Training
The Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur Club offers all the training required to become a Radio Amateur.
Training is provided by club members Tim Bevan M0ACV, Bob Dingle G0OCB and Mark Oxley M0XLY.
We cater for all the City & Guilds Radio Amateur Exams from foundation, to intermediate to advanced. Simply get in touch with our tutor, Tim Bevan M0ACV, to book your place. Our premises in Stanley Crook is also a registered City & Guilds exam centre, which means we can run all of our exams from the club.
Foundation Courses
Since the beginning of 2002, we now run the new foundation course. These courses are usually run on a two-day weekend format, and when enough interest has been generated for a course. As usual, our morse tuition is given on the Thursday night previous to the course weekend. This also gives candidates a chance to find the location and get to know some of our regulars. Get in touch with the club and leave your name and contact details if you wish to get on the course.
Course details
The entry Level is the Foundation licence. This is a new licence that was introduced in January 2002. The Foundation licence is designed to get you involved in amateur radio as quickly as possible. But before you are allowed to transmit 'live' it is important that you know a little bit about how your radio works, the dangers of interfering with other radio users, how not to upset your neighbours or your parents (if you are a young person) and the rules and regulations of holding a radio transmitting licence.
How do you learn these new skills, by taking the Foundation licence training course, which is an integral part of of obtaining a Foundation licence. Most of the training is practical. There is a small amount of radio and electronics theory but only enough for your to appreciate things like using the correct fuses in your equipment and how to build an antenna to get the most out of your radio station.
Don't be afraid of the thought of having to undertake a training course. The course are run in a friendly informal atmosphere by experienced radio amateurs. The course will take about 10-12 hours to complete at the end of which you will sit a twenty five multiple-choice examination. Your exam paper will be marked on the spot and in the unlikely event of failing the exam you are able to sit it again after a short break and some reassuring words from your tutors. Courses are normally conducted at your local amateur radio club or if you're a younger entrant you may be able to take it at your school. Some clubs run the course over a weekend and some over a number of weeks. Once you have passed the exam you get your 'Pass' certificate and you are on your way! When you have been issued with your own individual M3 series callsign you will be able to operate on all bands with the exception of the 28MHz band without supervision but with a power restriction of 10 Watts. This is a fairly low level of power but with the experience you will quickly gain this will enable you to communicate around the world.
Once you have gained experience at the Foundation level we are sure you will want to take the next step up - the Intermediate licence.
The Intermediate licence gives access to the Intermediate frequency allocations within the amateur bands . The Permitted power levels are increased to 50 watts.
To obtain the Intermediate licence it is advisable to take a training course. This course is longer than the Foundation course and aims to teach many of the fundamentals of radio in a stimulating way by actually undertaking practical tasks such as soldering, building a small project and a variety of other exercises building on the experience you have gained as a Foundation licence holder. E-mail AR.Dept@rsgb.org.uk for information on courses in your area.
After completing the course candidates sit the Intermediate Licence Examination. Again this examination is a multiple-choice test based on what was learnt on the course, covering the basic concepts of radio operating on the amateur bands and the licence conditions. With both of these successfully completed an Intermediate licence can be obtained.
This is the highest level of licence that you can obtain.
To gain an Advanced licence it is necessary to pass the Advanced Radio Communications Examination. This examination is more advanced than the Intermediate, it again covers radio theory and licence conditions but because holding a full licence enables you to use 400 Watts power output to your transmitter such subjects as Electro Magnetic Compatability (EMC), antenna design and safety issues are covered in some depth. The licence allows access to all the amateur allocations with full power.
When studying for the Advanced Radio Communications Examination there is currently no requirement to take a formal training course, this is because the examination is currently theory based, with no practical training element in the syllabus. It is possible to study at home on your own if you so wish. However, many local amateur radio clubs and societies and technical colleges run courses specifically for the Advanced Radio Communications Examination. Alternatively there are some correspondence and Internet courses available.
IMPORTANT Due to the nature of the training structures, tuition is provided on a "as and when" basis and depending on demand. Therefore, for any training enquiries or information, please contact the club online, via email (g4ttf@yahoo.co.uk), or call Tim Bevan on 01388 832948.