The ham radio licencing examination is known as the Amateur Station Operator’s Certificate Examination (ASOC examination). It is conducted by the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing of the Ministry of Communications, New Delhi at the Wireless Monitoring Stations located throughout the country. You should apply to the ‘Officer-in-Charge’ (OC) or Engineer-Inspection (whichever is applicable) of the Monitoring Station nearest to your hometown. Basically the examination consists of a 100 marks question paper (50 marks related to basic radio/electronics theory as per the syllabus+50 marks related to Amateur Radio Rules & Regulations) which is of one, two or three hours duration as per the “Grade” of licence you will be going for. There are 4 Grades. You can apply for more than one grades at a time (or for only one grade), provided, separate application forms along with the prescribed examination fees separately for each grade in the form of Demand Draft issued from a “State Bank of India” branch drawn in favour of the “Pay & Accounts Officer” (Headquarters), Department of Telecommunications, New Delhi-110001, payable at SBI New Delhi Service Branch (Code No. 7687) are sent to the “Officer-in-Charge” of the Wireless Monitoring Station (in no case application be forwarded to WPC Wing, New Delhi) where you will be appearing for the ASOC examination.

The particulars of the “Venue” and “Date” etc. of the examination will be communicated by the Officer-in-Charge of the concerned Wireless Monitoring Station on receipt of completed application form along with the requisite examination fees.

Following should accompany the application:

(1) Nationality Certificate/Character Certificate in the prescribed Performa (find the perform in “Indian Rules & Regulation” section in this site) from a gazetted officer.

(2) 2 copies of recent passport size (3 x 4 cms)photographs duly signed by you on the front side.

(3) Examination fees in the form of Bank Draft (DD) drawn from a SBI branch of appropriate amount (Refer to the latest Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules for necessary fee structure).

(4) Personal particulars (in quadruplicate) in the prescribed Performa (find the Performa in “Indian Rules & Regulation” section in this site)

(5) An attested copy of birth certificate or School Leaving certificate as a proof of your age (the minimum age requirement to appear for the examination is 12 years)

After the declaration of the result, a copy of the result and your “Personal particulars” will be forwarded by the Wireless Monitoring Station, Shillong, to the WPC Wing of the Ministry of Communications, New Delhi. The WPC Wing, New Delhi will then inform the concerned Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs for a ‘Security Clearance’/Police Verification. After the police verification report is received with a clearance, the WPC Wing will write to you that you will be awarded a “Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence” on payment of the requisite “Licence fee”. Remember that ‘Examination Fee’ and ‘Licence fee’ is different and the ‘Licence fee’ should be sent only when asked for. This time, the mode of payment is same as above, but you have to send it directly to the-

Assistant Wireless Adviser to the Govt. of India,
WPC Wing of the Ministry of Communications,
Amateur Radio Section,
Dak Bhawan, Gate No. 4,
Parliament Street,
New Delhi-110001

Ham radio enthusiasts are a neglected section in our society whom the government still considers as a necessary evil.

Different Grades of Licenc/Licencing Examination & Licence

(1)Restricted Grade Amateur Station Operator’s Licence (if you pass Restricted Grade ASOC Examination): Permits line-of-sight short distance terrestrial communication using a power output of 10 Watts (dc input power) in the Very High Frequenc (VHF) band. The frequencies allocated in this band ranges from 144 to 146 MHz. Modes of communication allowed are: Radio Telephony(Voice) using Amplitude Modulation (AM), Single Side Band (SSB), SSB Suppressed Carrier, SSB reduced carrier and Frequency Modulation (FM). It is better not to go for this Grade of licence because communication is limited to a very short distance (typical possible range may be 35 km only depending on the height of the antenna or the type of terrain). This type of licence is useful in a place where there are large number of ham radio operators (e.g. Bangalore-where the population of licensed operator is around 4,000 )

(2) Grade II Licence (if you pass Grade-II ASOC examination): Permits worldwide long distance communication in AM, SSB, FM using a power output of 50 watts in different allotted short wave bands (high frequency-HF bands) including the VHF band mentioned above. But entitlement for authorization of voice communication (radio telephony) is on the basis of providing proof of having made 100 contacts with other amateur radio stations using Morse Code (Called Continuous Wave-CW communication). This means that you have to send back your original licence to the WPC wing for “Voice endorsement” along with the photocopies of your log book (see Rules & Regulation)

(3) Grade-I: (if you pass Grade-I ASOC examination): Power output is 150 watts in short waves (allotted HF bands), 25 watts in VHF & UHF (Ultra High Frequency-for satellite communication). With this licence you can directly use voice including Morse Code. Other advanced modes like Radio Tele-Typing (RTTY), Amateur Radio Teleprinting Over Radio (AMTOR), PAcket Radio (-an advanced techniques of digital data communication through computer connected to a wireless transceiver), Amateur Television (ATV using Slow Scan Telecast:SSTV). You are also permitted to work amateur radio communication satellites with this licence.

(4) Advanced Grade: Same as Grade-I licence but allowed to use 400 watts of power in selected sub-bands. This is the highest grade licence in India. Every ham radio enthusiast in India aspires to get it.

Practical Test:

There is a practical test on Morse Code sending and receiving (except for Restricted Grade Licence where this test is not required). This is a 10 minutes duration test to examine the candidates proficiency in sending and receiving Morse Code. To learn Morse code, a Morse Code Practice Oscillator can be assembled along with a Morse Key and a Morse Code learning Cassette can be found useful.
The book written by Saad Ali, VU2ST (“Guide to Amateur Radio in India” is priced at Rs.65/- available from the Amateur Radio Society of India-ARSI, 4 Kurla Industrial Estate, Ghatkopar, Mumbai-400 086) can be used as a guide-book to prepare for the licencing examination. Another book available in the market is-“ABC of Amateur Radio and Citizen Band” (By Rajesh Verma, VU2RVM, available from-“Kits’n’ Spares”, Electronics For You, 303, Dohil Chamber, 46, Nehru Place, New Delhi-19. Please enquire their availability+latest price prior to ordering).