The MERC has qualified assessors who can assist you when studying for your Amateur Radio Licence and when you are ready, allow you to sit your Amateur Radio exam. With as little as a few hours study, you could be on the air in a matter of weeks with your new Foundation Licence & very own callsign! If you’re interested in obtaining your Amateur Radio Licence (or upgrading to a higher level of licence) please contact Mike Adams via exam@vk3fsk.org.au 0438 721 337 - and a phone number would be great, to help Mike get back to you more quickly. More information on Amateur Licensing can be found on the WIA website.
The Foundation Licence is your entry into the world of Amateur Radio. The Foundation Licence entitles you to use a number of the most popular Amateur Radio bands. However, as it is an entry-level licence, there are some restrictions on the bands, emission modes and transmission power you can use. Although these restrictions are in place, the Foundation Licence gives you more than enough scope to speak to Amateur Operators around the world. To obtain the licence, you will be required to sit a 25-question multiple-choice exam, after studying the Foundation Licence Manual, available from the WIA Bookshop.
Your next step is an upgrade to the Standard Licence. With as little as 20 hours training and at the end of the course a 50 question multiple choice examination, a multiple choice regulations examination and if you do not hold a foundation licence, practical test and a few days later yours on the air with your new standard grade licence. The Standard Licence provides a great opportunity to expand an interest in communications technology and can be a solid launching base to a rewarding career in science, electronics, and communications. The standard licence will expand your horizons if you are upgrading from a foundation licence. It provides an opportunity to communicate with people all over the world as it allows for the use of more bands and higher power than the foundation licence.
You will also be able to make and or modify your own equipment, as a foundation licensee must only use standard, unmodified commercial amateur radio equipment. The standard grade licensee can use the 20-meter band and can therefore join one of the several very popular maritime nets. The standard Licence makes an amateur radio Licence upgrade from the foundation licence very achievable with around 20 hours study.
The Advanced License allows the licensee to operate on all available amateur bands & is the highest grade amateur license available in Australia.
The advanced license provides a great opportunity for young people to expand an interest in communications technology and can be a solid launching base to a rewarding career in science, electronics, and communications. The advanced qualification is recognised by some institutions as prior learning and may exempt a holder of this qualification from needing to complete some training modules at TAFE. But most importantly an advanced license will expand your horizons if you are upgrading from a foundation or standard license. It provides an opportunity to communicate with people all over the world as it allows for the use of more bands and higher power than the other two licenses. You will be able to carry out experiments by bouncing signals off the moon and talk by bouncing your signal off aircraft. Like the Standard Licensee, the Advanced Licensee can build and or modify their own transmitting equipment.