Amateur – Advanced Licence

Your Last Formal Step Into Amateur Radio

When we say “Amateur Radio” many people instantly think of the old Morse code. They think that to get involved in amateur radio you have to learn Morse code, it is not necessary to learn or have knowledge of Morse code to obtain an advanced or any other grade of amateur licence.

October 2005 saw the introduction of the new advanced grade syllabus and there are not many changes to the old Syllabus. As an advanced licence you can use your licence in all the countries that have reciprocal licensing with Australia . A current list of countries with reciprocal licensing agreements with Australia can be found on the ACMA website.

You need complete a training course which will take between 50 and 100 hours training and at the end of the course a 50 question multiple choice examination, a multiple choice regulations examination and if you do not hold a foundation licence, practical test and after processing by the WIA and ACMA your new licence will be issued.  You can now get on the on the air with your new advanced grade licence.

The advanced licence provides a great opportunity for young people to expand an interest in communications technology and can be a solid launching base to a rewarding career in science, electronics, and communications. The advanced qualification is recognized by some institutions as prior learning and may exempt a holder of this qualification from needing to complete some training modules at TAFE.

But most importantly an advanced licence will expand your horizons if you are upgrading from a foundation or standard licence. It provides an opportunity to communicate with people all over the world as it allows for the use of more bands and higher power than the other two licenses. You will be able to carry out experiments by bouncing signals off the moon and talk by bouncing your signal off aircraft. You will also be able to make and or modify your own equipment. The advanced grade licensee can use the 20-meter band and can therefore join one of the several very popular maritime nets.

Things You Will Need To Know

You will need to be able to correctly answer correctly 35 of 50 multiple-choice questions based on the advanced syllabus, a copy of the syllabus can be downloaded from the link on the right hand menu bar of this page and a similar regulations assessment based on the LCD (Licence Conditions Determination), a copy of which can be also downloaded from the ACMA Web Page.

Alternatively if you already hold qualifications, which would allow you exemptions in training, then you can apply for recognition of prior learning from the WIA,details are on the WIA website under Become A Radio Amateur > Australian Amateur Licensing And Callsigns > Recognition Of Prior Learning Assessment.

Radio Bands You Can Use

The advanced licence operator can operate in all of 23 amateur bands listed below. The advanced is the only grade of licence eligible to be trained as a WIA assessor and unlike other grades of licence, the advanced licensee has full reciprocal licensing with all those countries offering reciprocal licensing.

Training For Your Licence

There are many radio clubs around Australia offering advanced licence training, charges associated with the courses are up to the individual radio club, we suggest checking with your local club. You may also wish to purchase some support technical reference information such as the ARRL handbook or the Radio Theory handbook, these publications can be purchased online via the WIA bookshop.

Besides providing training the clubs are the ideal places to learn all about amateur radio. You can meet other hams, attend interesting lectures, and find out lots of information. If you decide to take up amateur radio as a hobby you will soon learn there are hundreds of different facets to the hobby. The standard time for training is around 50 to 100 hours. Some clubs will conduct training over several nights and some over a weekend. The 50 question multiple choice written assessment and the regulations assessment takes around 1.5 hours.

Assisted training via online material.

The Radio and Electronics School has an advanced training course available including mentor support and assessment practice tutorials. Please visit res.net.au for more info on the services provided.

Assessments

You will also need to complete an assessment as soon as you feel you have completed the training.

The price for the advanced assessment, regulations assessment and practical assessments may be obtained from the training officer, please contact training.officer@sresu.asn,au.

The SRESU may be ale to assist you with your assessment or a full list of assessors can be found on the WIA webpage.

The costs associated with the assessment is governed by agreement between the ACMA and Australian Maritime College (AMC). The Advanced licence is issued by ACMA.. Price is reviewed annually.  Multi-year licences are available.

The new licence structure introduces a practical assessment that is common to the three grades of licence. The practical assessment is required not only for foundation but also for standard and advanced licence grades. However a practical assessment only needs to be completed once, so by successfully completing a practical assessment as part of your foundation licence you will not be required to repeat it should you decide to upgrade to the standard or advanced licence grades. Even if you are an existing licenced amateur who received your licence before the requirement for a practical assessment was introduced and you wish to upgrade your licence, then you too will need to complete a practical assessment if you have not already done so.