I’m sorry to have to do this but I need to advise chasers and potential activators about the catch to CEPT operation in Malta.
Malta is listed as accepting operation under CEPT TR 61/01, i.e. you turn up and operate as 9H/MM0FMF/P. Sadly if it were only that simple. You still need to apply for a visitors licence to operate in Malta. This is free and is issued in Valetta. You will be issued a 9H3??? callsign. Using any other call is invalid.
For SOTA purposes this means that Colwyn MM0YCJ’s current Maltese activations do not count. The MT have sent an email to Colwyn and hope he’ll have enough net access to read it whilst he’s in Malta. With a following wind he might be able to get a 9H3 call and activate the summit again before he leaves.
In reply to MM0FMF:
Colwyn
If you get this in time…Wednesday is Valetta market day…so kill 2 birds with one stone…this market has lots of war memorabilia and much old radio gear…its a great experience…oh dont forget…do not jingle jangles your keys in the street they call The Gut…im sure you know the story…have a great time.
In reply to G3XQE:
A possible ‘second bite of the cherry’? Could just hear Colwyn pop in and out of the noise. Called him a few times with a 2&2 report - and think he heard me?, but couldn’t copy my report (:>( - So??
He was very weak with me and I had some splatter from an adjacent channel, I hung around until the propagation was just sufficiently in my favour to bag him.
I might not normally have bothered not being a unique for me but points are a bit thin on the chaser ground of late
In reply to MM0FMF:
Andy…A few years ago I arrived at Valetta,pleased as Punch ,well armed with a Canadian issued Cept Permit,only to be shot down,only explaining that it was no good there with no hint a temp.lic.was available…When home I advised Canadian authorities and they removed Malta from their list…Thats my story…73 de Phil / ve1wt
Malta is listed as accepting operation under CEPT TR 61/01, i.e. you
turn up and operate as 9H/MM0FMF/P. Sadly if it were only that simple.
You still need to apply for a visitors licence to operate in Malta.
This is free and is issued in Valetta. You will be issued a 9H3???
callsign. Using any other call is invalid.
This is absolutely correct … and I would not like to be confronted by the Maltese police when operating without a proper reciprocal licence!
In fact, it used to be even more problematic. When I activated Malta/Gozo about 15 years ago, not only did you have to apply for a licence in advance of your visit to 9H, but you also had to arrange for your equipment to be inspected and certified by their equivalent of Ofcom upon arrival. They were meticulous in enforcing this rule! When I arrived at Luqa airport from the UK, the immigration officer looked at my passport and announced “The Police are waiting to interview you”. Quite un-nerving at the time! I believe they have now rescinded that rule.
Hello,
I was in Malta in July 2012 and I got a temporary license to operate there.
The way to get it was very simple:
I looked at the Malta Amateur Radio league: http://www.9h1mrl.org/
In the home page there is a link for “obtaining a visitor’s licence”.
You can then download a PDF and sumbmit your details it by e-mail. In some weeks time you should receive the licence back for free.
I explained in my paperwork, I wanted the licence to operate portable, running low power, and in areas where I could not cause any danger to pedestrians. I put details of my FT-817 rig and antennas, and I got it straight forward, valid for three months. I could even choose the call suffix.
I think it’s very easy to plan it some months in advance, and although I didn’t even have to show it neither in the airport, nor operating, you feel safe with it at hand.
Well, I had less luck with 9H licence. I was on Malta and Gozo in February this year, but did not activate anything there. 6 weeks prior to the departure date I had sent all required paperwork to Malta Communications Authority via registered, priority mail (I mean regular, paper mail, like in good old times). I never got any reply, so I haven’t taken any radio gear with me. Once on the island I only had one weekend thus no way to visit the MCA offices, probably open Monday - Friday only. It seems E-mail is the better option - but the page describing the procedure: M.A.R.L - Malta Amateur Radio League is listing only postal address.
So, in case I ever go to Malta again - what E-mail have you used Ignacio?
For my 2008 holiday, I applied by post a couple of months before arrival. I enclosed all of the required paperwork, and a twenty-euro note (slightly more than the required fee, but conveniently to hand). I received my licence back within a few days.
For my 2008 holiday, I applied by post a couple of months before
arrival. I enclosed all of the required paperwork, and a twenty-euro
note (slightly more than the required fee, but conveniently to hand).
According to the Malta Amateur Radio League website, there is no fee now for a visitors’ licence.
However, have you read the application form? You have to sign a declaration saying that you will furnish, on demand, a full report proving that the level of non-ionising radiation from your station is within the statutory limits in inhabited areas! I wonder if anyone has ever been asked to furnish such a report.
Isn’t this similar to the recent requirements for EU amateurs in certain countries to have to perform annual tests & submit station plans etc for equipment they have been using for years?
To be honest, I haven’t looked at the linked documents but it does seem to me that while amateur requirements are becoming more relaxed, the political requirements for operating away from home seem to be getting more restrictive?
I personally have never traveled far, but in my experience, France, The Netherlands & Spain have always been quite friendly.
Malta is a specific case of CEPT not meaning CEPT. Normally with CEPT operation, you take your licence printout, ID and can operate as /home call. You need to follow local rules and your licence is a sort of combination of the local and your licence. But it just works. I’ve done it in F, EA3, HB9, PA, ON, CT3, OE, W6. It’s that simple apart from W6 where the locals had a dew problems with the call W6/MM0FMF/P. I was a long way from home and they don’t get many W6/MM0 there!
But Malta claims CEPT except you need to apply in advance. The licence is free and you get a 9H3?? call. So really they have a simple visitor licence. It’s CEPT but not as we know it Jim (as Bones McCoy would have said). You get all the freedom of CEPT apart from the freedom of turning up and operating.
And it’s annoying because when you check your licence you see 9H on the list of countries and you assume it’s all A-OK.
In reply to MM0FMF:
Well, it’s different to normal CEPT, but even in the days - three years ago - when you had to pay 14 Euros/ Maltese Lira for the licence I counted it money well spent.
You get an ‘exotic’ call sign instead of some untidy combination of British & Maltese call with another ‘dah di-di dah dit’ in the middle, and are treated with old-world courtesy by the staff of the Malta Comms Agency. They bent over backwards to help, with e.g. sending my licence to my hotel one year, complete with request for payment at my convenience (my cheque wouldn’t pay in lira from a British bank), and this year sent my licence to my friend’s house in Gozo. The government agencies in Malta are not the most efficient, but the personal care from the individuals concerned, and the trust towards the “customer” with which they function is second to none in my opinion.
I’d rather be 9H3LA/p than 9H/G0NMD/p any day! As far as I’m concerned, the longer they keep full CEPT at bay, the better it will be. I’ll be back there again next Spring, and looking for activations of 9H/GO-001 again, hopefully with Robin 9H4RH, and maybe Rolf 9H3RV once more.
in the License Form you use to apply there is a mail address underneath:
info@mca.org.mt
But I received the feedback from an officer: Brian Sghendo.
I paste here his message and mail address:
Good afternoon Mr. Cascante,
Hope this email finds you well.
I just wanted to confirm receipt of your application form. Everything looks to be in order but maybe you can furnish us with your passport number as well.
Thanks and Regards,
Brian Sghendo (Licensing Officer)
Malta Communications Authority
Valletta Waterfront, Pinto Wharf, Floriana, FRN 1913, Malta
Tel: +356 21 336 840,
Fax: +356 21 336 846
Email: brian.sghendo@mca.org.mt
Web: www.mca.org.mt
Does anybody know whether it is now (2018) possible to obtain the license in person? I will be in Valetta next week but missed to apply for a CEPT license / local call so far. Also not sure it is worth it from a SOTA perspective for a single 1-pointer
