Just trying to decide whether to take the FT817 to France in the next few
weeks and possibly try a SOTA summit or two. Recent discussions on the
RADCOM letters page leave me uncertain as to whether M0 licensees are
allowed to operate on HF using CW since they will typically never have taken
a morse test.
While I can just about cope with reading the band plans in French, with
dictionary to hand, wading through all the official documentation looking
for the appropriate paragraph or two is beyond me.
Is there anyone out there have recent experience of operating in France,
or perhaps resident there who can please answer the following question:
Is an M0 (full) licensee allowed to operate in France on HF using CW?
I understand that operating on HF and VHF is OK. While we’re on the
subject what are the rules regarding digmodes?
Is an M0 (full) licensee allowed to operate in France on HF using CW?
Search for problems and you’ll find them.
Here’s a word to the wise. If you go looking for answers to awkward questions from civil servants and the like you are more likely to be told no than yes. So just take the radio and operate. You should treat all authority with a healthy dose of contempt and ignore it where possible.
Just who is going to stop you and ask to see your licence and ask if you have a CW pass? Exactly. Tell them you used to be a G4 but let your licence lapse and got a new callsign when reapplying. OFCOM have no records of who actually passed a morse test in the past so nobody can check anyway. And if you can actually operate CW you’d be able to pass the test.