1. Technician License Course Chapter 5 Licensing Regulations

2. Licensing Authority Federal Communications Commission
Located in Gettysburg, PA.
Amateur Radio operations covered by FCC rules published in Part 97 of Title 47 – Code of Federal Regulations.
Use Part 97 for short
During this hour you will cover material that is less than stimulating but very important.
Discuss the roll of the FCC in management of the radio frequency spectrum in the United States and how ham radio fits into the big picture.
Point out the official regulations that authorizes and manages ham radio operations but also point out that the students will hear a lot about Part 97 rules, and that this is just a short hand reference to the rules section that pertains specifically to ham radio.

3. Why is There Ham Radio? Providing emergency communication capability.
Advancement of the art and science of radio.
Advance communication and technical skills of radio.
Provide a trained reservoir of operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
Promote and enhance international goodwill.
Discuss the mission of ham radio from your point of view.

4. Some Definitions
Amateur Service – no pecuniary interest (private and personal, non commercial).
Amateur Operator – the person holding authorization (license) to operate an Amateur Radio station.
Amateur Station – equipment capable of transmitting on frequencies authorized for Amateur Service.
Some of this material may seem to be self evident but make sure that everyone understands the subtle differences between amateur radio and the other radio services. Particularly stress the non-commercial nature of ham radio. The lines here are becoming increasingly blurred with more professionals joining the amateur radio community as a way of providing emergency communications capabilities for their organizations.

5. The Amateur License No age limit or citizenship restrictions.
One exception – foreign representatives.
License actually contains two parts.
Operator License.
Station License (the Call Sign).
Three levels of operator privileges: Technician, General, Amateur Extra.
Discuss the equal opportunity aspects of ham radio, virtually anyone can obtain a license
The license actually has two parts, the operator part allows the holder to operate an amateur radio station, the station part authorizes the physical station to be operated. Kind of like your driver’s license and the license plates on the vehicle.

6. Examinations Preparation Taking the exam Volunteer Examiners (VEs).
Study the content.
Question Pool.
Taking the exam
Proctored exam.
Multiple choice.
What the fee pays for.
Volunteer Examiners (VEs).
Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs).
Most of this material has already been covered at some point during the first few hours of the course, but this is a good place to tie it all together. Emphasize the purpose of the exam fee and what it is used for. Also emphasize that the actual ham license is free. This is also a good time to mention how examinations are managed and what VEs and VECs are. Perhaps the VE team members could be present during this time to introduce themselves. Have them explain the forms that need to be filled out and have examples of the 605 and CSCE form.

7. License Term and Renewal
The license is free and good for 10 years.
Renewable within 90 days of the expiration date.
Some personal identification information is required.
Tax ID (Social Security number).
Current Mailing Address.
Federal Registration Number (FRN).
Security of personal information is important, but the government needs to know certain things about you before the license can be issued. Social security numbers are one area that makes people uncomfortable giving up. Explain that after the initial license is issued (and the SSAN is required for that first issuance) that an FRN number will be assigned and the sensitive SSAN will not be required for further interaction with the FCC. The student can wait for the FCC to issue an FRN when they process the first license application, or if the student desires, they and use the FCC Universal Licensing System web site to obtain their own FRN and then use that FRN on the 605 form. Assure the student that the VEC system is pretty secure and there is little risk of sensitive personal information getting into the wrong hands.

8. Responsibilities of Licensure
Prevent unauthorized operation of your station.
Provide personal information as required – keep a current mailing address on file.
Make your station available for FCC inspection upon request.
The ham radio operators responsibilities might seem intimidating to the new ham, but assure them that it is not a big deal. Give them examples how they can prevent unauthorized operation of their stations (remove the microphone when they are not physically present, etc.) Updating mailing addresses is probably the area where most do not comply, but making the change in the records is very painless and tell them how to do it. Finally, operating a ham radio is a privilege, not a right. Open to inspection is just a requirement to the authorization. The FCC will not inspect your station without probably cause. Don’t do anything wrong and you’ll be okay.

9. FCC ULS Web Site www.wireless.fcc.gov/uls
Register for on-line access to your license information.
Make changes to your address and other information.
Renew your license.
Search for other station information.
The FCC web site is fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it and it allows the ham to do most if not all the required actions to maintain a current license themselves. The FRN is the key that unlocks those doors. If you have the capability, you could demonstrate accessing the ULS live during the class to illustrate how it can be used. As a suggestion, I write my FRN on my station license so that I can easily find it when I need it.

10. What can you do with a Technician Class License?
Frequency Privileges:
Band versus frequency.
Go over the frequency authorizations for the technician class. Review the band plan and hand out a band plan chart and show the students how to read it and extract required information. Review with the students how the references to band a frequency are used sometimes interchangeably. Remember, bands are frequency ranges that have the same characteristics. The band identification is like a city name, the frequency is like a specific street address that you want to visit. “Let’s meet on 6 meters tonight.” “No, my 6 meter antenna is down right now, how about 2?” “Okay, 2 meters, how about ?”

11. What can you do with a Technician Class License?
Emission Privileges:
Review with the students the different emission types, you probably have talked about this already with them. Point out that there may be restrictions, either by regulation or by gentlemen's agreement, on where certain emission types are authorized. This information is on the band plan chart.

12. What can you do with a Technician Class License?
Power limits.
Use the minimum power required to get the job done.
Up to 1500 watts peak envelope power (PEP).
Will generally require an external amplifier to achieve these power levels.
Some special cases where power is restricted.
Here is where you would point out to the students where they can find the details about power authorizations. First point out the power restrictions for the technician class license, specifically the restrictions of MHz, the restrictions on 70-cm adjacent to military installations, and the restrictions on the Tech Plus and Novice sub-bands. Then you can point out the other restrictions for other HF segments authorized for Generals and Extra.

13. Primary and Secondary Allocations
Some authorized amateur frequencies are shared.
Primary Users.
Secondary Users.
Primary users are protected from interference form other stations. Secondary users can use the frequencies if they don’t cause interference. If hams are secondary users of shared frequencies (which is the case most of the time), they must yield the use of the frequencies to the primary users if they are present.
If you location is near the Canadian border, emphasize the restrictions with the “Line-A” area on 70-cms.

14. Amateur Radio - Internationally
International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Regions 1, 2 and 3.
CONUS hams are in Region 2.
Reciprocal operating authorizations.
There are times when there are restrictions on certain countries that we can contact.
Briefly discuss the purpose of the ITU and how the FCC fits into the big picture. There are some differences in frequency authorizations and permitted modes based on ITU rules and regions. If the students are going to operate in a different region, it is important that they review the rules for that region. Also discuss with the students that this is why they may hear voice operations where the US is only authorized CW or data operations. Watch the dial! Especially when attempting to contact an English speaking ham, they may be from country that is authorized voice privileges where the US ham is restricted to code or data.

15. Call Signs US call signs begin with: K, N, W, and A.
US call sign districts: 0-9
Pass out a US map with the call sign districts. Discuss the structure of US call signs and what the students can expect for their first call signs. Have on hand some QSL cards. Use them to illustrate different US call signs. Also discuss the call sign structure for different countries and stress that the beginning character can be used generally to determine the country of the station being contacted.

16. Call Signs Portable – operating away from primary station location.
If in the different call sign district add:
“portable 6” if voice.
/6 if Morse code or digital.
Not required, just nice to do.
If recent upgrade add “AG” or “AE.”
Here you can discuss some of the things that students may hear when operations are portable. Though not used as much any more, they might come across it sometime. Point out that when they upgrade, the new privileges are authorized immediately, they just need to add the AG or AE if they are going to use the new authorized privileges before the upgrade is posted in the FCC database.

17. Special Call Signs Club and special event call signs.
Vanity call signs.
Discuss with the students briefly how they might obtain a call sign for a ham club. Also talk about the special event call signs and how they are obtained. Finally you can cover how the licensee can request a specific, un-issued, call sign. Just point out that a fee is required to obtain and maintain the vanity call sign.