WEBVTT NOTE Licences, Call Signs, and Keeping Yours 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.084 Three classes, in one direction. The FCC currently issues new licences in exactly three classes: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. 2 00:00:12.084 --> 00:00:24.435 Novice and Advanced still exist in the wild, they were issued historically and remain valid for their holders, but no new ones are granted. 3 00:00:24.435 --> 00:00:42.917 When a question asks which classes the FCC currently issues, the answer is the three. The classes nest: General privileges include everything a Technician may do, and Extra includes everything General may do. 4 00:00:42.917 --> 00:00:51.269 That is why studying in order works, and why the pools overlap heavily. When you may transmit. 5 00:00:51.269 --> 00:01:01.749 Question. How soon after passing the examination for your first amateur radio license may you transmit on the amateur radio bands? 6 00:01:02.649 --> 00:01:11.489 Answer. As soon as your operator/station license grant appears in the FCC's license database. 7 00:01:12.089 --> 00:01:27.789 Not when you pass. Not when the email arrives. When the grant is in the database. That is normally a few business days after the session, and you can watch for it yourself in ULS. Reading a call sign. 8 00:01:27.789 --> 00:01:35.797 US call signs come in groups by format, and the exam asks you to recognise a valid one for your class. 9 00:01:35.797 --> 00:01:52.282 Group D is the sequential format issued to new Technician licensees: one or two letters, a digit, then three letters, KF1XXX. The pool asks for a valid Group D format for Technician class and that is the shape. 10 00:01:52.282 --> 00:02:04.686 Under the vanity call sign rules, any licensed amateur may select a desired call sign, subject to availability and to the formats their class is eligible for. 11 00:02:04.686 --> 00:02:21.171 There is no separate qualification for vanity; you apply and pay. Term, renewal, and the grace period. Three numbers, and one trap: Normal term, Renewal may be requested; Ten years, up to 90 days before expiry. 12 00:02:21.171 --> 00:02:31.769 Normal term, Grace period after expiry; Ten years, Two years. The trap: the grace period preserves your call sign, not your privileges. 13 00:02:31.769 --> 00:02:42.409 Question. If your license has expired and is still within the allowable grace period, may you continue to transmit on the amateur radio bands? 14 00:02:43.309 --> 00:02:49.269 Answer. No, you must wait until the license has been renewed. 15 00:02:49.869 --> 00:03:07.120 That distinction catches people constantly. The two years exist so you can renew without re-examining and without losing the call sign you have had for a decade. They do not authorise you to transmit in the meantime. 16 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:22.693 Off the air the day it expires; back on the day the renewal appears in the database. Keeping the FCC able to reach you. Section 97.23 requires a current mailing address and email address on file. 17 00:03:22.693 --> 00:03:29.581 Question. What may happen if the FCC is unable to reach you by email? 18 00:03:30.481 --> 00:03:37.841 Answer. Revocation of the station license or suspension of the operator license. 19 00:03:38.441 --> 00:03:53.277 Not a warning, not a fine, revocation or suspension. Updating your address in ULS when you move takes five minutes and is the cheapest compliance in the service. Operating outside the United States. 20 00:03:53.277 --> 00:04:07.139 Two cases the pool asks about: International communications are permitted for communications incidental to the purposes of the Amateur Radio Service and remarks of a personal character. 21 00:04:07.139 --> 00:04:20.327 That phrase, taken from the international rules, is the whole authorisation: chat and technical exchange, not business and not third-party traffic beyond what agreements allow. 22 00:04:20.327 --> 00:04:26.771 On a vessel: you may operate from a US-documented vessel with the master's permission. 23 00:04:26.771 --> 00:04:41.532 The master's permission is the operative requirement, and it is not a formality, the master is responsible for the vessel's radio installations. Check yourself. Your licence expired six months ago. 24 00:04:41.532 --> 00:04:53.521 May you transmit today? How long before expiry may you file for renewal, and what is the term? You move house and forget to update ULS. What is the stated risk? 25 00:04:59.521 --> 00:05:15.051 No. The two-year grace period protects your call sign, not your operating privileges. Wait until the renewal appears in the database. Up to 90 days before expiry; the term is ten years. 26 00:05:15.051 --> 00:05:24.201 Revocation of the station licence or suspension of the operator licence if the FCC cannot reach you by email.