Conditions for the Granting of an Amateur Radio Station Licence
| (1) | The Authority will, subject to these Regulations, issue a Class-A or Class-B licence for the use of an amateur radio station. |
| (2) | A Class-A licence (ZS - CEPT Class 1) shall be issued to a person who: |
| (a) | has furnished proof of his or her ability to correctly set up, adjust and operate an amateur HF radio apparatus; and |
| (b) | is in possession of a HAREC issued or recognised by the Authority. |
| (3) | A Class-B licence (ZU) shall be issued to a person who: |
| (a) | has furnished proof of his or her ability to correctly set up, adjust and operate an amateur HF transceiver; |
| (b) | is in possession of a radio operator certificate specified for a Class-B licence; and |
| (c) | Is not over the age of twenty (20) years. |
| (4) | A Holder of a Class-B novice licence should write and pass the Class-An examination before his/her 25th birthday after which the Class-B novice licence will be cancelled. |
| (5) | The Authority will issue call signs to licensed amateur radio stations and no person shall acquire call signs on behalf of a group of persons or amateur radio stations. |
Foreign Radio Amateur Operator
| (6) | The Authority will issue an amateur radio station licence to a foreign radio amateur operator if all the following conditions are met: |
| (a) | whereby a foreign operator has a valid foreign amateur radio station licence; |
| (b) | whereby a foreign operator has an amateur operator certificate, equivalent to the relevant class of South African licence or certificate, issued by a recognised competent foreign authority and |
| (c) | whereby there is a reciprocal agreement between South Africa and the other country. |
Use of Amateur Radio Stations
| (7) | An amateur radio station shall only be used by the holder of the amateur radio station licence issued by the Authority. |
| (8) | The holder of an amateur radio station licence may use an amateur radio station other than his or her own with the permission of the licensee concerned. |
| (9) | An amateur radio listener's licence authorises the holder therein to acquire and be in possession of a radio apparatus for the reception of amateur radio signals only. |
Communication by Amateur Radio Stations
| (10) | A licensee is permitted: |
| (a) | to engage in communication with other licensed amateur radio stations, using the permitted amateur bands, and such communication must be restricted to comments on technical investigations, remarks of a personal nature and other items of a common interest which must not include commercial or business communication for which an electronic communication service would have been used had the amateur radio communication not been available; |
| (b) | in the case of an emergency and where the safety of life or limb is at stake, to communicate with amateur stations or any other disaster relief stations to prevent loss of life, to render assistance, to call for assistance or convey health and welfare messages directly connected with the emergency; |
| (c) | to practise emergency and event-related communication, by providing communication for cycle, motor, marathon rallies and general community service provided that the station engaged in the practice is a holder of the appropriate class licence for the frequency used; |
| (d) | to carry out communication in plain language or Q Code; and |
| (e) | to send un-enciphered signals that form part of or relate to the transmission of messages. |
| (11) | An amateur radio station must not advertise anything (including goods and services) or transmit any news or messages on behalf of a third person on an amateur radio station. |
| (12) | The Authority may authorise an amateur radio station to transmit: |
| (a) | reports on behalf of or by a third person during events that are in the public interest; |
| (b) | information bulletins that are of direct interest to amateurs; and |
| (c) | Morse code for reception by persons learning Morse code operation or for improving their competence in Morse. |
| (13) | An amateur radio station must not be used to transmit or receive messages for monetary reward. |
| (14) | For the purposes of these Regulations, messages and signals include communication by any of the modes or types of modulation permitted in the national radio frequency plan. |
| (15) | The Authority will permit stations registered with it as educational stations to demonstrate amateur radio to persons who do not hold an amateur radio station licence by allowing them to speak and operate the station under the supervision of a licensed amateur, whilst participating in a special educational event or at educational institutions. |
Log book for Amateur Radio Station Activities
| (16) | A licensee must keep a log book recording the activities of the amateur radio station used by him or her or any other person under the supervision of the licensee, except when operating a station in the VHF and UHF bands or mobile. |
| (17) | Details recorded in the log book referred to in sub regulation (16) must include: |
| (a) | the date, time and nature of each transmission, provided that the date with regard to each individual day's operation needs to be recorded only once and for the purposes of this paragraph "time of each transmission" shall mean the time that a specific station is called and the time at which the communication with such station is terminated; |
| (b) | the full name and address of the person making the transmission, provided that the name of the licensee who regularly uses the amateur radio station needs to be recorded only once in the log book with an explicit statement that all transmissions are made by him, except where stated otherwise; |
| (c) | the call sign of every station, provided that it need not be recorded repeatedly for calls made to the station during the course of the communication; |
| (d) | the transmitter power that is used; |
| (e) | the frequency band that is used, provided that it needs to be recorded in the log book only once until a change of frequency to another authorised band takes place; and |
| (f) | the address from where the transmission takes place, provided that such address needs to be recorded only once, should the place of transmission not change. |
Terms and Conditions for Amateur Licences
| (18) | No person must transmit by way of an amateur radio station, using a mode of emission or at a power level, other than that indicated in the national radio frequency plan, unless authorised by the Authority. |
| (19) | The mode of emission referred to is contained in Annexure H in these regulations. |
| (20) | Where the amateur service allocation is on a secondary basis, frequency spectrum bands must be shared with other services subject to the following conditions that: |
| (a) | amateur radio stations must not interfere with these services; and |
| (b) | users of frequency bands must unconditionally accept interference from Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) equipment. |
| (21) | Radio apparatus used at an amateur radio station must not be tuned to a frequency other than a frequency for amateur services referred to in Annexure I in these regulations. |
| (22) | Radio apparatus must only be tuned to the harmonised public protection and disaster relief frequencies for disaster relief radiocommunication purposes. |
| (23) | The frequencies required by the licensee must be selected in such a manner that no power is radiated at frequencies other than those referred to in the amateur radio frequency plan, provided that the bandwidth of emissions on bands that have been allocated to the amateur radio service in terms of these regulations shall be restricted to the minimum. |
Limitation in Respect of Transmissions by an amateur Radio Station
| (24) | No person must operate an amateur radio station using frequency bands, modes of emission or at power levels other than those specified in the amateur national radio frequency plan. |
| (25) | Class-B emission (damped waves) by an amateur radio station is not permissible. |
| (26) | An amateur or experimental radio station must not be used for the simultaneous retransmission by automatic or other means of programs or signals originating from a commercial radio station, provided that the holder of an amateur radio station licence or experimental station licence may relay legal signals by automatic or other means that originate from a licensed amateur or experimental radio station. |
| (27) | An amateur radio station must not be erected in or on a vehicle which is used for public transport. |
Transmissions Relating to Entertainment by an Amateur Radio Station
| (28) | No form of entertainment must be transmitted from an amateur radio station, provided that music transmissions for experimental purposes shall be permissible on condition that: |
| (a) | such transmissions shall last no longer than three (3) minutes; |
| (b) | at least five (5) minutes shall elapse before any further music is transmitted from the same station; |
| (c) | when commercial recordings are used, the make, name or title of such recordings shall not be mentioned; and |
| (d) | such transmissions must not take place in bands other than those indicated in the amateur national radio frequency plan. |
Television Transmissions by an Amateur Radio Station
| (29) | The holder of an amateur radio station licence must obtain approval from the Authority to transmit television, provided that such approval shall only be granted to the licensee after at least twelve (12) months have elapsed since the date of issue of such licence. |
Spread-Spectrum Communication
| (30) | The Authority will, subject to the condition that interference is not caused to other users of the same frequency band and such other conditions as it may deem necessary, on application using the standard application form, authorise the holder of an amateur radio station licence to employ spread-spectrum communication. |
| (31) | The frequency edges of the band and the modulation technique / emission designation to be used shall be furnished in the application form. |
Transmitter Power Output of Amateur Radio Stations
| (32) | The maximum power output of the transmitter, as measured at the antenna port, must not exceed the levels specified in the national radio frequency plan for the relevant licence classes and linearity must be maintained. |
| (33) | An adequately filtered direct-current power supply must be used for all the transmitting equipment. |
| (34) | The coupling between the antenna and the transmitter shall be such that no direct potential danger to life exists at a power supply on or at the antenna. |
| (35) | The antenna system must furthermore comply with the requirements of the relevant local municipality. |
Frequency Measuring Equipment
| (36) | Every amateur or experimental radio station must have frequency measuring equipment with accuracy of at least zero point one percent (0.1%), unless the frequencies of all transmitters of the station are crystal-controlled and are accurate to at least zero point one percent (0.1%). |
Mobile Amateur Radio Station
| (37) | An amateur holding a Class-A or Class-B licence may use a mobile amateur radio station within the boundaries of the Republic of South Africa. |
| (38) | When a mobile amateur radio station is used in an amateur radio zone other than that in which the amateur resides, the call sign allocated to the main station must: |
| (a) | in the case of continuous-wave radiotelegraphy, be followed by the signal, the letter M and the number of the zone from where the station is operated; and |
| (b) | in the case of radiotelephony be followed by the word "mobile" and the number of the zone from where the station is operated. |
| (39) | For the application of the provisions in respect of zone, the different zones of the Republic of South Africa are indicated in Annexure J of the Regulations. |
Amateur Radio Operator Certificate
| (40) | No person must obtain a HAREC or a certificate specified for a Class-B licence unless he or she has passed an examination in the Republic of South Africa for Class-A or Class-B licences. |
| (41) | Any person who is not prohibited by these Regulations from qualifying may sit for the examination. |
| (42) | The examination must be conducted at least once a year. |
| (43) | HAREC and a certificate specified for Class-B licences shall be issued to a candidate who passes the examination and such certificate is not recognised for any purpose other than an amateur radio station licence. |
| (44) | The possession of a HAREC or certificate specified for a Class B licence shall not entitle the user therein to an amateur radio station licence. |
| (45) | The following conditions are applicable to the radio amateur examination: |
| (a) | The syllabi for the examination must be provided to anybody on request; |
| (b) | Three (3) hours must be allowed for the examination paper consisting of various parts; |
| (c) | To pass the examination, a candidate must obtain at least 50% (fifty percent) in each of the relevant parts with a total average of 65% (sixty-five percent) and |
| (d) | A candidate who passes either of the parts referred to in paragraph (c) and passes the remaining part within three (3) successive attempts, which shall commence immediately after the one in which the candidate was unsuccessful, is exempt from writing the whole examination again. |
