The Indian Wireless Telegraph

(Amateur Service)

Amendment Rules 2009

(valid from 1 April 2010)

Government of India
Ministry of Communications
Department of Telecommunications
Wireless Planning & Coordination Wing
6th Floor, Sanchar Bhavan
20, Ashoka Road
New Delhi 110001
India

www.wpc.gov.in
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The Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules

Sl.No. Contents Page No.

1 The Indian Wireless Telegraph (Amateur Service) Rules 3
2 Conditions for the conduct of Amateur W ireless Telegraph Station 14
3 Authorised Frequency Bands /Power/Emission 20
4 Register for wireless telegraphy apparatus 21
5 Specimen form of log 21
6 Fee Structure 22
7 Exam Syllabus 23

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THE INDIAN WIRELESS TELEGRAPHS (AMATEUR SERVICE)

AMENDMENT RULES, 2009

G.S.R.No. 385 (E). In exercise of the powers conferred by sections 4 and

section 7 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885), the Central
Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Indian
Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978.

1. Short title and commencement:

(1) These rules may be called the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur
Service) Amendment Rules, 2009.

(2) They shall come into force on 1 April 2010.

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
authorised 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. `Amateur Radio Beacon’ means a station in the Amateur Service having

transmitter (s) emitting carrier wave along with identification signals at regular
interval. Such beacons can be directional or non-directional;

d. ‘Amateur Station’ and "Amateur Satellite Service" `Station’ shall have the
meaning respectively assigned to them in the Convention;

e `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;

f. `Licence' means a licence granted under section 4 of the Act for an amateur
wireless telegraph station.

3. Necessity for licence:

No person 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.

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4. Categories of licence:

There shall be two categories of licences, namely:

(i) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (General)

(ii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (Restricted)

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 than 18 years of age;

c. who qualifies the Amateur Station Operators’ 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 Radio-telegraph Operators' Certificate;

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 (Restricted)

(iii) To a bonafide amateur radio society, club or a school, college, or an

institution or a university in India, which has the aim of investigations in the
field of radio or the training of persons in radio communication techniques.

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

(2) Not withstanding anything contained in sub-clause (b) of sub-rule (1), the
Central Government may grant, to bonafide experimenters between the age
of 12 and 18 years, Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (General) or
Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (Restricted).

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 is competent to
conduct experiment in wireless telegraphy.

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(3) Not withstanding 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' Certificates as are issued by a
competent authority in any other country as equivalent to qualifications
referred to in aforesaid sub-rule for the purpose of grant of licence under
these rules.

6. Application for licence:

An application for the grant of licence from:

(a) an individual, or

(b) an Amateur Radio Society or club or a school, college or an institute or a

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 Operators 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-clauses (a), (b) and
(c) of clause (i) of sub-rule (1) of rule 5;

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

(i) Amateur Station Operators' (General) Examination : Rs. 100/-

(ii) Amateur Station Operators' (Restricted) Examination : Rs. 100/-

8. Examinations:

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

(2) An application for licence in Annexure II to the rules shall be submitted not
later than one month before the date of desired examination.

(3) 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
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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 or making a
representation against the action proposed to be taken.

(4) 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 of 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 IV to these
rules.

10. Observance of conditions of licence, convention and rules under the

Act:

(1) Every licensed 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) Not withstanding 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 licensee, or by
means of a general notice published in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper
published in New Delhi.

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

11. Period of validity:

(1) A licence granted under these rules shall be issued for a period of 20
years or lifelong as the case maybe commencing on the date of issue of
the licence and expiring on the last day of the month proceeding the month
of issue.

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Explanation:- For the purpose of this rule, the expression “life long” means
till the licence holder attains the age of 80 years.
(2) Validity of lifelong licence may be extended on specific request of the
licence holder for 10 years at a time without any additional payment.

12. Fee for licence:

(1) A licence fee on the following scale shall be payable to the Central
Government on receipt of instructions from that Government and in the
manner directed by it:-

Category of Licence Fees in Rupees

20 years Life Long
(i) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (General) Rs.1000/- Rs. 2000/-
(ii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (Restricted) Rs.1000/- Rs. 2000/-

(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 adjustment towards higher category of licence.

13. Authorised 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 authorised by the Central
Government.

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 the 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
twenty years or life long if the licensee,-

(a) Makes an application for renewal at least two months before the date of
expiry of the licence.

(b) Has actively operated his station during the past two years prior to the
date of expiry 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; .

(c) Pay a fee of Rs.1000/- or Rs.2000/-

(2) The licence fee shall not be refundable on ground of licencee’s inability to
establish or make use of the licenced Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station or
for adjustment towards higher category of licence.

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(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.

This in no way however confers any right to the candidates seeking ASOC
renewal under this category and the right of decision of renewal will solely
remain with the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.

** It is also desired that those who apply for the renewal should register in the
WPC website and file their application ‘online’ also. The request for renewal
should enclose the Acknowledgement slip for the online submission along
with the demand draft and other documents.

15. Surcharge for late renewal:

In case the holder of a 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 after the date of expiry of the licence
on payment of a surcharge at the rate of Rs.100/- for every half-year or part
thereof. The licence in such a case shall be renewed from the date of expiry
of the 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 place 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 license for endorsement, and pays a fee of Rs.200/-.

18. Portable and mobile Amateur Station:

Without prejudice to rule 17, the Central Government may in addition to an

amateur station licensed for a

(1) Specified location issue a special authorisation to establish, maintain and

work an amateur station as a portable station or a mobile station fixed on
board a motor vehicle for a specific period in special occasions like exhibitions
and jamborees or for specific technical investigations in radio if-

(i) Application for such authorisation is made well in advance indicating,

among others, the specific period for which the authorisation is required,
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nature of investigations or details in regard to occasion as the case may be,

and area of operation;

(ii) The applicant holds an Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence

(General);

(iii) The applicant pays an additional fee of Rs.200/-.

(2) The special authorisation shall, in addition to the conditions specified in

rule 10, be subject to following, namely:-

(i) The special authorisation shall not be issued for a period more than 90
days.

(ii) The licensee'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 callsign already authorised to the
licensee's amateur station at the fixed location for use by the portable or
mobile station. Such callsign 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 Government.

19. Amateur Station on board ship:

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

(2) The establishment, maintenance and working of amateur stations 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 callsign allotted to such stations shall have suffix `MS' followed by the
callsign of the ship in case of radiotelegraphy or the official name of the ship
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in case of radiotelephony.

(iv) 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 circumstance in which it was lost and the
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. 100/-

(ii) For duplicate of the document showing the renewal of licence….. Rs.100/-

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 licencsee 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 lic ence shall
be refunded for the period a licence stands revoked.

22. Transfer of licence:

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A licence shall not be transferable:

Provided that the Central Government may permit the transfer of a licence
granted to an authorised official of an amateur radio society or club or a
school, college or an institute or a 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 licensed 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 an
other 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 the station is operated by him.

(b) In case of a licence issued to an authorised official of an amateur radio

society or club or a school, college, or an institution or a University in India,
the station may also be operated by a person who holds a licence of
equivalent or higher category with the prior permission of the Central
Government in writing; if the licensee keeps personal surveillance over the
operation of the station. The licensee shall be responsible for the observance
of these rules.

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 in his name for amateur radio society or a school, college or an
institute or a university in India, from the operation of this rule.

26. Admission of foreign national to examination and grant of licence:

(1) Not withstanding 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:-
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(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's stay in India is not likely to be less than one year from the
date of application.
(iv) the applicant is a 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.
(v) 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.

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 licensed under the Act, to one thousand rupees and in
the case of continuing breach a further fine of two hundred rupees for every
day after the first during the whole of any part of which the breach continues;

(ii) when a servant of the person so licensed 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 Telegraphs

(Amateur Service) Rules, 1978, shall cease to be in force.

(2) Not withstanding such cesser,-

(a) Where before such commencement any person has passed the Amateur
Station Operators' Certificate Advanced, Grade I, Grade II, Grade II Restricted
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 Advanced, Grade I, Grade II, Grade II
Restricted 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.

Note:

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1. The existing Grade II and Restricted category shall be migrated to the new
‘Restricted’ category at the time of their next renewal after the payment of
revised fees for 20 years or lifetime as the case may be at the request of the
applicant. The old license type will be indicated in their license to distinguish
them from those who seek licensee afresh based on the new notification.

2. The existing Grade I and Advanced Grade category shall be migrated to

the new ‘General’ category at the time of their next renewal after the payment
of revised fees for 20 years or lifetime as the case may be at the request of
the applicant.

3. The callsign block VU2 shall be reserved for General Grade and block VU3
to Restricted Grade for future licences.

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Annexure – I

CONDITIONS FOR THE CONDUCT OF AMATEUR WIRELESS

TELEGRAPH STATION

(See Rules 5 & 10)

I. 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 investigation 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
authorised frequency bands.

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

II. Messages:

(1) (a) Radio communications may be exchanged with other stations similarly
authorised. 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 communications.

(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 reproduction sinusoidal tone or tones within the
audio frequency spectrum which 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;

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(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;

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

(3) Not withstanding 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, floods, 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 authorised 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 occasions.

III. Frequencies, Emissions and Power:

The amateur station shall be operated on frequencies that are within the
frequency bands authorised 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 radiant on any frequency outside the limits of the
authorised 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, the emissions are within the authorised 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:

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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 is 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 (Dairy 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 callsign of station or stations with which messages have been
exchanged, times 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 log 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 licensee shall ensure that log is signed by that person indicating
his name, callsign 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.

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(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.

(2) The Wireless telegraphy apparatus and other accessory equipment used
or intended to be used by the licensee 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 unauthorised persons.

(4) The transmitter shall be of a type that has a 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 as not to cross above or fall on to any power, telegraph or telephone
line.

VIII. Secrecy of Correspondence:

If any message which the licensee is not entitled to receive is, nevertheless
received, the licensee shall not 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 authorised officer of the Central Government or a
competent 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:

(1) (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 is progress.

(b) The callsign 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. Licensee
shall not make transmission without identification or with false identification.

(c) Prolonged calls and transmissions shall be avoided.

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(d) When it is necessary to spell out callsign, 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
radio telephony). 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 radio telephony), the callsign 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 listen in the frequency band is 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 callsign of the station called in the calling
procedure.

(3) End of transmission and work:

(a) Transmission of a message shall be terminated by the signal AR (in case

of radiotelegraphy) and 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 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 30 seconds and shall be composed of series of VVV
followed by the callsign of the station emitting the test signals. In case of
radiotelephony series of VVV shall be replaces 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.

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 19

X. Inspection:

(1) Any officer authorised 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
making available the licence, the station log or other records for examination
by the inspecting officer.

(2) The licensee when called upon to do so by the Central Government shall
arrange to forward the licence, the log book, or any other record or data for
examination by that Government.

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

interception of messages:

(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
authorised 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 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 state
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 order.

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

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

XIII. A copy of the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Amendment

Rules, 2009 shall be kept at the Amateur Station.

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 20

AUTHORISED FREQUENCY BANDS, POWER & EMISSIONS

Max Max
DC DC
Bands Frequencies Emissions Emissions Remarks
Input Input
Power Power

Restricted Grade General Grade

160 M 1820-l860* kHz
80 M 3500-3700* kHz Old Grade
II
75 M 3890-3900* kHz A1A, A2A, Licensees
40 M 7000-7200 kHz A3E, H3E, are also
30 M 10100-10150 kHz $ A3E, H3E, 50 J3E, R3E, 400 authorised
20 M 14000-14350 kHz J3E, R3E watts F1B, F2B, watts to use
17 M 18068-18168 kHz $ F3E, F3C, A1A
A3C, A3F emission
15 M 21000-21450 kHz $ in these
12 M 24890-24990 kHz bands
10 M 28000 -29700 kHz
F1B, F2B, 10 F1B, F2B,
6M 50-54 MHz 25 watts
F3E, F3C watts F3E, F3C
2M 144-146 MHz Old Grade
II
70 CM 434-438 MHz #
Licensees
are also
authorised
F1B, F2B, 10
F1B, F2B, to use
F3E, F3C watts 25 watts A1A and
F3E, F3C
A2A
emissions
in these
bands
5725-5840 MHz # - -
* On primary shared basis as per the relevant provision of Radio Regulations.
# On secondary basis as per the relevant provisions of Radio Regulations.
$ Authorization is on non-interference and non protection basis.
Note:
(i) All the allocation subject to the relevant provisions of the Radio Regulations. Amateur
satellite service is permitted for General Grade in the appropriate sub bands in accordance
with Radio Regulations and in those cases the maximum output RF power (airp) is 30 dBw.

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

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

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

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 Annexure VI :

See Rule 16
REGISTER FOR WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY APPARATUS:

In case of
Particulars Name & purchase Particulars
of the address of give of the
the person Name &
receipt address
apparatus Date of of the Date of licence Re
SI. from whom no. and
Make/ received receipt or indicate person to sale or issued in ma
No. whom sold or transfer the name rks
Model/ (In case assembly the
licence transferred of the
Chassis & assembled
Type No by licencee no. of the purchaser
write self seller
made)

SPECIMEN FORM OF LOG

See Condition VI (6)

Frequency Time of
& Type of Record
Station Station Time of QSL
SI. No. emission Report experiment
Date & power Called/ heard or terminat card
of received or Summery
Time input to Called worked ing Sent / Initi
contact RST of
final stage by RST QSO Received als
Communicat
(PEP) ions
 22

FEE STRUCTURE:

SI.No. Details Fee in Rs.

1. Examination fee Rs.100/-per Grade
2. Licence fee for Rs.1000/- for 20 years or Rs.2000/ f or
Restricted / General life time
Renewal fee for
grade Rs.1000/- for 20 years or Rs.2000/ f or
3. life time
Restricted/General
grade fee for Club/
Licence Rs.1000/- for 20 years or till validity
4.
Repeater of custodian
Surcharge for late Rs.100/- for every 6 months or part
5. Renewal there of,
Change of location Rs.200/-
6.
(Temporary / Permanent)
7. Mobile operation Rs.200/-
8. Duplicate licence Rs.100/-
9. Duplicate renewal Rs.100/-

The prescribed fee is to be paid through Non Tax Receipt Portal (NTRP)
available on website http://bharatkosh.gov.in under the head Receipt for DOT.
First please register in the site http://bharatkosh.gov.in under Ministry
“Telecommunications”

Address for communications:

The Assistant Wireless Advisor to Govt. of India,

Ministry of Communications,
Department of Telecommunications, (WPC Wing),
Amateur Section, 6 th Floor, Sanchar Bhavan,
Parliament Street, New Delhi–110001, India.

www.wpc.gov.in

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 23

SYLLABUS AND THE DETAILS OF EXAMINATIONS FOR THE AWARD OF

AMATEUR STATION OPERATOR’S LICENCE (Restricted) and (General)

1. The examination shall consist of the following two parts:

PART 1 - Written Test

It shall comprise of one paper containing two sections as under:

Section A: Radio Theory and Practice

Note - Applicants holding degree in Engineering/Science or Diploma in Engineering

and having studied electronics or telecommunications shall be exempted from
appearing in Section A of Part-I of the test.

Section B: National and international Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio

Regulations applicable to the operation of amateur station and those relating to the
working of station generally.

PART II - Morse (Only for General Certificate)

Morse reception and sending (8 wpm)

2. Detailed syllabus:

2.1 Amateur Station Operator’s Licence (Restricted) Examination

Part I - Written Test

Section A: Radio Theory and Practice

(i) Elementary Electricity and Magnetism:

1. Elementary theory of electricity- Passive Devices (Resistors; Inductors,

Transformers, Capacitors) and Active Devices (Diodes; Transistors).

2. Kirchoff’s current and voltage laws- Simple applications of the law.

3. Conductors and Insulators — Properties; units of circuit elements, Ohm’s Law.

4. Conductance — Definition of self and mutual inductance;

5. Power and energy- Definition, Units and simple applications.

6. Permanent magnets and electromagnets — Definition, properties and their use.

(ii) Elementary Theory of Alternating Currents:

1. Sinusoidal alternating quantities - Definition of peak, instantaneous, R.M.S.,

average values and its simple application.

2. Phase, reactance, impedance, power factor- Definition, units and simple •

applications.

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 24

3. Parallel and Series Circuits series and parallel circuits containing resistance,
inductance, capacitance; resonance in series and parallel circuits, coupled circuits.

4. Rectifiers, voltage regulation and smoothing circuits - Their basic knowledge and
simple application.

(iii) Elementary theory of Semiconductor Devices:

Diodes and transistors- Properties use of these devices for construction of amplifiers,
oscillators, detectors and frequency changers.

(iv) Radio Receivers:

1. Principles and operation of T.R.F. and super heterodyne receivers.

2. CW reception.

3. Receiver characteristics-sensitivity, selectivity, fidelity, adjacent channel and image

interference, A.V.C. and squelch/circuits signal to noise ratio.

(v) Transmitter:

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

oscillators.

2. Basic knowledge about construction of Semiconductor based transmitters.

(vi) Radio Wave Propagation:

1. Basic knowledge of Electromagnetic Spectrum.

2. Wave length, frequency, frequency bands.

3. Nature and propagations of radio waves, ground and sky waves, space waves, skip
distance, skip zone and fading.

(VII) Aerials: Common types of transmitting and receiving aerials.

(VIII) Frequency Measurement: Measurement of frequency and use of simple

frequency meters.

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 25

Section B: Radio Regulations

(a) Knowledge of :- (i) the Indian Wireless Telegraphs Rules, 1973.

(ii) The Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 and amendments.

(b) Knowledge of ITU Radio Regulations as relating to the operation of amateur

stations with particular emphasis on the following:

Item Provision of Radio Regulation (2008 edition)

Designation of Emission Appendix I

Phonetic alphabets and figure code Appendix 14

Nomenclature of the Frequency & Wavelength Article 2

Frequency allocation for Amateur Services Article 5

Interference, measures against interference & tests Article 15

Identification of Stations Article 19

Distress Signal, Call and Message. Transmissions Article 30, 31, 32 & 33.

Urgency Signal, Call and Message Transmissions Article 30, 31, 32 & 33.

Amateur Station Article 25

Call Sign series allocated to India Appendix 42

(c) Standard Frequency and Time Signals Services in the World.

d) The following ‘Q’ codes and abbreviations shall have the same meaning as
assigned to them in the Convention.

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

Abbreviations: AA, AB, AR, AS, C, CFM, CL, CQ, DE, K, NIL, OK, R, TU, VA, WA,
WB.

Note:-

1. The written test will be of one hour duration. The maximum marks will be 100 and
candidate must secure at least 40 % in each section and 50% in aggregate for a pass.

2. There will be no Morse test for Restricted Grade.

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 26

2.2. Amateur Station Operators’ License (General) Examination

Part I - Written Test

Section A: Radio Theory and Practice

In addition to the syllabus prescribed for Amateur Station Operator’s License

(Restricted) examination, following items shall be included in the syllabus of Amateur
Station Operators’ license (General) examinations:

(i) Principles of Communications:

1. Elementary idea of analog and digital communication.

2. Need for modulation; Modulation- amplitude, frequency and pulse modulation.

3. Elementary idea about demodulation.

(ii) Alternating current:

1. Basic concepts on construction of transformers.

2. Definition of Transformer losses.

3. Transformer as a matching device

(iii) Semi Conductor devices and Transistors:

1. Elementary principles of conduction and construction;

2. Symbols and biasing methods.

(iv) Power Supplies:

1. Basic knowledge of half wave and full wave rectifiers.

2. Definition and application of Bridge rectifier, smoothing and regulating circuits.

(v) Transmitters and Receivers:

1. Elementary principles of transmission and reception of Facsimile and Television

signals,

(vi) Propagation:

1. Characteristics of ionosphere and troposphere.

2. Properties of ionosphere layers.

3. Critical frequency and day / night frequencies.

(vii) Aerials:

1. Principles of radiation.
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 27

2. Aerials for different frequency bands including aerials for microwave,

(viii) Space Communications

1. Elementary principles of communication via satellites.

Section B: Radio Regulations

Same syllabus as prescribed for Amateur Station Operators’ License (Restricted)

examination.

The above written test will be of two hour duration. The maximum marks will be 100. A
candidate must secure at least 50 % in each section and 60% in aggregate for a pass.

Part Il-Morse Code

Morse receiving: (Speed: 8 words per minute)

The test piece will consist of a plain language passage of 200 characters which may
comprise of letters, figures. Test piece may also contain the following punctuations i.e.
full stop; comma; semi colon; break-sign; hyphen and question mark. The average
words shall contain five characters and each figure and punctuation will be counted as
two characters. The test will be for five consecutive minutes at a speed of 8 words per
minute. A short practice piece of one minute shall be sent at the prescribed speed
before the start of the actual test. Candidates will not be allowed more than one
attempt in Morse reception and sending test; the test may be written in ink or pencil
but must be legible. Over-writing will be treated as error. If any correction is required
the candidate may struck the wrong character and write the correct above the
character. More than 5 errors will disqualify a candidate. However ii a candidate
receives without any error in any part of the passage continuously for one minute
duration will be declared successful in the Morse reception test.

Morse Sending (Speed: 8 words per minute)

The test piece will be similar to Morse Receiving test for Amateur Station Operators’
License (General) examination. Candidates are required to send for five consecutive
minutes at a speed not less than 8 words per minute. Other conditions are the same
as applicable to Amateur Station Operators’ License (General) examination.

Note- A candidate shall have to pass both receiving and sending simultaneously.

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