UK Amateur Radio Callsigns & Licences

Ham radio call signs includes:
Callsigns     UK callsigns    

There is a large number of different prefixes used for UK, British amateur radio callsigns or call signs and many wonder whether any information about the licence can be gained from the callsign.

From a knowledge of these ham radio call signs it is possible to learn something about the licencee - the type of amateur radio or ham radio licence held and also when it was issued.

As the types of ham radio licence available have changed over the years, and different call sign series were issued for each one, it may be difficult to identify what the callsigns mean without a table and explanation.

Even now the way in which callsigns are allocated and the types changes as time moves on and new requirements are needed.

Current UK amateur radio licences

First, it is worth understanding the different types of licence that are available within the UK.

Within the UK, there are three types of amateur radio licence that can be obtained, namely the Foundation Licence, Intermediate Licence and the Full Licence. Each of these ham radio licences offers different privileges in a form of incentive amateur radio licence scheme through which all new UK radio hams must progress to achieve the full licence.

The different ham radio licences reflect the experience of the operators, the Foundation Licence offering entry level privileges while the Full licence offers the highest power levels and the greatest number of bands.

These overviews are by their nature limited in definition. For full details it is necessary to refer to the appropriate ham radio licence.

UK amateur radio call signs

Over the years a variety of different ham radio call sign series have been used in the UK and the number of prefixes used has increased. It is worth noting that these are strictly in line with the international allocations of prefixes so that countries of origin can easily be identified.

By looking at the prefix and the number of letters after the prefix it is possible to tell the approximate years in which the licence was issued, and also the original form of licence.

There have been a variety of different licences that have been available, and a particular call sign format was used for each different type of licence.

However, it is worth noting that from April 2000, out od sequence callsigns could be requested so some callsigns may not correspond to the dates shown, although these tend to be a minority.

  •   Foundation Licence

The foundation licence is the entry level or "novice" style licence which has become popular as a means of entering the hobby and getting onto the air.

  •   Intermediate Licence

Once experience has been gained from using the foundation licence, it is possible to move on to the Intermediate Lice for radio amateurs in the UK.

The callsigns used for this series reflect that this was once the entry level licence as the callsigns start with the numeral "2".

  •   Full Licence

The UK amateur radio Full Licence was derived from the original class A licence that gave access to all the UK amateur radio allocations.

The callsigns were originally issues in the series G3 plus three letters and holders of pre-war licences has two letters int he suffix or G2 plus three letters for a form of licence called an artificial aerial licence which allowed transmitteters to be built and tested, but only into a dummy load or "artificial aerial."

With the abolition of the requirement for a Morse test, the holders of the class B licences were given the same privileges as the original class A licensees with access toth e HF bands, etc.

UK amateur radio call sign prefixes

In addition to the basic ham radio call signs a variety of prefixes are used. These not only indicate the country in which the station is located, but also the type of station - a separate set of prefixes being used to indicate whether the amateur radio licence is privately held by an individual or whether it is a club station.

The schemes are different for the M or G series callsigns and those in the 2X* series as the structure of the call signs is slightly different.

The call signs in the G and M series follow the same format. The second letter of the prefix indicates the country and purpose of the licence.

Although amateur radio club stations are allocated call signs using the standard series of prefixes, they also have the option to use the other prefixes detailed in the table above to indicate that they are a club station. This can be particularly useful when they are operating in particular as a club station when they want to make their status more obvious, or for example in some ham radio contests where a new prefix has added value.

GB call signs

The GB prefix is used for a variety of special ham radio licences ranging from repeaters and beacons to data mailboxes and special even stations.

It is possible to tell the use of the station and licence from the format of the callsign and this can be very useful when listening for repeaters, beacons and also special event stations.

Contest callsigns

UK licencees and clubs may apply for a licence with a single letter callign suffix or body for use in contests.

Callsigns like G1A, GM2B or M3C may be heard and they are a perfectly legitimate format these days.

these special contest callsigns or SCCs are available for specific contests during the year. The applicant can be either an individual or club that already holds a full licence and they are renewable after a year. As there are only 520 of these callsigns and there is stiff competition for them, they can be reallocated if they are not renewed.

UK callsign suffixes

Suffixes may occasionally be used with UK amateur radio callsigns, normally to denote a particular type of operation. These are normally quite straightforward as show in the table below.

Call sign examples

Listening on the amateur radio bands, a large variety of UK call signs with different prefixes can be heard. By using the above tables and information it is possible to determine much about the station using them. Although no UK call signs with serial letters in the series QAA to QZZ were issued, these can be used as examples as they do not belong to real stations. For example it can be seen that a station with the call sign G3QQQ would have been issued with a class A license and now hold a UK full licence, but it would have been issued between 1946 and 1971, well before the current licensing system was introduced. An amateur radio station with the call sign GB3QQ would be a repeater, and so forth.

As can be seen, there is a great variety in UK ham radio call signs and their prefixes. This diversity has partly arisen out of the changes in the UK ham radio or amateur radio licences and also from the need for new series of UK amateur radio call signs. As a result it is very useful to have an understanding of the make up of these call signs.

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