TL;DR; Everything is going to be OK
Story Time
In the last few days I've received some interesting and helpful advice about how to get a license in Australia to operate amateur radio. This will be of interest to those who are contemplating a future trip to Australia and an island (or worthy DX entity controlled by Australia).
In April 2024, the rules have changed in Australia.
The first misconception to put away is this: The ARRL DXCC does not decide what prefix is used by the respective country. That's a lot to accept. But if the going-in assumption is "Well the ARRL DXCC says so, it must be the prefix." That thinking will run afoul (potentially) with the sovereignty of the nation/entity involved. It may be right, and it may be wrong. Only the governing body of the country that you are going to can decide -- the ARRL does not decide these things. What the ARRL DXCC can decide is whether or not the entity in question qualifies as an entity in the ARRL DXCC List.
The tale of Australian amateur radio call signs
As you're aware, this has been both confusing and time-consuming with respect to understanding what to do.
My fault was in not reading the material very well and making some gross errors.
I've been fielding some questions about this --- ClubLog, M0URX OQRS, and even ARRL LoTW desk, and also had numerous email exchanges with the ARRL leadership in the last 48 hours.
I am not going to pursue any more questions with the ARRL DXCC Desk or LoTW Desk until after the current LoTW fiasco has subsided. Their hands are full. I don't want to exacerbate the problems they face with my tiny issue.
Some of this you may already know, but in case the details were murky hopefully this tells the story completely.
The benefit would be to any future expeditions to any islands in Australia. For those who already have licenses that contradict the current rules -- none of this applies. I don't have any authority of course to say one way or the other. It's just observations and perhaps these observations may save time for those planning future plans later this year or beyond.
1 Who has the authority?
The first step in the Authority path starts with the ITU. ( I have no idea how the ITU and Australia negotiated the prefixes allocated to Australia -- it isn't important.)
What is important is that Australia decides what to do with their callsign prefix allocation. Not the ARRL DXCC Desk, or any other entity.
2 Who has the authority to handle Australian amateur radio call signs
Who has the authority to handle Australian amateur radio call sign assignments?
The ACMA
(Per Wikipedia, but there's more authority in another link that follows)
"In March 2019, AMC was awarded by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) a Deed of Agreement to provide Amateur Radio license testing for Australia, and administration of license issue recommendations to ACMA. AMC has used an already established system of exam invigilators, often associated with Amateur Radio Clubs, who receive license tests from AMC upon application by candidates, conduct the test session, and return the tests to AMC for marking and further administration. While ACMA formally issues licenses, it does so upon advice from ACM that also administers beacon and repeater licenses, and changes of licenses.[9][10]"
In fact, the page at the AMC displays that the ACMA is now in authority:
Authority link:
https://www.acma.gov.au/amateur-radio-call-signs
https://www.acma.gov.au/amateur-radio-call-signs
Leads to:
For Foreigners visiting Australia, Pages 2, 7 and 22 are of most importance.
3 What Call Area Applies?
The question of what call-area the "Island" or "DX" in Australia resides is codified in the above link -- but only to some extent. There are hundreds of Islands and only a handful are places that occupy the ARRL DXCC List. LHI, Norfok Island, etc..
So that's a test to perform:
- Is my DX'pedition currently (2022) a DX entity in the ARRL DXCC List
- Is that entity considered a distinct location with respect to the call-area assignment in Australia?
A good place to start the search is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Australia
The big question for a lot of future DX'peditions is -- what is my call area number?
It depends. The External Territories are listed in that link above. But if the island is NOT listed in External Territories list, then it probably falls in the call area of the Province. Just like Lord Howe Island does. Area 2. Hence, VK2
One question to ask then is "How can I be sure what Province my island operation is?"
One question to ask then is "How can I be sure what Province my island operation is?"
I went to the old-school method I learned in the film "Miracle on 34th Street" -- trust the Postal System. The Australian postal system would, you think, in theory know precisely what Province a location is.
I asked their query tool "Lord Howe Island" and it is in NSW (New South Wales).. not External Territories.
I asked the query tool "Norfolk Island" Should be in Area 9 per the ACMA. For example, VK9. External Territory.
Interestingly, it gives an address of the post office on Norfolk Island as in the NSW Province. Norfolk island, to the Australian Post is a NSW address. But to the ACMA it's an external territory. How's that for confusion.
Per the ACMA:
"But for the other External Territories:
Call signs assigned with the prefix VK9 (with either a 2- or 3-letter suffix) can only be assigned to amateur operators intending to visit, or who already reside on,
Call signs assigned with the prefix VK9 (with either a 2- or 3-letter suffix) can only be assigned to amateur operators intending to visit, or who already reside on,
Australian islands or external territories, other than the Antarctic. Call signs assigned with the prefix VK9 must only be used when the operator is located in an Australian external territory. The following are Australian external territories:
> Coral Sea Islands
> Ashmore and Cartier Islands
> Norfolk Island
> Cocos Keeling Islands
> Christmas Island
> Heard and McDonald Islands
Some territories in the above list also include smaller islands, which are part of that external territory. For example, Mellish Reef and Willis Islands are part of the Coral Sea Islands territory. Applications for use of VK0 and VK9 call signs will not be approved if they are made for use on an island that is not an Australian external territory, for example, Lord Howe Island." --- ACMA Call sign Policy page 7
4 Are you a visitor or are you a license holder in Australia?
If you are a visitor, you need to satisfy a test per the rubric in this page:
If you are qualified and the country from where your license is granted is in the the table, per those regulations (read it carefully), you have privileges. In those cases, the document makes it clear (in the Call sign policy) that you don't "get a license" from the ACMA. One simply puts the VK/ Prefix with their home call sign.
Example: VK2/W7BRS
Refer to Callsign Policy Page 22
On the other hand, if you are a full licensed amateur in Australia, then the process is different and I don't know that is. The system to use for that process is behind a wall that is only reachable by those with the appropriate Digital ID credentials per ACMA.
Bottom Line
If you're visiting Australia and want to operate amateur radio, then the good news is that the reciprocity schedule is fairly generous.
If on the other hand you want to request a special call sign then the process is steep uphill. The chances of getting a callsign seem remote for a foreigner visiting Australia.
To be frank and honest, it makes perfect sense. The FCC doesn't routinely hand out licenses to foreigners as far as I know -- you have to pass a FCC test to get an FCC issued license. I could be wrong, I have not heard of any foreigners who just "get granted" a full FCC license on the basis of having a foreign amateur license.
On the other hand, when there is reciprocity, pro-signs are the normal method.
-Jeff
Appendix
So you read all this and still are confused? Or maybe you're thinking something else.
Things will be complicated even beyond the call-sign assignment. Let's take a look at a few things that are affected:
- LoTW - TQSL -- so you want a certificate? Well, the "prefix" may betray your intent because the prefix might indicate the mainland no the other Island entity. The ARRL LoTW software TQSL does not recognize VK2/W7BRS as a Lord Howe Entity -- rightly so. TQSL expects LHI to be VK9L (but it's VK9L prefix). That little glitch will require some human interaction at the ARRL LoTW Desk. Your planned expedition may also have the same issue. It will depend on things. Expect to deal with the Help Desk.
- Same is true for the ARRL DXCC Desk. The ARRL DXCC Desk will need to understand that some entities that are on the ARRL DXCC list won't have the same prefix. It will be a bit of a hassle trying to overcome that issue too, probably.
- Then there are the OQRS systems out there. They, rightfully so try to filter those call signs as being DX or not DX based on the callsign but in some cases now the prefix of the call will betray the actual location. Another instance of human intervention.
- Not to mention the Spot-Networks and Clusters and all of the Logging software. Most of this can be addressed manually - in Logging Software, but when some spots occur the actual DX won't be the same as what the call-sign indicates. In the case of Lord Howe Island this is really obvious. If you punch in "VK9L" it'll spot as LHI. If you punch in "VK2/W7BRS" (who will be on Lord Howe Island) it'll come back as a suburb in New South Wales, maybe down the street from Domino's Pizza /grin/ hihi/
I'm not sure what the right solution is. All I can say -- for the record -- is that this is not as clear as it once was.
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