If you are reading this, you have probably just registered a foundation callsign on the OFCOM website. Welcome the hobby, and congratulations for passing your exam!

It can be overwhelming when you first receive your callsign due to the many services out there for amateur operators. I have wrote this guide to give a “young” and “new” perspective on what to do when you receive your callsign. I will include a breakdown of all of the different services and websites available, useful things to do, equipment recommendations, etc..

If you have received a pass certificate from the RSGB and you haven’t had a chance to register it yet, go to the Ofcom Spectrum Licencing Portal and create an account. You will then be asked to pick a callsign. Once you have picked the callsign you like the
​look of, and filled in your personal details, you are now a
​licenced amateur!

After registering with OFCOM, make sure you download and print your licence documentation from the Ofcom portal. You should keep a paper copy in the house at all times, and it is also useful to print an extra copy for operating portable. Remember, if you get stopped in the street, you can’t be asked to stop transmitting (unless by Ofcom), but it is handy to be able to show your licence.

Next, it is very important that you register on QRZ.com. This is the “Phone book” for amateur radio operators, and it will allow to view other station’s information, their address and email address, share your station information and your details, and keep a free logbook. It is very handy for other operators to be able to look you up on QRZ, as many of the common logging programs use automatic callsign lookup to retrieve your name and location. Unless you know a licence amateur, you should post on the forum in order to request your callsign to be added to the database. Once you have made an account and posted, you should check back after a few hours and answer the questions asked to you by one of the QRZ volunteers. Remember – many of the services mentioned here are operated by volunteers, so please be patient.

Example: MY PAGE ON QRZ

There are other services it is helpful to sign up to, but I’ll talk about these later in the article. For now, let’s get you on the air! If you have a handheld radio, grab it and put out a few CQ calls on 70cm or 2m. If not, then I will show you how you can still generate RF from the comfort of your house. Echolink is a program for PC and mobile devices, and it allows you to remotely access repeaters. Some groups such as Hubnet are linked to multiple repeaters, so transmitting on Hubnet will cause more than twenty repeaters across the world to output RF. (Remember, Echolink is totally legal to use as it uses the voice over internet protocol).

Create an account on the Echolink website, and download the app or the PC program. I’d recommend the program version, as I have experienced a few issues with authentication. You will need to verify by uploading your licence documents and waiting for volunteer approval. Once you are in, there are many tutorials on how to use it. Head to the index view, select which country you would like to access, select a repeater (marked with -R) or a link (marked with -L), and have a go at transmitting. I recommend getting started on GB3CD (A local repeater near me which is connected to the system). Once you are familiar with it, you can try the Hubnet link. I’d recommend reading tutorials on how to access Hubnet, and remember to leave a four second gap between overs (otherwise the system may not pick up your transmission or it may cause interference).

Now, hopefully you have made a few contacts. Remember to write down contact details ready to put in to your logging software. You don’t need to log any digital or Hubnet contacts, although a few people do choose to formally log these. You can read my guide on getting started with logging software later in this article.

The next service I’d recommend signing up to is eQSL. This allows the exchange of electronic confirmation cards for your contacts. You can choose from a stock image, or make a donation of 12 dollars + 1 dollar per month in order to access the “Custom QSL card option”. You may wish to get someone to design your card for you, or you can make your own. For now though, you can stick with the stock image. Make sure you set your station information identically and clearly on all of the services you sign up to. It might help to find your Maidenhead grid locator (you will need this for your logging software). You can Google “Maidenhead locator finder” and input your address to find this. My locator is IO94HT – and yours will be in a similar 2L 2N 2L format like mine).

You may also like to sign up to Clublog, HRDlog, LoTW, HamQTH, etc.. The more services you sign up to with your information, the easier it becomes to find you and the more reliable other station’s entries will be – especially on HF! In most common logging software, multiple different online services are referenced in order to make the information recorded as accurate as possible. If a station hears part of your callsign (or hears it incorrectly), and you are signed up to lots of the services mentioned, the station may be able to correct it and add it to the log.

If you need a recommendation for equipment, i’d recommend a Nagoya antenna on a Mag Mount (or a dipole attached to an aluminium or fiberglass pole), and a Baofeng GT-3TP 8w transceiver (Or an Anytone 868 transceiver if you are looking getting setup on DMR). I will be writing a further article on getting started and understanding DMR, so keep an eye out for that!

Finally, you should sign up to some electronic logging software in order to keep track of your contacts. I’d recommend logging every simplex contact. This means no digital or DMR entries, no Echolink entries and no repeater entries. However, it is totally up to you which contacts you choose to log and not. Each contact is an “official” one, so you are perfectly allowed to log every single contact you make.

The logging software I would recommend is called Log4OM (Version 2), and it is a free and very comprehensive logging software. I have published an article on getting started with this logging software, and how to convert your “shack” to be digital.
LINK : CLICK HERE

I hope this guide was helpful, and I would love to help you as much as possible during your journey as a newly licenced amateur operator. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email at oscar@m7oja.com, and I will do all I can to help you out and find out the answer to any of your questions. I would also recommend joining some of the Amateur Radio Facebook Groups (Such as Amateur Radio UK and M7 Foundation group) – there are so many people who will help you out!

Finally, if you haven’t already considered it (and you are a UK operator), I recommend joining the RSGB as a member. This gives you many benefits, the main one being access to the QSL bureau (to exchange QSL cards at very low cost), and a free copy of Radcom put through the door every month!

​Please share this article on Facebook or on your own website if you have found it useful – It is my aim to help out newer M7 operators, and hopefully this article will find its way to those who could benefit from it.
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Good luck, and feel free to ask any questions.

73 de Oscar M7OJA