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Are you a from previously licensed Amateur Radio Operator who has not been active in the last five years and who are without a call sign?
Here is some information on how to get back their authorization to operate again.
Prior to April 1, 2000,
Amateur Radio Operators needed two authorization documents
to operate amateur radio apparatus in the
amateur radio service: An Amateur Radio Operator
Certificate issued for life with no fee associated with it;
and an Amateur
Radio Station Licence issued on a yearly basis with renewal fees. The
requirement to have
a Licence was abolished on April 1, 2000 and the
Certificate became the sole authorization required to
operate in the
amateur radio service. The following administrative steps were taken to
implement these changes:
1. The licence was cancelled.
2. The call
sign was transferred from the licence to the certificate.
3. The Canadian
Amateur Radio Call Sign Database was created and was given public access via the
RAC
Website.
4. All Certificates with call signs were transferred
from the internal Industry Canada database "CERTMAST" to
the new
Canadian Amateur Radio Call Sign Database.
5. All certificates with call
signs were reissued and were mailed to the Amateur Radio
Operators.
Amateur Radio Operators who did not have a valid licence on
April 1, 2000 were left out of the process for
the following
reasons:
1. There was no valid licence, so there was no call sign to be
transferred to the certificate.
2. Without a valid licence, Industry Canada
did not have a mailing address because there is no mailing
address in
the internal "CERTMAST" database.
There are many reasons why an Amateur
Radio Operator would not have a valid licence on April 1, 2000.
Maybe
he lost interest in the hobby and did not renew his licence sometimes in the
past. Maybe he could not
afford the annual renewal fee. Whatever the
reason, the fact remains that his certificate is good for life and
he
can apply at anytime for a new certificate with a call sign if he wants to get
back on the air. Here is what he
should do:
1. Go to:
http://www.rac.ca/
2. Click on " Available Canadian Call Signs "
3. Select
up to 3 available call signs
4. Go to:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/spectrum
5. Click on " Radiocom "
6. Click on "
Amateur Radio Service "
7. Click on " Certification "
8. In the fifth
paragraph, click on " Application Form "
9. When Form IC2381BC has opened in
PDF format, print it, fill it and send it to the Amateur Radio Service
Centre. Or, if the procedure above is too much, just call the Amateur Radio
Service Centre for assistance. Do
not forget to mention that you had a
certificate prior to April 1, 2000 and that you never received a new
certificate with a call sign. If you have your old certificate number and
issue date, provide it along with your
name and date of birth. If you
have lost your old certificate, your name and date of birth should be sufficient
for Industry Canada to find your old certificate in the internal "
CERTMAST " database. Because this is your
first request and your
initial call sign since April 1, 2000, there will be no charge to get your new
certificate
with a call sign. Here are the coordinates of the Amateur
Radio Service Centre:
Industry Canada
Amateur Radio Service
Centre
P.O. Box 9654
Postal Station "T"
Ottawa, ON
K1G 6K9
E-mail
address: Spectrum.amateur@ic.gc.ca
<mailto:Spectrum.amateur@ic.gc.ca>
Telephone: 1-888-780-3333 (Toll
free)
Donald Courcy
Regional Emergency Telecommunications Officer - Atlantic
Region
INDUSTRY CANADA
1045 Main Street, 4th Floor, Moncton, NB E1C
1H1
(506) 851-6542 Office Phone
(506) 851-7444 Office Fax
(506)
874-1003 Office Cellular
(600) 700-6965 Emergency Satellite Phone
Email:
courcy.donald@ic.gc.ca
Website: www.spectrum.ic.gc.ca/urgent
Home
address: 3 Emerald Crescent, Moncton, NB E1H 3E2
(506) 860-3378 Home
Phone
(506) 871-3859 Home Cellular
Home Email: courcy@rogers.com
Ham
Radio Call Sign: VE1CY
Frequencies/Modes: 1.8 MHz to 450 MHz - CW/SSB/FM