oe7drt-website/content/posts/2020/1-how-to-get-an-amateur-rad.../index.md

---
title: How to get an amateur radio license in Austria
aliases: /posts/2020-01-02-how-to-get-an-amateur-radio-license-in-austria
summary: >
  This is a short story from my life that explains how I came to my amateur
  radio license.
date: 2020-01-02T17:01:26+01:00
lastmod: "2023-02-12T01:32:43+0100"
categories: [amateur-radio]
tags: [life]

---

I'm not the casual ham radio operator that always wanted to operate his own
ham radio station. I tried CB once but had to travel quite a bit to reach other
stations (trucks on the highway for example). I've played with SDR before and
tried a few things with GNUradio and gqrx but I never got deeper into this kind
of things.

{{< alert circle-info >}}
Just to be clear on this: This is not a tutorial, this is a short story from
my life that explains how I came to my amateur radio license. This article was
already published in german on an older website.
{{< /alert >}}

In 2019 I decided to go on a preparatory course at the local ham radio club.

A confirmation email was sent to me but the docs for the course had to be changed
because changes have been made to austrian laws regarding ham radio and
telecommunication in general. So scripts were not up to date at that moment.

## General information

The course was held in a room in a federal higher technical institute in
Innsbruck.

We had to attend these blocks:

**1. block**
  - **Friday, September 27, (15:00 to 20:30)**  
    introduction and law pt 1
  - **Saturday, September 28, (09:00 to 18:00)**  
    law pt 2 and engineering pt 1

**2. block**
  - **Friday, October 4, (15:00 to 20:30)**  
    operating technology pt 1
  - **Saturday, October 5, (09:00 to 18:00)**  
    engineering pt 2

**3. block**
  - **Friday, October 11, (15:00 to 20:30)**  
    engineering pt 3
  - **Saturday, October 12, (09:00 to 18:00)**  
    engineering pt 4 and operating technology pt 2

**4. block -- refreshing**
  - **Saturday, October 19, (13:00 to 17:00)**  
    simulation of an exam (it was highly recommended to visit this training)

## Cost report

This represents the total amount of money I had to put into getting my license.

| date and time        | value    | description              |
| :---                 | ---:     | :---                     |
| 12.08.2019, Monday   |  75.56 € | documentation scripts    |
| 27.09.2019, Friday   |  90.00 € | the course itself        |
| 27.09.2019, Friday   |  14.70 € | parking "Hentschelhof"   |
| 28.09.2019, Saturday |  48.15 € | refueling                |
| 28.09.2019, Saturday |     10 € | lunch                    |
| 28.09.2019, Saturday |  14.40 € | parking "Wilten"         |
| 04.10.2019, Friday   |  14.40 € | parking "Wilten"         |
| 05.10.2019, Saturday |     10 € | lunch                    |
| 05.10.2019, Saturday |  18.20 € | parking "Altstadtgarage" |
| 05.10.2019, Saturday |  53.11 € | refueling                |
| 11.10.2019, Friday   |  14.70 € | parking "Altstadtgarage" |
| 12.10.2019, Saturday |      7 € | lunch                    |
| 12.10.2019, Saturday |  18.20 € | parking "Altstadtgarage" |
| 12.10.2019, Saturday |  45.26 € | refueling                |
| 19.10.2019, Saturday |     13 € | parking "Markthalle"     |
| 19.10.2019, Saturday |  57.08 € | refueling                |
| 22.10.2019, Tuesday  |  28.83 € | examination fee          |
| 22.10.2019, Tuesday  |  14.30 € | examination certificate  |
| 22.10.2019, Tuesday  |      3 € | parking "SOHO 2.0"       |
|                      | **549.89 €** | **total**            |

In the end I paid **203.60€** for gasoline, **27€** for lunch on Saturdays and
**110.60€** for parking my car.  
At this time I drove a BMW M140i which needed around 9 liters gas per 100
kilometers -- you may get away with less on that part.

## The exam

The exam is split into three different topics: law, engineering and operating
technology.

Every person gets three questions in *law*, three questions in *engineering* and
three questions in *operating technology*. This happens one person at a time, so
if person 1 answered the first three questions person 2 has to answer three
other questions in the same topic.

We had to leave the room for a while when our examiners discussed our results.
When we entered the room again we were told if we get a license or not :wink:

All attendees have passed the exam and got their license. We were 15 people.

## Future plans

Most of us have already requested their callsign. A workshop about different
transeivers and antennas is planned for November 23 in Innsbruck from 09:00 to
18:00. At 19:00 a graduation party is planned at the restaurant Deck 47 in
Innsbruck.

I joined the local ham radio club **ÖVSV** and I am a member of **ADL714**.

My shack is growing slowly. I own a few devices that allow me to setup a small
station on short wave and on the digital sector within the DMR Austria network
(IPSC2) and YSF (C4FM).

73 de Dominic, OE7DRT

## Leaving the Austrian Amateur Radio League

{{< alert >}}
**This is an update written in February 2023**
{{< /alert >}}

_I am no member of the Austrian Amateur Radio League since the end of 2022._

As per requirement of the club I sent the letter via Austrian Post as a
registered letter (I also get notified when the letter is marked as delivered).

The letter has been brought to the post office on 14 October 2022, and finally
delivered on 18 October 2022. I wanted a confirmation (which I stated in the
letter) but I got none (not until today, 12 February 2023).

As of today, I can only assume it was read (and understood) which (I guess)
makes a confirmation unnecessary (as of today). A confirmation would have been
nice and I thought normal people do that anyway (but I also left a notice in
the letter).

I find this behavior unprofessional and also a bit pathetic. I've held more on
the club before, but just ignoring people is not something that I can support
easily.

People often do not show their real faces when you encounter them for the first
time, but as always: time will tell.
first commit; still need to update content/posts 2 years ago			`---`
			`title: How to get an amateur radio license in Austria`
update posts aliases; fix some dates; fix some typography - post aliases instead of redirects - some dates were wrong, fixed and create multiple aliases to not brake the old date - fix some typography like newlines on end of file 1 year ago			`aliases: /posts/2020-01-02-how-to-get-an-amateur-radio-license-in-austria`
first commit; still need to update content/posts 2 years ago			`summary: >`
			`This is a short story from my life that explains how I came to my amateur`
			`radio license.`
			`date: 2020-01-02T17:01:26+01:00`
update first post (about getting licensed in OE) 2 years ago			`lastmod: "2023-02-12T01:32:43+0100"`
categorize fist post (how to get radio licensed) 1 year ago			`categories: [amateur-radio]`
first commit; still need to update content/posts 2 years ago			`tags: [life]`

			`---`

			`I'm not the casual ham radio operator that always wanted to operate his own`
			`ham radio station. I tried CB once but had to travel quite a bit to reach other`
			`stations (trucks on the highway for example). I've played with SDR before and`
			`tried a few things with GNUradio and gqrx but I never got deeper into this kind`
			`of things.`

			`{{< alert circle-info >}}`
			`Just to be clear on this: This is not a tutorial, this is a short story from`
			`my life that explains how I came to my amateur radio license. This article was`
			`already published in german on an older website.`
			`{{< /alert >}}`

removed a link to an outdated resource they use the same URL every year so there is no reason for me to keep that link intact 1 year ago			`In 2019 I decided to go on a preparatory course at the local ham radio club.`
first commit; still need to update content/posts 2 years ago
			`A confirmation email was sent to me but the docs for the course had to be changed`
			`because changes have been made to austrian laws regarding ham radio and`
			`telecommunication in general. So scripts were not up to date at that moment.`

			`## General information`

			`The course was held in a room in a federal higher technical institute in`
			`Innsbruck.`

			`We had to attend these blocks:`

			`1. block`
			`- Friday, September 27, (15:00 to 20:30)`
			`introduction and law pt 1`
			`- Saturday, September 28, (09:00 to 18:00)`
			`law pt 2 and engineering pt 1`

			`2. block`
			`- Friday, October 4, (15:00 to 20:30)`
			`operating technology pt 1`
			`- Saturday, October 5, (09:00 to 18:00)`
			`engineering pt 2`

			`3. block`
			`- Friday, October 11, (15:00 to 20:30)`
			`engineering pt 3`
			`- Saturday, October 12, (09:00 to 18:00)`
			`engineering pt 4 and operating technology pt 2`

fix typography (--- → --) 1 year ago			`4. block -- refreshing`
first commit; still need to update content/posts 2 years ago			`- Saturday, October 19, (13:00 to 17:00)`
			`simulation of an exam (it was highly recommended to visit this training)`

			`## Cost report`

			`This represents the total amount of money I had to put into getting my license.`

			`\| date and time \| value \| description \|`
			`\| :--- \| ---: \| :--- \|`
			`\| 12.08.2019, Monday \| 75.56 € \| documentation scripts \|`
			`\| 27.09.2019, Friday \| 90.00 € \| the course itself \|`
			`\| 27.09.2019, Friday \| 14.70 € \| parking "Hentschelhof" \|`
			`\| 28.09.2019, Saturday \| 48.15 € \| refueling \|`
			`\| 28.09.2019, Saturday \| 10 € \| lunch \|`
			`\| 28.09.2019, Saturday \| 14.40 € \| parking "Wilten" \|`
			`\| 04.10.2019, Friday \| 14.40 € \| parking "Wilten" \|`
			`\| 05.10.2019, Saturday \| 10 € \| lunch \|`
			`\| 05.10.2019, Saturday \| 18.20 € \| parking "Altstadtgarage" \|`
			`\| 05.10.2019, Saturday \| 53.11 € \| refueling \|`
			`\| 11.10.2019, Friday \| 14.70 € \| parking "Altstadtgarage" \|`
			`\| 12.10.2019, Saturday \| 7 € \| lunch \|`
			`\| 12.10.2019, Saturday \| 18.20 € \| parking "Altstadtgarage" \|`
			`\| 12.10.2019, Saturday \| 45.26 € \| refueling \|`
			`\| 19.10.2019, Saturday \| 13 € \| parking "Markthalle" \|`
			`\| 19.10.2019, Saturday \| 57.08 € \| refueling \|`
			`\| 22.10.2019, Tuesday \| 28.83 € \| examination fee \|`
			`\| 22.10.2019, Tuesday \| 14.30 € \| examination certificate \|`
			`\| 22.10.2019, Tuesday \| 3 € \| parking "SOHO 2.0" \|`
			`\| \| 549.89 € \| total \|`

			`In the end I paid 203.60€ for gasoline, 27€ for lunch on Saturdays and`
			`110.60€ for parking my car.`
			`At this time I drove a BMW M140i which needed around 9 liters gas per 100`
fix typography (--- → --) 1 year ago			`kilometers -- you may get away with less on that part.`
first commit; still need to update content/posts 2 years ago
			`## The exam`

			`The exam is split into three different topics: law, engineering and operating`
			`technology.`

			`Every person gets three questions in law, three questions in engineering and`
			`three questions in operating technology. This happens one person at a time, so`
			`if person 1 answered the first three questions person 2 has to answer three`
			`other questions in the same topic.`

			`We had to leave the room for a while when our examiners discussed our results.`
			`When we entered the room again we were told if we get a license or not :wink:`

			`All attendees have passed the exam and got their license. We were 15 people.`

			`## Future plans`

			`Most of us have already requested their callsign. A workshop about different`
			`transeivers and antennas is planned for November 23 in Innsbruck from 09:00 to`
			`18:00. At 19:00 a graduation party is planned at the restaurant Deck 47 in`
			`Innsbruck.`

			`I joined the local ham radio club ÖVSV and I am a member of ADL714.`

			`My shack is growing slowly. I own a few devices that allow me to setup a small`
			`station on short wave and on the digital sector within the DMR Austria network`
			`(IPSC2) and YSF (C4FM).`

			`73 de Dominic, OE7DRT`
update first post (about getting licensed in OE) 2 years ago
			`## Leaving the Austrian Amateur Radio League`

			`{{< alert >}}`
			`This is an update written in February 2023`
			`{{< /alert >}}`

			`_I am no member of the Austrian Amateur Radio League since the end of 2022._`

			`As per requirement of the club I sent the letter via Austrian Post as a`
			`registered letter (I also get notified when the letter is marked as delivered).`

			`The letter has been brought to the post office on 14 October 2022, and finally`
			`delivered on 18 October 2022. I wanted a confirmation (which I stated in the`
			`letter) but I got none (not until today, 12 February 2023).`

			`As of today, I can only assume it was read (and understood) which (I guess)`
			`makes a confirmation unnecessary (as of today). A confirmation would have been`
			`nice and I thought normal people do that anyway (but I also left a notice in`
			`the letter).`

			`I find this behavior unprofessional and also a bit pathetic. I've held more on`
			`the club before, but just ignoring people is not something that I can support`
			`easily.`

			`People often do not show their real faces when you encounter them for the first`
			`time, but as always: time will tell.`