RAE exam pass certificate (1978)

[unitelex]

I have just found my Radio Amateur Exam pass certificate from 1978
I did not apply for a licence at the time. I have only just got around to it

I heard somewhere that I can apply now using this old certificate however not sure how to do so and if any costs apply and what class of licence I would get?

Thanks
Chris

[Jon_G4MDC]

start here

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/manage-your...ensing-service

[HamishBoxer]

A class B licence, but of course we are now allowed on the HF bands.

[unitelex]

OK thanks,
It is asking for a RSGB candidate number.

I have a City and Guilds certificate which has some numbers at the bottom of the page but nothing saying RSGB reference or such like ?

[unitelex]

I tried the numbers I have on my pass certificate however the Ofcom site is asking for a more recent certificate ...

[dodgy-dxer]

Originally Posted by unitelex

I tried the numbers I have on my pass certificate however the Ofcom site is asking for a more recent certificate ...

I would call them by phone as the current system of certificate numbers is geared to the current 3 tier exam system. They are generally very helpful with admin matters.

Despite what has been said you should get a FULL amateur radio licence, there is no more A and B, that is long dead. In fact if you have an amateur radio certificate you probably passed a Morse test too?

The current name for the highest level in UK is "Full" (I had to look it up!!) which should be equivalent to the old RAE/AR certificate which was much harder than now I'm sure

Full calls now generally start with an "M" - "G" ran out some years ago, but you can now usually pick a callsign of your choice, including some unissued G calls

Good luck and 73

Fred
G4BWP

[dodgy-dxer]

Originally Posted by unitelex

I have just found my Radio Amateur Exam pass certificate from 1978
I did not apply for a licence at the time. I have only just got around to it

I heard somewhere that I can apply now using this old certificate however not sure how to do so and if any costs apply and what class of licence I would get?

Thanks
Chris

This is the helpful document

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asse...pplication.pdf

It mentions the RAE

The paper application costs £20 unless over 75!

I would talk to them first

Fred

[GMB]

I did this, with certificate from the 60's.
You have to do it using paper rather than online so it costs, but I had no problems.

M0GXB

[unitelex]

Great stuff thanks guys.
I have not done the morse test BTW but did see the that I can get the full licence which is great.

I was coming to the conclusion that it would need the paper / £20 method.
No worries I will do this

Thanks for your help and advice

[SiriusHardware]

If you have an amateur radio certificate you probably passed a Morse test too?

Not actually a given, as you could take the RAE, gain a class B licence and be happy with that if you had no interest in working HF. I was a G7 for a couple of years before I did the 12WPM Morse test which was then still a separate requirement if you wanted to upgrade from Class B to Class A.

[dsergeant]

When you passed the morse test back in the day you got a Post Office Amateur Radio Certificate which I believe allowed you to operate the station of another amateur without you yourself having received a licence. I still have that certificate but my RAE certificate (from 1968) has gone walkies.
Good luck Chris and lets hope you soon get that magical M0 callsign.

73 Dave G3YMC

[kellys_eye]

I passed my RAE in '78 too - class-A - and lost the details and certificates a few years later. I applied for the re-issuance of my callsign in 2018 using only a photocopy of my entry in a 1979/80 issue of the RSGB Callsign Book (showing my old home address) and an old passport that had the same old address in!

With evidence to show my history of 'radio' operation in the interim period i.e. MRCG certificate, this was deemed sufficent i.d. to process my licence application and it was issued accordingly.

I think this was very pragmetic and reasonable of the Office and commend their service.

[kellys_eye]

Update - just checked back in this site records and it was in 2014(!) that I was fortunate enough to receive, via member m0cemdave, the details from the 1979 callsign book! How time flies!

Thanks again Dave!

[Aub]

Not relevant anymore but, IIRC, if you passed the Morse test it only lasted 1 year if you didn't use it to get the A licence.

Aub

[Malcolm G6ANZ]

I got a class B licence G8KGH then added a /M to it for mobile use. Finally I got a different call sign for fastscan television on the 70cm band and can above. This is where G6ANZ/T comes from. Now not needed but I like to keep it to confuse people.
I never did the morse test as I prefer the VHF working.

Malcolm G8KGH. & G6ANZ/T

[Junk Box Nick]

I passed my RAE a couple of years earlier and took out a G8. I remember that the morse test pass did indeed time out. Once I got my pass I applied for my G4 the following day!

I seem to remember that in the bad old days that, once you’d got your licence and call, should you let it lapse you had to take the exam(s) again. I remember one panic getting a cheque in the post in time.

However, things have changed and many times. I was able to help a forum member reinstate his lapsed call by providing him a scan of his details in a 1978 RSGB Call Book to forward on to Ofcom.

Changes came by increments. With the C&G exam failure in one part was failure as a whole. Around the start of the 1980s you were able to retake the part you failed. This irked me a little as had this regime been in place when I first sat the exam where I failed on the licence laws (I got a nasty/obscure licence reg question - that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! ) I could possibly have obtained my licence some years earlier. However, O levels, etc., got in the way.

[HamishBoxer]

The RAE was half licence conditions and the other technical. Passed mine in 73/74.

[dsergeant]

Originally Posted by Junk Box Nick

I passed my RAE a couple of years earlier and took out a G8. I remember that the morse test pass did indeed time out.

As the note in small type at the bottom of my Post Office Amateur Radio Certificate says:

This Certificate will not be regarding as exempting the holder from having to pass the Morse Test again if he applies for an Amateur (Sound) Licence more than twelve months after the date on which he passed the Post Office Morse Test mentioned above.

Note the mention of Amateur (Sound) Licence.

73 Dave G3YMC

[its ur aerial]

First belated Congratulations.
Don't forget the RAE was the proper test so you qualify for the full Licence.
Can you remember, if it was a written one or multichoice, I took mine in December 79 or Dec 80, cant remember now, and I was surprised when I turned up it was multi choice, I had no warning that it had altered and expected a three hour slog Came out with a distinction and a credit.
Multi choice was a grate leveler to people like me with terrible handwriting and
what we now know as Dyslexia.
Having failed the 1977 Exam .

Ken, G6HZG.

[Aub]

Posted this before:-

https://www.g4dmp.co.uk/rae/

You can test yourselves

Aub

P.S. Looks like the last old style RAE was December 1978.