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Your Entry To Amateur Radio 2025
Do you, or someone you know, want to get your UK Amateur Radio Foundation Licence? If so, this free on-line course is for you, or them.
South Bristol Amateur Radio Club are going to provide a free on-line UK Amateur Radio Foundation Licence Course commencing in February 2025, read on for more details.
What We Will Do
- Ahead of the Training Evening we will send you a set of training notes in PDF format by email to you to allow you to prepare for the on-line lesson.
- Ahead of the Training Evening we will send out an invitation to the on-line lesson which will be undertaken using the Open Source Jitsi Meet platform.
- On a weekday evening (Monday or Wednesday), based on majority preference, we will host an on-line lesson using the Open Source Jitsi Meet platform where one of our trainers will present the lesson topic or part of the lesson topic. We expect these lessons to take about an hour and be held weekly.
- At the end of each lesson send copies of the presentation slides in PDF format by email to each participant.
- At the end of each module (there are 8 modules) we will provide a set of revision questions to be undertaken as “homework” to allow you to assess your understanding of the points discussed.
- At the end of the formal training sessions hold 1 or more “mock exams” in an interactive virtual classroom format.
What You Will Do
- If you are interested; send an email to Training[at]sbarc[dot]co[dot]uk including: your name, email address, postal address, date of birth and which weekday evenings (Monday or Wednesday) and times you are available. Note: only send this information by email to the address given; please do not:
- Send these details to other general purpose addresses we list, your details might not get passed to the training team.
- Telephone us to give us these details, we probably won’t be in a position to write your details down and we will forget them!
- Text us with these details, it makes the work of setting up mailing lists for course communication more time consuming.
- DM, WhatsApp, Use other Social Media communication channels such as Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (sorry X), Mastodon, Discord etc. to send us these details. We don’t have the manpower to monitor all possible communication avenues.
- Save and/or print and file the PDF lesson notes we send; and read/review these ahead of the on-line lesson.
- Attend the on-line lessons.
- Complete the homework.
- Attend the interactive “mock exams”.
- Book and pay for your own on-line examination through the RSGB Exam Booking System. Exams will cost £35.50 per sitting.
- Let us know your result and callsign.
We estimate 11 – 12 sessions to cover all of the syllabus plus allow time for the recap homework and mock exams with the following proposed programme:
- Module 1 (Licensing Conditions): w/c 03/03/2025.
- Module 2 (Technical Basics) w/c 10/03/2025 and w/c 17/03/2025.
- Module 3 (Transmitters and Receivers): w/c 24/03/2025.
- Module 4 (Feeders and Antennas): w/c 31/03/2025.
- Module 5 (Propagation): w/c 07/04/2025.
- Module 6 (Electromagnetic Compatibility [EMC]): w/c 14/04/2025.
- Module 7 (Operating Practices and Procedures): w/c 21/04/2025.
- Module 8 (Safety): w/c 28/04/2025.
- Mock Exams: w/c 05/05/2025 and w/c 12/05/2025. (NOTE: 05/05/2025 is the Mayday Bank Holiday, if the chosen lesson night is Monday there will be no session on 05/05/2025 and the mock exams will take place on 12/05/2025 and 19/05/2025).
- Exam Period: 19/05/2025 onwards. If you want to organise recap sessions after 19/05/2025 these can be accommodated within reason.
Please pass this information onto anyone you know who might be interested in finding out more about Amateur Radio.
What will you need
In order to participate in the on-line sessions you will need:
- A working desktop or laptop computer with a modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox or similar), microphone and webcam or an Android tablet/iPad. Note: although it is possible to run the Jitsi Meet client on an Android or iOS mobile phone we do not recommend this as the screen is usually too small to efficiently watch the slide show presentations that are used during the on-line lessons.
- A stable connection to the internet.
- A PDF Reader such as Adobe Acrobat, MuPDF or GNU gv.
- An operational printer if you want to create hard copies of anything sent to you.
Jitsi Meet
It is possible that you have not previously used, or even heard of, the Jitsi Meet platform. Jitsi Meet is an Open Source alternative to online video conferencing platforms such as Zoom. At the South Bristol Amateur Radio Club we try to use and support Open Source alternatives such as Jitsi Meet, WordPress, Libre Office and GNU Image Manipulation Programme.
Jitsi Meet can be accessed using a modern web-browser. We will send out links to the meetings but you can also log in at: https://meet.jit.si/ with the meeting details. Clients are available for both Android and iOS.
FAQ’s
| No. | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Why are only Monday’s and Wednesday’s available? | Simply because: 1. Our last course ran on a Tuesday and there were a number of people who were not able to join a Tuesday session so we want to give them the opportunity of a course night they could attend. 2. Our Club meetings, be these formal or informal, are held on a Thursday, and 3. The volunteer Trainers don’t want to work on a Friday evening or at the weekend after a week earning a living. |
| 2. | I can’t make the majority course night, can you send videos of the lessons? | No. The format of the course is that you attend a virtual classroom with your fellow students and the lessons are presented live giving you the opportunity to ask questions in real time. If you want to learn through video content the Essex Ham course is available. |
| 3. | Why do you use the Jitsi platform rather than ZOOM/Teams/Insert software of choice? | We use Jitsi because we believe in Open Source software and because the free Jitsi platform does not put a time limit or an occupancy limit on meetings. Additionally, Teams is basically rubbish and Zoom was sharing data with Meta. |
| 4. | What time will the lessons start and how long will the sessions last? | Typically we start at 19:00 to allow our trainers to complete their paid days work. Most sessions last 1 hour or less, there are a couple that can over-run this by 10 minutes or so. |
| 5. | Can my son/daughter/grandson/granddaughter join the course? | Yes. However, if they are aged under 18 we ask that a parent or guardian be present at each of the sessions. Furthermore, we do not wish to hold any personal data other than a name for a child and ask that all communication is routed through a parent or guardian. |
| 6. | Where/How do I book an exam? | Remote invigilation exams are booked by the student through the RSGB, see the following link: https://rsgb.org/main/rsgb-examination-booking-on-or-after-1-may-2024/ |
| 7. | What are the requirements for at home equipment for the remote invigilated exam? | See the following links: 1. Online Exam Remote Invigilation FAQ 2. Online Exam Remote Invigilation Candidate Instructions 3. Exam Candidates FAQ |
| 8. | What is the cost of the course? | The course itself is free, but students are responsible for their exam fees and the cost of any books or materials other than the SBARC lesson notes which are provided electronically only. |
| 9. | How do we communicate with the tutor during the course? | By E-Mail to training[AT]sbarc[DOT]co[DOT]uk. |
| 10. | I’m not good at exams, is there another way I can be assessed? | No. The only assessment route is the examination. If you have difficulties or disabilities that need adjustment then these are possible depending on the condition and evidence presented. Please contact the RSGB Exam Secretary on exams@rsgb.org.uk as early as possible so that the correct adjustments can be made. |
| 11. | Are there any practical assessments, do I need to know Morse Code? | No. There are no practical assessments and there is no Morse Code assessment or appreciation. |
| 12. | What books are available to support the learning process? | The primary textbook is the Foundation Licence Manual, this is available from the RSGB Bookshop, Amazon and Amazon Kindle: 1. RSGB Bookshop 2. Amazon 3. Amazon Kindle Additionally you may like the “Exam Secrets” textbook: 1. RSGB Bookshop 2. Amazon Kindle |
| 13. | Can you help me with equipment/setup once I am licensed? | That depends. We recommend joining a local club and the RSGB so that you can tap into the knowledge of more experienced Radio Hams. If we are your local club then our members are usually willing to help you, if we’re not your local club we may be able to point you to a local club if you are south-west based otherwise we can put you in touch with your local RSGB Regional Rep for your area who will be able to identify local clubs that can help you. If you do apply for membership of the RSGB using the form linked to above, please enter “G4WAW: South Bristol Amateur Radio Club” in the “Offer Reference” box as marked up below. |
