Temporary Licence for 160m Ham Radio Band Extended

In agreement with the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and the Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) and in accordance with Official Journal 24 of the BNetzA (published on 23rd December 2020), the following deviations from the usage regulations are permitted for the use of the frequency ranges 1850-1890 kHz and 1890—2000 kHz in amateur radio until 31st December 2021:

(1) in the frequency ranges 1850—1890 kHz and 1890—2000 kHz, the use of a maximum transmit power of 750 watts PEP by holders of a licence to participate in the Class A amateur radio service shall be permitted at weekends.

(2) in the frequency ranges 1850-1890 kHz and 1890-2000 kHz, the use of a maximum transmit power of 100 watts PEP by holders of a licence to participate in the Class E amateur radio service at weekends shall be permitted.

(3) in the frequency ranges 1850-1890 kHz and 1890-2000 kHz, participation in amateur radio competitions (contest operation) is permitted on weekends.

The same Official Journal also contains extensions of temporary licences for the ranges 2320-2450 MHz, 5650-5850 MHz, 50-52 MHz and 70.150 — 70.200 MHz.

Amateur Radio Decline in Japan Continues

As of 26th December 2020, Japan (population 126m) had 389,343 licensed amateur radio stations, a fall of 12,837 during the year. The previous year, there had been 402,180 amateur stations which in turn had been a fall of some 15,000 from a year earlier.

Over 90% of all Japanese amateurs have the popular Class 4 operator license. Introduced in the 1950's it was the world's first HF license that didn't require a Morse code test.

A Class 4 licence permits the following:

• 1-watt1 watt EIRP on 135 and 472 kHz

• 10 watts output on 1.9, 3.5, 7, 21, 24, 28 MHz bands

• 20 watts output on 50, 144 and 430 MHz bands

• Varying power levels between 10 watts and 0.1 watts on ALL amateur bands between 1240 MHz and 250 GHz.