical questions and passed on some of his experiences (and joy) about being a Radio Amateur. It certainly inspired me.
Did I pass my exam? You’ll have to wait till my next blog post to find out!
