Licensing
There are two categories of license:
1. General Grade
2. Restricted Grade
The restrictions in the second category are:
1. Transmitted power (only upto 50W in HF and 10W in VHF/UHF, compared to 400W and 25W respectively for General Grade).
2. Terrestrial only (operating through Satellite repeaters is forbidden, receiving is OK).
3. Voice only communication (with some exception in the VHF/UHF bands)
4. 5GHz band not allowed (wonder who uses it anyway)
The written exam consists of two parts:
1. Radio Theory and Practice (Exempted for those holding degree in Engineering/Science or Diploma in Engineering and have subjects electronics/telecommunications)
2. Radio Regulations
Morse Test - transmit and receive at 8 words per minute (only for General grade)
Reference:
http://www.wpc.dot.gov.in/DocFiles/a...guidelines.pdf
Tests are conducted monthly at metro cities and once in 4 months at other monitoring stations (mostly state capitals)
For starters the Restricted Grade is the way to go. It hardly makes a difference, unless you really want to get into serious contests, DXing, etc.
I would suggest the best option for aspirants is to join a local Ham club, preferably one which conducts exams regularly. There are many in South India, PM me if you need any contacts. There are many active FB groups also. The Vigyan Prasar website has a search facility to find out the nearby Hams.
Sequence of events are like this:
1. Apply for exam (filled up forms, gazetted officer attested copies of supporting documents, exam fee DD(₹100))
2. Wait for hall ticket.
3. Write the exam.
4. Wait for result (2-3 months)
5. Result will be forwarded from local WPC office to Delhi.
6. WPC will share the details with IB dept.
7. WPC will wait for clearance from IB.
8. IB will forward the papers to the local police station.
9. Local police station will verify the applicant address. (mostly they will give a call and ask to visit the PS)
10. Verified papers sent back to IB, then to WPC
11. WPC gets the IB clearance and initiates the license issuance.
12. WPC sends a letter requesting to send license fee(₹1000/2000) and another set of attested documents.
13. Once WPC gets all the required papers, it will issue the license and send to the applicant.
* Update: The IB clearence has been removed for a majority of the Indian states, except for some areas that still requires it.
In my case, the entire process was done in 11 months, and I consider myself very lucky. But this seems to be the order now, atleast in major cities. Usually the delay is caused by the local PS. I joined a club and it also helped in getting the papers in order.
But I urge anyone not to get let down by this process. It is a govt process and it will eventually happen. Things have very much improved in the last few years and many steps are streamlined.
Getting Started
Once you get your license, you can immediately be on air. One catch, you need to have the equipment, and to import one you need to have license. But you can always make one your own which is fun.
Regarding the cost, it depends on your budget and sky is the limit. A descent low power HF radio can be built for as low as 2k. A lot of Chinese manufactures have sprung up making cheap VHF/UHF radios, costing as low as 3k, which are not cheap at all in performance.
There are two categories of license:
1. General Grade
2. Restricted Grade
The restrictions in the second category are:
1. Transmitted power (only upto 50W in HF and 10W in VHF/UHF, compared to 400W and 25W respectively for General Grade).
2. Terrestrial only (operating through Satellite repeaters is forbidden, receiving is OK).
3. Voice only communication (with some exception in the VHF/UHF bands)
4. 5GHz band not allowed (wonder who uses it anyway)
The written exam consists of two parts:
1. Radio Theory and Practice (Exempted for those holding degree in Engineering/Science or Diploma in Engineering and have subjects electronics/telecommunications)
2. Radio Regulations
Morse Test - transmit and receive at 8 words per minute (only for General grade)
Reference:
http://www.wpc.dot.gov.in/DocFiles/a...guidelines.pdf
Tests are conducted monthly at metro cities and once in 4 months at other monitoring stations (mostly state capitals)
For starters the Restricted Grade is the way to go. It hardly makes a difference, unless you really want to get into serious contests, DXing, etc.
I would suggest the best option for aspirants is to join a local Ham club, preferably one which conducts exams regularly. There are many in South India, PM me if you need any contacts. There are many active FB groups also. The Vigyan Prasar website has a search facility to find out the nearby Hams.
Sequence of events are like this:
1. Apply for exam (filled up forms, gazetted officer attested copies of supporting documents, exam fee DD(₹100))
2. Wait for hall ticket.
3. Write the exam.
4. Wait for result (2-3 months)
5. Result will be forwarded from local WPC office to Delhi.
7. WPC will wait for clearance from IB.
8. IB will forward the papers to the local police station.
9. Local police station will verify the applicant address. (mostly they will give a call and ask to visit the PS)
10. Verified papers sent back to IB, then to WPC
11. WPC gets the IB clearance and initiates the license issuance.
12. WPC sends a letter requesting to send license fee(₹1000/2000) and another set of attested documents.
13. Once WPC gets all the required papers, it will issue the license and send to the applicant.
* Update: The IB clearence has been removed for a majority of the Indian states, except for some areas that still requires it.
In my case, the entire process was done in 11 months, and I consider myself very lucky. But this seems to be the order now, atleast in major cities. Usually the delay is caused by the local PS. I joined a club and it also helped in getting the papers in order.
But I urge anyone not to get let down by this process. It is a govt process and it will eventually happen. Things have very much improved in the last few years and many steps are streamlined.
Getting Started
Once you get your license, you can immediately be on air. One catch, you need to have the equipment, and to import one you need to have license. But you can always make one your own which is fun.
Regarding the cost, it depends on your budget and sky is the limit. A descent low power HF radio can be built for as low as 2k. A lot of Chinese manufactures have sprung up making cheap VHF/UHF radios, costing as low as 3k, which are not cheap at all in performance.
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