New Regulations for Hams in Norway

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New Regulations for Hams in Norway

NKOM – the Norwegian equivalent of PTS – has now published its update of the regulations for amateur radio in Norway. As we previously announced, the most important change is the introduction of a new entry-level certificate, or as it is called in the legal text, “limited license”. Just like our entry-level certificate, it will have simpler examination requirements than the “full license” (HAREC) but a number of limitations. Holders of a “limited license” are limited to a maximum of 10 W transmitter power. The frequency bands are all from 3.5MHz – 432MHz (but not the WARC bands 10MHz and 24 MHz). Compared to the previous revision version from November, some changes have been made. In addition to changing the name from “beginner license” to “limited license”, the most important things are:

The ban on remote control has been lifted for both "restricted licenses" as well as for stations in Norwegian "overseas" territories.

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Station's Experiments Explore Use of 4m and 8m Bands

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A ham in Florida with an experimental license is busy exploring propagation and its impact on 4 meters and 8 meters.

In the hope of gaining insights into seasonal propagation trends, Sporadic-E, Trans-Equatorial Propagation and low-band VHF path behaviour, the experimental station WQ2XDM has been conducting experiments using the digital weak-signal modes WSPR and FT8 on the 4 metre and 8 metre bands. The license was granted to John K9JMS, who is asking fellow hams to monitor reception and send him reports for data collection. He recommends using PSK Reporter and station logs and screenshots to record time, SNR, grid and frequency details while monitoring FT8 on 40.680 MHz.

The station's website says John will publish a final white paper and an open dataset. The location in Florida is key to the experimental activity because of the region's recurring tropospheric ducting in the Gulf/Atlantic region. Florida's low latitude makes it especially suitable for capturing Trans-Equatorial Propagation and equatorial ionospheric phenomena.

According to the station's page on QRZ.com, the project is aimed at strengthening the case for more interest in and access to 8 metres. Unlike hams in a number of other countries, such as Ireland, Slovenia and South Africa, licensed amateurs in the US do not have access to either 8 metres or 4 metres.

Signal reports or queries can be sent to John at the email address WQ2XDM dot EFF ELL at gmail.com (WQ2XDM.fl@gmail.com).

UK Regulator Eyes Frequency-Sharing By Devices

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Changes are proposed in the UK that would allow frequency-sharing by certain devices.

In the UK, the regulator Ofcom has proposed changes in radio-spectrum that would make it Europe’s first country to implement the sharing of the same frequencies between two different technologies. The proposal looks specifically at the upper portion of the 6 GHz band, where priority usage would be given in one portion to Wi-Fi devices, such as routers and another to mobile devices, such as cell masts.

Ofcom said the move to this so-called prioritised spectrum would most directly benefit businesses, households and the UK economy in general.  The change would affect indoor and lower-power Wi-Fi, and any higher-power Wi-Fi under the control of an Automated Frequency Control system, as protection against interference.

The regulator will be accepting comments on the proposal no later than 20 March 2026