Suggestions for the improvement ofIndian Wireless Telegraph (Amateur Service) Rules 1978

Study Materials related to Amateur Station Operator’s Certificate (ASOC) examination

THE INDIAN WIRELESS TELEGRAPHS (AMATEUR SERVICE)RULES, 1978

Notification

G.S.R No. 1499/78- In exercise of the powers conferred by section 4 and section 7 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules for the conduct of wireless telegraphs in the amateur service, established, maintained, and worked by persons licenced under the said Act.

1. Short title and commencement

(a) These rules may be called the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978.
(b) They shall come into force on the 1st January, 1979.

2. Definitions

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires-

(a) ‘Act’ means the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885);

(b) ‘Amateur service’ means a service of self training, inter-communication and technical investigations carried on by amateurs that is, by persons duly authorized under these rules interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest; ‘amateur station’, and ‘station’ shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Convention;

(c) ‘Convention’ means the International Telecommunication Convention, Malaga-Torremolinos, 1973, for the time being in force and the Radio Regulations and the Additional / Radio Regulations annexed thereto but does not include any portion of the said Convention or Regulations regarding which the Central Government makes any reservation;

(d) ‘Licence’ means a licence granted under section 4 of the Act for an amateur wireless telegraph station.

3. Necessity for licence

No persons shall establish, maintain and work an amateur wireless telegraph station, except under and in accordance with the terms and conditions of an appropriate licence under these rules.

4. Categories of licence

There shall be five categories of licences, namely :

(i) Advanced Amateur Wireless telegraph Station Licence

(ii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence, Grade – I

(iii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence, Grade – II

(iv) Restricted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence

(v) Short Wave Listener’s Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence.

5. Eligibility for Licence

(1) A licence may be granted subject to such conditions contained in Annexure I to these rules

(i) to a person-

(a) who is a citizen of India;

(b) who is not less that 18 years of age;

(c) who qualifies the Amateur Station Operator’s Examination for the award of licence or holds either of the following certificate of proficiency, namely:

(i) Radio-communication Operators’ General Certificates;

(ii)First or Second Class Telegraph Operators’ Certificates:

Provided that the holder of a Special Radio Telegraph Operator’s Certificate may also be considered eligible for the award of Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Grade II.

(iii) To a bonafide amateur radio society, club, a school, college, institute or university in India, which has the aim of participating in the ‘amateur service’:

Provided that the licence shall be issued in the name of an authorized official of the society, club, school, college, institute or university in India, holding a category of licence appropriate to the transmission to be conducted by the station, including amateur radio beacon transmissions.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-clause (b) of clause (i) of sub-rule (1), the central government may grant, to bonafide experimenters between the ages of 14 and 18 years, Amateur Wireless telegraph Station Licence, Grade I and to those between the ages of 12 and 18, Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence, Grade II or Restricted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence or Short Wave Listeners’ Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence:

Provided that the application for the grant of such licences shall be accompanied by a certificate from the head of the educational institution, recognized by a board or university in India, attended by the applicant or from his legal guardian that the applicant is interested in and competent to conduct experiment in wireless telegraphy.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-clause (c) of clause (i) of sub-rule (1), the Central Government may recognize, subject to any conditions it may prescribe from time to time, such other Radiotelegraph Operators’ Certificates or Amateur Station Operators’ Certificate as are issued by a competent authority in India or any other country as equivalent to qualifications referred to in aforesaid sub-rule, for the purpose of grant of a licence under those rules.

6. Application for licence

(a) an individual, or

(b) an amateur radio society or club or a school, college or an institute or an university in India shall be made to the central government in Annexure II or Annexure III respectively to these rules, together with all the subsidiary forms and documents duly filled in and completed in all respects.

7. Eligibility for admission to Amateur Station Operator’s Examination

No person shall be eligible for admission to an examination for the grant of licence unless-

(a) such a person fulfils the provisions contained in sub-clause
(a) of clause
(i) of sub-rule
(1) and either sub-clause
(b) of clause
(i) of sub-rule
(i) or sub-rule
(2) of rule 5;

(b) such person pays the fees on the following scale, namely:

(i) Advanced Amateur Station Operator’s Examination Rs. 25.00

(ii) Amateur Station Operator’s Grade I Examination Rs. 20.00

(ii) Amateur Station Operator’s Grade II Examination and Restricted Wireless Telegraph Station Examination Rs. 10.00

(c) a period of at least one month has elapsed since he last appeared in an examination and failed.

8. Examinations

(a) The examinations* for the grant of a licence shall be held at a place** and on a date as may be notified by the Central Government from time to time.

(b) An application for licence in Annexure II to the rules shall be submitted not later than the 15th of the month preceding that in which it is desired to take the examination.

(c) Any person admitted to the examination and found guilty of impersonation or of submitting fabricated documents or documents which have been tampered with or of making statements which are incorrect or false or of suppressing material information or of using or attempting to use unfair means in the examination hall or otherwise resorting to any other irregular or improper means for obtaining admission to the examination may, in addition to rendering himself liable to criminal prosecution, be debarred either permanently or for a specified period from appearing in any of the examinations held for the award of licence under these rules:

Provided that no order under this sub-rule shall be made unless the person concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity for making a representation against the action proposed to be taken.

(d) If any person is found guilty of any malpractice referred to in sub-rule (3) after the grant of a licence to such person, the central government may, in addition to prosecuting him cancel the licence so given:

Provided that the central government may, pending the cancellation of the licence, suspend or endorse such licence:

Provided further that no order under this sub-rule shall be made unless the person concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity for making a representation against the action proposed to be taken.

9. Grant of Licence

Every category of licence shall be in the form set out in Annexure III to these rules.

10. Observance of conditions of licence, Convention and rules under the Act

(1) Every licenced amateur wireless telegraph station shall be established, maintained and worked in accordance with:

(a) the conditions contained in Annexure I to these rules;

(b) the provisions of the convention;

(c) the rules made by the central government under section 7 of the Act for the conduct of wireless telegraphs in so far as they are applicable.

(2) Notwithstanding sub-rule (1) the central Government may modify, vary, cancel or revoke any of the conditions of licence contained in the said Annexure I at any time either by specific notice in writing to the licencee, or by means of a general notice published in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper published in New Delhi.

(3) The licencee shall at his own expense, give effect to any variations in the conditions of licence,

11. Period of validity

A licence granted under these rules shall be issued for a period of 2 years or 5 years, as the case may be, commencing on the date of issue of the licence and expiring on the last day of the month preceding the month of issue.

12. Fee for licence

(1) A licence fee on the following scale shall be paid to the central government on receipt of instructions from that Government and in the manner directed by it –

The licence fee shall not be refundable on ground of licensee’s inability to establish or make use of the licensed amateur wireless telegraph station or for adjustments towards higher category of licence.

(2) No holder of a licence shall be entitled to a refund of fees paid therefore on the ground of his inability to establish or make use of the licensed amateur station.

13. Authorized frequency bands, power and emission

A holder of licence shall use, as appropriate to the licence, such frequency bands, power and classes of emission as are set out in Annexure V of these rules:

Provided that the central government may by special or general order make changes in the usage of frequency bands, power and types of emission where that Government is satisfied, that it is expedient to do so keeping in view, among others, the provisions of the convention need for enforcement of better technical standards in respect of equipment and national and international radio interference pattern.

14. Renewal of licence

(1) On the expiry of the validity of a licence, it may be renewed for a period of two or five years, as the case may be, if the licencee-

(a) makes an application for renewal, not earlier than 2 months but before the date of expiry;

(b) has actively operated an amateur wireless telegraph station during the validity of his licence and provides a certificate to the effect that he has made contacts with other amateur stations on at least 40 occasions per year, and in case of short wave listener, has intercepted amateur station on at least 40 occasions per year;

(c) Pays, a fee on the following scale, namely:

(2) The licence fee shall not be refundable on ground of licensee’s inability to establish or make use of the licensed amateur wireless telegraph station or for adjustments towards higher category of licence.

(3) The document showing the renewal of licence issued by the central government shall be kept along with the licence to which it refers.

(4) It shall not be obligatory for the central government to issue a notice that the licence is due for renewal.

15. Surcharge for late renewal

In case the holder of licence does not apply for its renewal prior to the date of expiry of the licence referred to in sub-rule (1) of rule 14, he may apply for the renewal of licence subsequently also but within a period of two years after the date of expiry of the licence on payment of a surcharge at the rate of Rs. 10/- for every half year or part thereof. The licence in such a case, shall be renewed from the date of expiry of licence.

16. Register for wireless telegraphy apparatus

Every licensee shall maintain a register in respect of all wireless telegraphy apparatus established, maintained and worked by him at the amateur station in the form set out in Annexure VI of these rules.

17. Location of Amateur Station

The location of the amateur station shall be specified in the licence along with the usual residence of the licensee endorsed therein and it shall be operated only from the pace so fixed.

Provided that the central government may permit the change of location if the licensee applies for it in writing giving particulars of the change and submits the licence for endorsement, and pays a fee of rupees five.

18. Portable and mobile amateur station

The central government may in addition to an amateur station licensed for a specified location issue a special authorization to establish, maintain and work an amateur station as a mobile station installed on board a motor vehicle or as a portable station or for the purpose of exhibiting the operation of amateur station at jamborees or for specific technical investigations in radio if –

(i) Application for such authorization is made at least 10 weeks in advance indicating, amongst other, the period for which the authorization is required, area of operation and the purpose;

(ii) The applicant holds an Advanced Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence or an Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Grade I;

(iii) The applicant pays an additional fee of Rs. 10.

(2) The special authorization shall, in addition to the conditions specified in rule 10, be subject to conditions, namely:

(i) The special authorization shall not be issued for a period more than 90 days and may be extended for a further period of 90 days on request and on payment of fee of Rs.10/-;.

(ii) The licencee’s amateur station at the fixed location and the mobile station shall not communicate with each other;

(iii) The suffix ‘MO’ shall be added to the call-sign already authorized to the licensee, such call-sign shall be followed by the location of the station;

(iv) such other conditions as the central government may determine from time to time.

(3) The special authorization may be withdrawn or the conditions contained therein varied at any time by the central government.

19. Amateur Station on board ship

(1) Without prejudice to rule 17, the central government may on receipt of an application authorize establishment, maintenance and working of an amateur station on board a ship registered in India. Applications for such authorization shall be accompanied by a written approval of the master or owner of the ship concerned.

(2) The establishment, maintenance and working of amateur station on board ships shall, in addition to the conditions specified under rule 10, be subject to such other conditions as the central government may determine from time to time and such conditions, among others, shall include the following, namely:

(i) The amateur station on board ship shall be operated only while the ship is in international waters or Indian territorial waters. Its operation within the territorial waters of another country shall be in conformity with laws and regulations of the country concerned.

(ii) It shall not be operated whilst the ship is in any harbour in India;

(iii) The call-sign allotted to such stations shall have suffix ‘MS’ followed by the call-sign of the ships in case of radiotelegraphy official name of the ship in case of radiotelephony.

(iv) The amateur station on board a ship shall be independent of ship radio communication, radio navigation and other safety services radio equipment and shall be operated in such a manner as not to cause harmful interference to these services of the ship. The amateur station shall have source of electrical energy independent of the ship station and shall also be electrically independent of it.

(v) The amateur station on board a ship shall discontinue operation at any time on request of an officer of the central government, the master or radio officer of the ship or any land station.

20. Loss and Issue of Duplicate of Licence and Document showing the Renewal of Licence

(1) A person whose Licence or the document showing the renewal of licence has been lost, mutilated or destroyed shall notify the same to the central government. An application in Annexure VII of these rules for the duplicate shall be made to the central government embodying a statement of the circumstances involved in the loss, mutilation or destruction of the licence or the document showing the renewal of licence for which a duplicate is required. If the licence or the document showing the renewal of licence has been lost, the applicant must state the circumstances in which it was lost and that reasonable search has been made for it, and further that in the event it be found, either the original or the duplicate shall be returned for cancellation. The mutilated licence or the document showing the renewal of licence for which the duplicate is required should be forwarded along with the application for cancellation.

(2) The central government may issue duplicate copy of any licence or the document showing the renewal of the licence and the following charges shall be levied for such issue:

(i) For duplicate of licence – Rs. 10

(ii) For duplicate of the document showing the renewal of licence- Rs. 5

21. Revocation of licence

(1) The central government may, at any time, revoke the licence-

(i) On the breach of any of the conditions of licence contained in

Annexure I; or

(ii) In default of payment of any fees payable under these rules;

Provided that, before revoking a licence, the licensee shall be given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation against the action proposed to be taken.

(2) The licensee shall not be entitled to any compensation arising out of revocation of his licence nor will any part of the fees paid for the licence shall be refunded for the period a licence stands revoked.

22. Transfer of licence

A licence shall not be transferable:

Provided that the central government may permit the transfer of a licence granted to an authorized official of an amateur radio society or club or a school, college or an institute or an university in India in favour of his successor if such successor holds a category of licence appropriate to the transmissions to be conducted by the amateur station.

23. Operation of licenced amateur station

No person other than the licensee shall be permitted to operate the licensed amateur station:

Provided that –

(a) In the presence of the licensee himself, the station may be operated by another person holding a valid licence of comparable or higher category. The licensee, however, shall be personally responsible for the observance of these rules as if he operates the station.

(b) In case of a licence issued to an authorized official of an amateur radio society, club, school, college, institute or university in India, the station may be operated by-

(i) a person who holds a licence equivalent or of higher category;

(ii) a person who holds a lower category of licence, where he operates the station on the frequency bands, emissions and power allocated to his category.

In each of the cases aforesaid the licensee shall be responsible for the observance of this rule.

24. Surrender of licence

A licence which is revoked or which has become invalid and licensee does not desire to renew it shall be surrendered to the central government for cancellation and record.

25. Dual holding of licence

No person shall be granted more than one licence at the same time:

Provided that the central government may exempt a person, holding a licence is his name for amateur radio society or a school, college or an institute or an university in India, from the operation of this rule.

26. Admission of foreign nationals in examination and grant of licence

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules the central government may, subject to such terms and conditions as it may impose from time to time, admit a person, who is not a citizen of India, to an examination for the grant of a licence or grant him a licence if otherwise qualified.

(2) The conditions under sub-section (1) shall, among others, include the following, namely:

(i) The country of which the applicant is citizen, grants reciprocal facilities to Indian nationals:

Provided that it shall not apply where the central government considers that reciprocal facilities are not necessary;

(ii) The applicant is above the age of 18 years.

(iii) The applicant is holder of an appropriate category of amateur station operator’s certificate or licence issued by a competent authority in any other country and recognised by the central government.

(iv) The licence under this rule shall be initially granted for a period of one year or for the period of validity of visa, for which the applicant’s passport is endorsed, whichever is less, on payment of a proportionate licence fee as prescribed in Rule 12 subject to a minimum of fees payable of one year.

27. Penalty for breach of these rules

Any breach of these rules, other than a breach, which is an offence under section 20 or 21 of the Act, shall be punishable with fine, which may extend-

(i) When the person is licenced under the Act, to Rs.1000 and in the case of continuing breach a further fine of Rs.200 for every day after the first during the whole or any part of which the breach continues;

(ii) When a servant of the person so licenced or another person is punishable for the breach one fourth of the amounts specified in clause (i).

28. Repeal and saving

(1) On the commencement of these rules, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy (Amateur Service) Rules 1958, shall cease to be in force,

(2) Notwithstanding such cesser-

(a) Where before such commencement any person had passed the Amateur Station Operators Certificate Grade I or Grade II Examination, such person shall not be required to pass any such examination under these rules;

(b) Where, before such commencement any person was granted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Grade-I, or any such Licence was renewed and the period for which such Licence was granted or renewed extends beyond the commencement of these rules, then, such Licence shall continue to be in force for the period specified in the licence.

Annexure I CONDITIONS
FOR
THE CONDUCT OF
AMATEUR WIRELESS TELEGRAPH STATION
[See rules 5 & 10]

(1) Use of the Amateur Station

(1) The amateur station shall be used as part of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations in radio techniques solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest:

Provided that when the station is licensed to an amateur radio society or club, or a school, college or an institute or a University, the use of the station shall be confined to technical investigations and training in radio communication techniques without pecuniary interest.

(2) The station may also be used for the purpose of receiving transmissions in the standard frequency service to facilitate operation of the station within the authorized frequency bands.

(3) Except as provided in these rules, the licensee shall not assign, under-let or otherwise dispose of or admit any person to participate in the benefits of the licence.

II. Messages

(a) Radio communications may be exchanged with other stations similarly authorized. The amateur stations are forbidden to communicate with amateur stations of countries whose administrations have notified the International Telecommunication Union of their objection to such radio communication.

(b) Transmissions shall be made in plain language and limited to messages of a technical nature relating to tests and to remarks of personal character (excluding business affairs or transactions) in which the licensee, or the person with whom he is in communication, are directly concerned and for which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse to the public telecommunication service is not justified.

(c) Special recordings for reproducing sinusoidal tone or tones within the audio frequency spectrum that may be either constant or steadily changing in frequency may be used.

(2) The licensee is forbidden to transmit-

(a) Messages like the reproduction of broadcast programmes or tape recordings or transmissions of entertainment value or music;

(b) False or misleading calls, or signals, news, advertisements, communications of business, statements on topics of political or industrial controversy;

(c) Superfluous signals or any matter which is indecent or of obscene character or of a seditious tendency or which is grossly offensive or such as is likely to arouse racial, religious, or communal animosity; and

(d) Messages for pecuniary reward or any messages for, or on behalf of third parties;

(3) Notwithstanding clause (a), sub-condition (1) and clause (d), sub-condition (2) the licensees in case of failure of normal telecommunication facilities, are permitted to handle third party messages, pertaining to natural calamities such as earthquake, flood, cyclones and wide spread fires, originating from and addressed to a competent civil authority namely, (a) district magistrates or deputy commissioners or collectors of the district and (b) any other officer authorized by authorities mentioned at (a) above. The licensee shall inform by letter addressed to the licensing authority regarding the use of his amateur station for such purposes on each such occasion.

III. Frequencies, Emission and Power

The amateur station shall be operated on frequencies that are within the frequency bands authorized to respective categories of licences under rule 13 and on such classes of emissions and power not exceeding that specified in the said rule.

IV. Frequency control and measurement

(1) The transmitting apparatus shall be tuned as accurately as possible to ensure that no energy is radiated on any frequency outside the limits of the authorized frequency bands.

(2) The licensee shall have at the licensed amateur station a reliable frequency measuring equipment to verify, each time the frequency of the transmitter is changed and whenever it is necessary to check the transmitted frequency that emissions are within the authorized frequency bands. The licensee shall take all steps necessary to maintain the accuracy of the frequency measuring equipment.

V. Non-Interference

(1) The amateur station shall be so designed, constructed, erected, maintained and worked as not to cause interference with any wireless telegraph service functioning, within or without India, in accordance with the provisions of the convention or the wireless signaling between any fixed, land or mobile stations of Indian land, naval or air force or between such stations and any station abroad:

Provided that in the event of interference being caused by the station the licensee shall discontinue or restrict transmissions, pending adjustment of the equipment, on request from-

(a) The Central Government; or

(b) Any land station.

(2) The licensee shall deploy all necessary means to ensure that the radiated frequency in free from harmonics, key clicks, hum and other forms of spurious emissions.

(3) The licensee shall ensure that the transmitter is not over modulated.

(4) The use of class B emissions (damped waves) is forbidden.

VI. Log (Diary of the radio service)

(1) A chronological record of all transmissions emanating from or received at the amateur station shall be kept in bound book (not loose leaf) showing the following:

(a) Date and time of each transmission;

(b) A summary of the communications exchanged;

(c) A brief description of the experiments and tests undertaken;

(d) The call-sign of station or stations with which messages have been exchanged, times of establishing and terminating communication with each station and the frequency and type of emission employed in each case:

(e) Time of opening and closing down the amateur station;

(f) In case of portable or mobile amateur station the particulars of temporary location.

(2) All times in the log shall be stated in the Indian Standard Time.

(3) No gaps shall be left between entries in the long and they shall be made and initialed at the time of receiving and transmitting.

(4) In case the station is operated by a person other than the licensee (see rule 23), the licence shall ensure that log is signed by that person indicating his name, call-sign and licence number.

(5) Licensee shall preserve the log for a period of one year from the date of last entry therein before it is destroyed:

Provided that no log shall be destroyed for such further period as the Central Government may direct.

(6) The form of log is shown in the Table attached to these conditions.

VII. Wireless Telegraphy Apparatus

(1) The amateur station shall be equipped for reception as well as transmission except in the case of Short Wave Listeners Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence when it shall be equipped for the former only.

(2) The wireless telegraphy apparatus and other accessory equipment used or intended to be used by the licencee shall be so arranged as not to endanger the safety of licensee or other persons.

(3) The wireless telegraph apparatus shall be kept in a safe condition and housed in such manner as to preclude access to unauthorized persons.

(4) The transmitter shall be of a type that has frequency stability comparable to that of a crystal control.

(5) Meters of standard accuracy shall be installed to measure the D.C. power input to the anode circuit of the final radio frequency stage of the transmitter.

(6) The aerial used or intended to be used shall be so erected, fixed, or placed a not to cross above or fall on to any power, telegraph or telephone line. If required, the licensee shall take necessary steps to guard, to the satisfaction of the owner or owners concerned, so as to prevent any damage being done in the event of a break occurring in the aerial. The aerial installation shall not cause hazard to flight of aircraft and their heights shall be within the limits specified by the Director General of Civil Aviation in India from time to time. The licensee shall, if so directed, install and maintain beacon lights on and paint the mast of the station at his own cost.

VIII. Secrecy of Correspondence

If any message which the licensee is not entitled to receive is, nevertheless received, the licencee shall into make known or allow to be made known its contents, its origin or destination, its existence or the fact of its receipt to any person (Other than duly authorized officer of the Central Government or a competent of legal tribunal) and shall not reproduce in writing, copy or make any use of such message or allow the same to be reproduced in writing, copied or made use of.

IX. (1) General Radiotelegraph and Radiotelephone Procedure

(a) Before transmitting, the station shall take precautions to ensure that its emissions will not interfere with transmissions already in progress. If such interference is likely the transmission shall not commence till there is an appropriate break in the communications in progress.

(b) The call sign endorsed in the licence shall be sent for identification at the beginning and at the end of each period of transmission. When the period of transmission exceeds 10 minutes the call sign shall be repeated. Licencee shall not make transmission without identification or with false identification.

(c) Prolonged calls and transmissions shall be avoided.

(d) When it is necessary to spell out call sign, certain expressions, difficult words, abbreviations, figures etc., the phonetic alphabet and figure code given in the Convention shall be used.

(2) Call and Reply Procedure

(a) The call shall consist of The call sign of the station called not more than three times; The word DE (in case of radiotelegraphy) and the words ‘This is’ (in case of radiotelephony) and the call sign of the calling station, not more than three times.

(b) The reply to call shall consist of the call sign of the calling station, not more than three times; The word DE (in case of a radiotelegraphy) and the words ‘This is’ (in case of radiotelephony) the call sign of the station called, not more than three times.

(c) The call may be sent three times at intervals of two minutes; thereafter it shall not be repeated until an interval of 10 minutes during which the operator shall list in the frequency band in which the call has been made.

(d) In case of general call to all stations the signal ‘CQ’ (in case of radiotelegraphy) and the words ‘Hello all stations’ or the signal ‘CQ’ (in case of radiotelephony) shall replace the call sign of the station called in the calling procedure.

(3) End of Transmission and Work

(a) Transmissions of a message shall be terminated by the signal AR (in case of radio, telegraphy) and by the word ‘Over’ (in case of radiotelephony).

(b) The end of work between two stations shall be indicated by each of them by means of the signal VA (in case of radiotelegraph) and by the word ‘OUT’ (or VA spoken as Victor Alfa) in case of radiotelephony.

(4) Tests:

(a) When it is necessary to make test signals either for the adjustment of a transmitter or a receiver or for any experiment, such signals shall not be continued for more than 3 seconds and shall be composed of series of VVV followed by the call-sign of the station emitting the test signals. In case of radiotelephony series of VVV shall be replaced by the figures 1,2,3,4… spoken in the figure code.

(b) For tests exceeding 30 seconds an artificial aerial shall be used.

(c) Emission of carrier wave is forbidden unless such wave is subjected to intelligible modulation.

X. Inspection

(1) Any officer authorized by the Central Government in that behalf in writing by them, may at all reasonable times enter the station solely or jointly with any other person or persons for the purpose of inspecting and may inspect, examine or test any apparatus conduct of such inspections and tests and make available the licence, the station log or other records for examination by the inspecting officer.

(2) The licencee when called upon to do so by the Central Government shall arrange to forward the licence, the logbook, or any other record or date for examination by that Government.

XI. Powers to take possession of the Amateur Station and to order interception of message:

(1) On the occurrence of any public emergency, or in the interest of the public safety, the Central Government or a State Government or any officer specially authorized in this behalf by the Central Government or a State Government may, if satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, take temporary possession (for so long as the public emergency exists or the interest of the public safety requires the taking of such action) of the Amateur Station.

(2) On the occurrence of any public emergency or in the interest of the public safety, the central government or a State Government or any officer specifically authorized in this behalf by the Central Government or a State Government may, if satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence, for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, direct that any message of class of messages relating to any particular subject, shall not be transmitted or received or shall be intercepted by the station or shall be disclosed to the Government making the order or an officer thereof mentioned in the disclosed to the Government making the order or an officer thereof mentioned in the order.

(3) The licencee shall not be entitled to any compensation in respect of the exercise of the powers conferred by sub condition (1) and (2) of this condition.

XII. The licencee shall indemnify the Central Government against all actions, claims and demands which may be brought or made by any person, body corporate or company in respect of any injury arising from any act licenced or permitted by the licence.

XIII. A copy of the Indian Wireless telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 shall be kept at the Amateur Station.

Frequency & Type of Emission & power input to final stage (FEP) Station Called by Station heard or worked (RST) Report Received (RST) Time of Termi-nating QSO Time of Record Experimen

ANNEXURE II

Under the above rules, a licence may be granted, subject to certain conditions to a person, who is a citizen of India and not less than 18 years of age (subject to relaxation indicated at para 1 below) and who qualifies Amateur Station Operators’s Examination Certificate of Proficiency issued by this Ministry i.e. (I) Radio Communication operator’s GeneraLl Certificate; (ii) First or Second Class Radio Telegraph Operator’s Certificate; (iii) The holder of a special radio telegraph Operator’s Certificate may also be considered eligible for the award of Grade II licence.

The following categories of licences are issued:

The fees for examination are shown alongside:

(i) Advance Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Rs. 25/-

(ii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station licence Grade I Rs. 20/-

(iii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Grade II Rs. 10/-

(iv) Restricted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Rs. 10/-

(v) Shortwave Listeners Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Nil

The central government may grant to bonafide experimenters between the agees of 14 and 18 years, Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licenc Grade I and to those between the ages of 12 and 18 years, Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Grade II, Restricted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence or Shortwave Listeners Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence.

The examination for the award of various categories of Amateur Wireless Telegraph Statoin Licence are held at various Monitoring Stations of this ministry, as per the syllabus contained in the above mentioned rules. A person desiring to appear in these examinations should apply on the prescribed application form (enclosed) to the nearest monitoring station along with the prescribed examination fee. In no case the application may be forwarded to WPC, Ministry of Communications, New Delhi.

The examination fee varies from Rs. 10/- to Rs.25/- depending upon the category of examination. After a decision is taken to grant the licence, an additional fee of Rs. 25/- to Rs.50/- as the case may be, will be required towards the grant of licence. The fees are required to be paid in the form of bank draft obtainable from any branch of the State Bank of India and drawn in favour of Pay & Accounts Officer (Headquarters), Department of Telecommunication, New Delhi 110001 (code 0691).

The particulars of the venue and date, etc. of the examination will be communicated to the candidates by the officer-in-charge of the concerned monitoring station on receipt of the complete application form with requisite fee.

Following should accompany the application:

1. Nationality Certificate/Character Certificate in the prescribed proforma enclosed.

2. copies of photograph duly signed on front side. The size of the photograph must be 3×4 cms.

3. Examination fees, in the form of bank draft, of the appropriate amount. The draft should be obtained from any branch of State bank of India and drawn in favour of ‘Pay & Accounts Officer (Headquarters), Department of Telecommunications’. It should be payable at State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch (Code No. 0691).

4. Result Sheet, duly filled in (in duplicate).

5. Personal particulars (in quadriplicate) in the prescribed proforma.

APPLICATION FROM AN INDIVIDUAL FOR A LICENCE TO ESTABLSISH, MAINTAIN AND WORK AN AMATEUR WIRELESS TELEGRAH STATION IN INDIA.
(See rules 6 & 8)

(Duly filled in application form should be submitted to the concerned Wireless Monitoring Station only)

DECLARATION

I hereby solemnly declare that the foregoing facts are true and correct and nothing is false therein and nothing material has been concealed therefrom. I also agree that in case any information given by me herein before is found false at a later date, the licence, if granted, will be cancelled.

I further solemnly give an undertaking that I will not either directly or indirectly divulge to any person, except when lawful authorized or directed to do so, the purport of any message which I may transmit or receive by means of any wireless apparatus operated by me or which may come to my knowledge in connection with the operation of said apparatus.

I have carefully read and understood the rules contained n the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 and undertake to abide by them and observe the conditions of the licence. The licensed station shall not be made accessible to any unauthorized person at any time.

Signature of witness: Signature of applicant

Name (in block letters) Name (in block letters)

Address:

Date: Date:

Place:

Note :

1. An attested copy of birth certificate or school leaving certificate must be accompanied along-with the application.

2. Enclose a certificate in support of nationality in the prescribed Performa, indicated in Appendix III from one of the officers listed therein.

ANNEXURE III

APPLICATION FOR A LICENCE TO ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN AND WORK AN AMATEUR WIRELES TELEGRAPH STATION BY AN AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY OR CLUB OR A SCHOOL, COLLEGE OR AN INSTITUTE OR A UNIVERSITY IN INDIA

(See rules 6 & 8)

1. Name and address of the Amateur Radio Society/Club/School/Institute etc.

2. Particulars of authorized official of the Society/Club/School etc. in whose favour licence is desired

Name Designation

Date of Birth             
Place of Birth             
Nationality             
Occupation

3. (a) Category of licence applied for (b) exact location of the station

4. Particulars of Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence held by the authorized official

Category of Licence Licence No. Date of Issue

5. Particulars of the Amateur Radio Society or club, school etc.

(a) If registered, given its particulars:

(b) In case of school, college or institute, give the name of Board or University by which it is recognized.

(c) Give in brief its aims and objectives:

(d) If affiliated to any radio amateur organization, give its particulars:

(e) Give the names of office bearers:

(f) Mode of operation of the station including its normal hours of working :

6. Particulars of Apparatus to be used:

Category of Apparatus/ Manufacturer’s name /Type No/ Frequency Range /RF power output/ Transmitter

Receiver :

Frequency Measuring Device :

DECLARATION

I hereby solemnly declare that the foregoing facts are true and correct and nothing is false therein and nothing material has been concealed therefrom. I also agree that in case any information given by me herein before is found false at a later date, the licence, if granted, will be cancelled.

I further solemnly give an undertaking that I will not either directly or indirectly divulge to any person, except when lawful authorized or directed to do so, the purport of any message which I may transmit or receive by means of any wireless apparatus operated by me or which may come to my knowledge in connection with the operation of said apparatus.

I have carefully read and understood the rules contained n the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 and undertake to abide by them and observe the conditions of the licence. The licensed station shall not be made accessible to any unauthorized person at any time.

Note :

1. An attested copy of birth certificate or school leaving certificate must be accompanied along with the application.

2. Enclose a certificate in support of nationality in the prescribed Performa, indicated in Appendix III from one of the officers listed therein.

3. Attach a copy of the rules and regulations or constitution.

4. Attach the minutes of the relevant meeting.

ANNEXURE IV
Licence No. [See rule 9]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICAITON
LICENCE TO ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN AND WORK AN AMATEUR WIRELESS TELEGRAPH STATION IN INDIA.

Having satisfied, by examination or otherwise, that Shri ……………………………… possesses the requisite technical qualifications as prescribed under the Indian, Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978, the Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred under the authority of section 4 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885), hereby grant to him an …………………………………………… to establish, maintain and work a wireless telegraph transmitting and receiving station, detailed below, during the term of period commencing on the day of the date hereof and terminating on the …………………..19 …………….. when this licence becomes invalid unless renewed further by way of a document showing the renewal of Licence.

The licence is governed by the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978, Particulars of the Station :

Location Call-sign

Issued by the Government of India in the

Ministry of Communication

New Delhi :

Dated :

Deputy/Assistant Wireless

Adviser to the Govt. of India

Signature of Licencee

Signed by the Licencee

in the presence of ……………………….. Date ………………………………

Date :

Latest amendment to the Indian Wireless Telegraph (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978, vide Notification dated 4th October, 1985.

In pursuance of the provisions of rule 13 of the Indian Wireless Telegraph (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 the Central Government hereby authorises the following frequency bands, emission and power to the holder of Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence. This supercedes the frequency bands, emission and power prescribed in the Annexure-V to the above said rules in pursuance to Notification No, R-11014/14/82-L.R. dated 23rd May, 1983.

“Annexure-V”
Frequency bands, emission and power

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* On primary shared basis as per the relevant provisions of Radio Regulations.

$ The authorisation is on non-interference and non-protection basis.

@ On secondary basis as per the relevant provisions of Radio Regulations.

& 1260-1270 MHz for Earth to space satellite service only.

The above authorisation is subject to site clearance as per the procedure prescribed by the Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA) as applicable.

Note:

(1) Following sub-bands of frequencies are authorised with enhanced R.F. power to holder of Advanced Amateur Telegraph Station Licence

(2) For A3F emission, the transmission shall be restricted to call-sign of the station, location and other particular of the amateur station. They shall be limited to point to point test transmission employing a standard interlace and scanning with a bandwidth not more than 4 kHz.

(3) DC input power is the total direct current power input to the final stage of the transmitter.

(4)In case of Short Wave Listener’s Amateur Licence, the holders are permitted to listen to all the bands authorised to Amateur Service.

(5)The syllabus for the examination of the Restricted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence shall be same as per Part I of Amateur Station Operator’s Grade II examination.

The holder of Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence, Grade II shall be entitled for authorisation of radio telephony emission on his providing proof of having made 100 contacts with other Amateurs using

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Syllabus and details of Amateur Station Operator’s Certificate (ASOC)

Examination for the award of Amateur Station Operator’s Licence

Ham radio is one of the few hobbies in the world, which requires a government licence. To obtain the licence, one has to go through a course as per the syllabus devised by the communication authority to be equipped with an optimum amount of knowledge and proficiency which is necessary to communicate using a wireless transceiver without causing interference to the other radio communication services and as per agreements set up at the international communication meetings. The course covers basic electronic radio theories as well as the existing national and international rules related to amateur radio communication in radiotelephony (voice) and radio telegraphy (Morse Code).The person who wants to become a ham should at the same time be able to show his proficiency in Morse Code sending and receiving. The Amateur Radio Operator’s Certificate is awarded by the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) Wing of the Ministry of Communication, New Delhi. The examination is conducted at the Wireless Monitoring Stations located throughout the country. The examination is held for four different categories of licence. They are the :

Advanced Grade Licence

Grade I Licence

Grade II Licence

Restricted Grade Licence.

Anyone above 12 years of age can obtain Amateur Radio Station Operator’s Licence after passing the examination/s mentioned above. It is also possible to establish an Amateur Radio Club Station with a licenced ham in charge of it.

The application form for Amateur Radio Station Operator’s Certificate Examination can be obtained from :

The Assistant Wireless Advisor to the Govt. of India,
Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) Wing,
Ministry of Communications, Dak Bhavan,
Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001

The filled-in Application Form along with all other necessary documents should be sent to the Wireless Monitoring Station located nearest to your home town or where you wish to appear for the examination.

SECTION I :

Radio Theory and Practice (Applicants holding degree in telecommunication, or electronics and electrical communication, or a degree recognized by the central government as equivalent to the above degree shall be exempted from appearing in SECTION I of the test).

SECTION II :

National and International regulations applicable to the operation of amateur radio station and those relating to the working of station generally.

Part II – Morse Code

(i) Morse code receiving (ii) Morse code sending

Detailed syllabus

Section I : Radio Theory and Practice

Elementary electricity and magnetism :

Elementary theory of electricity, conductors and insulators, units, Ohm’s law, resistance in-series and parallel, conductance, power and energy, permanent magnets and electromagnets and their use in radio work; self and mutual inductance; types of inductors used in receiving and transmitting circuits, capacitance; construction of various types of capacitors and their arrangements in series and/or parallel.

Elementary theory of alternating currents :

Sinusoidal alternating quantities-peak, instantaneous, RMS, average values, phase; reac zation and smoothing.

Elementary theory and construction of semiconductor devices:

Diodes and Transistors.

Radio receivers:

Principles and operation of TRF and superheterodyne receivers, CW reception, receiver characteristics-sensitivity, selectivity, fidelity; adjacent channel and image interference; AVC and squelch circuits; signal to noise ratio.

Transmitter:

Principles and operation of low power transmitter; crystal oscillators, stability of oscillators.

Radio propagation:

Wavelength, frequency, nature and propagation of radio waves; ground and sky waves; skip distance; fading.

Aerials:

Common types of transmitting and receiving aerials.

Frequency measurement:

Measurement of frequency and use of simple frequency meters.

SECTION II : Radio Regulations

(a) Knowledge of :

(i) the Indian Wireless Telegraph Rules, 1973; and

(ii) the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978.

(b) Knowledge of International Radio Regulations as relating to the operation of amateur stations with particular emphasis on the following:

Designation of Emission,

Nomenclature of the frequency and wavelength,

Frequency allocation to amateur radio service,

Measures against Interference,

Interference and tests, Identification of stations,

distress and urgency transmissions,

Amateur Stations,

Phonetic alphabets and figure code.

(c) Standard frequency and time signal services in the world.

(d) The following ‘Q’ codes and abbreviations which shall have meaning as assigned to them in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) convention :

QRA, QRG, QRH, QRI, QRK, QRL, QRM, QRN, QRQ, QRS, QRT, QRU, QRV, QRW, QRX, QRZ, QSA, QSB, QSL, QSL, QSO, QSU, QSV, QSW, QSX, QSY, QSZ, QTC, QTH, QTR and QUM.

Telegraphic (Morse code) abbreviations: AA, AB, AR, AS, BT, C, CFM, CL, CQ, DE, K, KN, NIL, OK, R, TU, VA, WA, WB.

The written examination for Grade II licence is of one hours duration. The maximum number of marks is 100. Candidates must secure at least 40 per cent in each section and 50 per cent in aggregate to pass. The syllabus for Grade I licence is the same as that for Grade II licence, but the written examination for Grade I licence is of two hours duration. The maximum number of marks is 100 and candidates must secure at least 50 per cent in each section and 55 per cent in aggregate for a pass.

PART II : MORSE CODE

(a) Section I : Morse receiving (Speed: 5 words per minute)

The test piece will consist of a plain language passage of 125 letters, five letters counting as one word. Candidates are required to receive for five consecutive minutes at the speed of 5 words per minute from a double headgear headphone receiver, international Morse code signals from an audio frequency oscillator keyed either manually or automatically. A short practice piece may be sent at the prescribed speed before the start of the actual test. Candidates will not be allowed more than one attempt in each test. The test may be written in ink or pencil but must be legible. Bad handwriting and over-writing will render a candidate liable to disqualification. More than five errors will disqualify a candidate.

(b) Section 2 : Morse Sending (Speed: 5 words per minute)

The test piece will consist of a plain language passage of 125 letters, five letters counting as one word. Candidates are required to send on an ordinary key for five consecutive minutes at the minimum speed of five words per minute. A short practice piece may be allowed before the actual test. Candidates will not be allowed more than one attempt in the test. Efforts should be made to correct all errors. However, more than five uncorrected errors will disqualify a candidate. The accuracy of signaling, correct formation of characters and the correctness of spacing shall be taken into account.

A candidate is required to pass both in Part I and Part II. In the case of candidates qualifying in Part I only, the licence shall be restricted to radiotelephone operations in the VHF ham band only.

Morse Code test for Grade I :

Receiving-(Speed: 12 words per minute)

The test piece will consist of a plain language passage of 300 characters which may comprise letters, figures and punctuation (punctuation are indicated below). The average words shall contain five characters and each figure and punctuation will be counted as two characters. Candidates are required to receive for five consecutive minutes at a speed of 12 words per minute. Other conditions are the same as applicable to Grade II Examination.

Puncuations:

Full stop, Comma, Semi-colon, Break sign (BT), Hyphen and Question mark.

Sending-(Speed: 12 words per minute)

The test piece will be similar to Morse receiving test. Candidates are required to send for five consecutive minutes at a speed not less than 12 words per minute. Other conditions are the same as applicable to Grade II examination.

A candidate is required to pass both in Part I and Part II simultaneously.

Advanced Amateur Station Operators’ Examination

Part I-Written Test

(a) Section 1: Radio Theory and Practice

In addition to the syllabus prescribed for Grade II Examination, following items shall be included in the syllabus of Advanced Amateur Station Operators’ Examinations :-

(i) Motors and generators: Elementary principles and construction of alternators, motors and generators.

(ii) Alternating current: Construction of transformers, transformer losses, transformer as a matching device.

(iii) Measuring instruments: Moving coil and moving iron meters, frequency meters.

(iv) Semiconductor devices and transistors: Elementary principles of conduction and construction, symbols, biasing methods.

(v) Power supplies: Halfwave and fullwave rectifiers, smoothing and regulation, bridge rectifier.

(vi) Modulation: Principles of frequency modulation.

(vii) Transmitters and receivers: Elementary principles of transmission and reception of facsimile and television signals, elementary principles of transmitters and receivers employing single side band.

(viii) Propagation: Characteristics of ionosphere and troposphere. Properties of different reflecting layers, optimum working frequency, day and night frequencies.

(ix) Aerials: Principles of radiation, aerials for different frequency bands including aerials for microwave.

(x) Space communications: Elementary principles of communication via satellite.

(b) Section 2: Radio Regulations

Syllabus is same as prescribed for Grade II Examination. The test is of 3 hours duration. The maximum number of marks is 100 and candidate must secure at least 50 per cent in each section and 60 per cent in aggregate for a pass.

Part II- Morse Code

Syllabus is same as prescribed for Grade I Examination.