Transmissions on the Ham radio bands are heavily regulated depending on the country you are transmitting from and to. You are required to have a license before broadcasting on any of the amateur bands.
If you are not licensed, it is illegal to broadcast on ham radio frequencies. Failure to comply can lead to you facing huge legal repercussions that range from fines to jail time. You will need to at least have an entry-level license to transmit on any of the ham bands. However, you can legally transmit on ham radio during times of life-threatening emergencies.
But when talking about using ham radio without a license, you may also be referring to listening to the transmission which is legal under the law.
Before we start…
Listening on Radio Ham Broadcast Without a License
If you have read our complete guide to the amateur radio hobby, you may have read that ham radio transmissions are done through radio frequencies that are allocated to be used by hams by the regulatory bodies.
The frequencies are transmitted through the air and are always around us at any given time, but we cannot see them or hear the messages being conveyed without the right equipment.
This brings me to my next point, listening to these transmissions without a radio. As I have mentioned above, you are free to listen in to ham conversations with the right equipment without facing any problems with the law whatsoever.
All you need is a receiver which can be a handheld transceiver or any other kind of radio receiver.
However, there are also limitations to how much you can do as far as listening to transmissions is concerned. You may not be allowed to use a scanner to scan transmissions depending on the state you live in (check the local law): What’s more, you are not allowed to decrypt encrypted broadcast, especially by the government, even with a ham license.
Also, if you are only interested in listening, you can become a licensed listener by getting an SWL (short wave listener) license.
With this SWL license, you will be given an SWL identifier by the local regulatory body which you can use to send reports to amateur radio stations on the various receptions you have made.
These should include the date, time, signal report (SINPO code), the transmission frequency, the modulation mode, the call signs of the people involved in the conversation and a report on the conversation that occurred between the individual/s involved.
Once your reception report is received by the amateur radio station and confirmed after cross-checking with the contact logs, you are handed a QSL certificate which is to confirm that your transmission was received. QSL stands for “I confirm receipt of your transmission.”
What is the SINPO code? This is another name for a signal report and is an acronym with 5 parameters that include:
- “S” for signal strength
- “I” for Interference
- “N” for atmospheric noise
- “P” for propagation
- “O” for overall merits
Broadcasting on Ham Bands Without a License
As you can tell by now, it is illegal to broadcast on ham frequencies without a license.
You may be able to do it without being caught but considering that there hams that take the liberty to monitor illegal transmissions, getting caught doing it becomes easier.
They may give you a warning or if you repeatedly and willfully continue broadcasting on those frequencies, you will be reported to the authorities.
Once the authorities discover that you have been broadcasting on ham bands without a license, they could hit you with a huge fine, confiscate your radio equipment, and in worse-case scenarios press charges which could mean facing jail time if you are found guilty.
However, there are instances where you can transmit in amateur bands without facing legal action. These are:
- With the supervision of a licensed ham radio operator
- In case of an emergency
In the case of using a licensed ham for supervised broadcast, he or she will need to identify himself/herself using the call sign and let the recipients know that he/she is supervising an unlicensed ham to broadcast.
However, if you were an amateur radio operator and had your license revoked or suspended this will not be allowed as stipulated by the regulations.
In the second scenario, where there is an emergency such as an accident or something of the sort that requires immediate assistance, you can broadcast on ham bands without a license and without facing any legal repercussion at all.
You will be required to broadcast for help without even needing to identify yourself to the recipient. But this needs to be an emergency where a station is in distress or in the event of a life-threatening emergency or an emergency that involves the protection of property.
Licensed Hams Can Face Legal Action
A licensed ham operator may face legal repercussions in the case where he or she converses with an unlicensed broadcaster. This is why you are required to identify yourself by using your call sign before and after making any transmission and after every 10 minutes in the middle of each broadcast.
The other case where a licensed ham may have problems with the law is in the event, he/she fails to identify himself/herself during a broadcast, uses a fake call sign, shares state secrets with a foreign government, or uses foul language during the same. This could lead to suspension of your license or even seizure of the equipment.
Getting a Ham License is Cheap and Easy
Why would you need to put yourself into problems with the law when you can easily get a ham license?
The entry-level certificate is the easiest one to get. All you need is to be conversant with the basics and some technical information about amateur radio. Second, you can get the test by paying a small fee which can vary depending on the country you live in.
For example, in the US you only need to pay $15 for a single exam session and you can take all the level exams in one session which means that you will only need to pay $15 to get to the highest certification level.
However, even after successfully taking and passing your ham test, you will need to wait until you receive your ham radio license and a call sign before you can broadcast on any of the amateur bands.
Do not immediately transmit on ham frequencies after passing your exam without either of the two.
