Back in 1975, there were only two classes of Amateur Transmitting Licence available in the UK - 'A' and 'B'. Class A was the long-standing, 'full-facilities' licence type, having a maximum of privileges, permitting opearations on all modes, high-power and on all bands across the spectrum available to the amateur service. The Class B licence was introduced around 1964, in response to the growing importance of the UHF (e.g. soon the be TV on UHF in the UK) and above bands in the evolving communications landscape. The original Class B licence permitted operations on phone (speech), data and TV modes, high-power, but only on frequency bands above 420 MHz part of the radio spectrum. A few years later, this lower frequency limit was revised down to 144 MHz, thus then including the bread-and-butter popular, two metre band.
A single, common examination that had to be passed by way of qualification for either of the above licence types. This was the RAE (syllabus number 765). The syllabus and administration of this examination were administered by City and Guilds of London Institute.
In addition to the examination, those wanting access to amateur radio transmitting in the High Frequency (HF) amateur bands - essentially 3 - 30 MHz part of the spectrum, but also generally including the Medium Frequency (MF) 1.8 - 2.0 MHz ('topband') allocation needed to pass a proficiency test in Morse code at a sending and receiving speed of 12 words per minute. The rationale for this additional requirement was I believe: Signals in the HF bands easily crossed national and international borders and all commercial radio operators (those on ships, for example) who might not speak English, would as a minimum be able to communicate using Morse code. Such communication from a 'professional' could be an instruction to the 'amateur' to clear off, if they were making a nuisance of themselves on any frequency band that was shared between pros and hams.
I was only ever interested in holding a Class A licence. All of my listening and experimentation was on HF and I really did want to communicate internationally, to speak to people at considerable / unimaginable distances and learn more about the world by so doing. My sights were set!
More history of the UK amateur radio licence types may be found here: https://rsgb.org/main/operating/licensing-novs-visitors/uk-licensing/licensing-history/
For a boy at school, aged 14, who had yet to sit any externally prepared and scored examinations, the RAE was a serious undertaking. It was the sort of examination growed-up people sat! While it was technically possible to self-study for the RAE, most people at the time did not. The examination was held only twice per year (May and December) at locations up and down the country that were invariably attached to educational establishments / colleges, of some sort. Given that many colleges also ran associated study courses, I formed the distinct impression that the road ahead would be smoothed if both the course and exam were booked and taken at the same place. It must have been sometime late-1975 (September?), or early-1976 (would have fitted in with the general UK academic schools / colleges timetable) that I enrolled for the course I took. It must have been at that point that the RAE course admin. would not let me sign on until I produced a letter from my school headmaster saying he was OK with my undertaking such extra-curricular activity. The following day, I arranged to go see the headmaster at my school. In order for him to give his approval, I had to assure him that the proposed addition to my education would not interfere with the studies for which he was responsible. I gave him my assurance and he gave me his permission. Looking back, I don't think I told a deliberate untruth when I said that my alternative education would not interfere with my school studies. At the time I genuinely did not realise that it would, much.
Over the years that followed, the hobby genearally did interfere with my studies. The reason it did was that it was something very specific and with every aspect of it wholly engaging that spoke to me completely on so many more levels that the seemingly general, unconnected and frequently lacking in purpose subjects I was studying.
Once signed on to the RAE course, I settled into the teacher-led study sessions. These took place weekly, at a place of education known as the 'Brasshouse Centre' in Broad Street, central Birmingham. My tutor was a great guy called Keith Fretsome, G4ABV who, like many of my radio mentors, is sadly no longer with us. Keith was a good teacher - he may have been one professionally, I can't quite recall. There were perhaps 10 - 20 of us in his classes, with me being the youngest, I think. I was a good pupil. I devoured the syllabus as a whole, each session and as much homework as we were given. If I ran out of homework, I would invent some more to learn! I wish I could have done the same at school. Those of my peers at school that did show the same levels of commitment to their main stream studies as I showed to studying for the RAE doubtless got better grades than I did. I wish I could have been one of them, but I was just wired differently!
I sat the Radio Amateurs' Examination in May 1976 - the earliest I could. It was a three-hour, pain-in-the-wrist longhand written exam in two parts - the first part testing knowledge of licence conditions and demonstrating that you could identify and fix types of interference you might be responsible for producing while transmitting. The second, demonstrating knowledge of matters technical - components, circuits, aerials and feeders, receivers, transmitters, test equipments, etc. I managed a distinction grade in the first part and a merit grade in the second, or was it the other way around?! Either way a solid pass!
Some old examination papers for the RAE, including the one I sat, may be found here: https://www.g4dmp.co.uk/rae/index.htm
Part way through studying for the RAE, I started learning Morse Code. I think Keith did some of the early teaching of this, maybe in a second session at Brasshouse, and/or at his home in Hampton-In-Arden, SE Birmingham. For me, I learned the code in two parts. Firstly learning the alphabet and numbers - A to Z and 0 to 9 - and, secondly, getting up to test speed (12 Words Per Minute, WPM). Thankfully, it was not required to learn punctuation and special character sequences found in real-world use of Morse code, as this was not a requirement of the test.
The bulk of my schooling in Morse code came about through my membership of the Solihull Amateur Radio Society (SARS). It seemed to me that most all of the clubs members' were proficient in the code. Some, like Ray, G3RGD, were so proficient that they could be holding a face-to-face conversation with you at the same time as having an over-the-air conversation with someone far distant using Morse code on the radio! I've always wanted to be this proficient, but never come anywhere close. When I do it (not often, sadly), Morse code is still something that requires my absolute full concentration. Speaking French similarly takes all of my effort and the result is surely not pleasant for those on the receiving end. Morse tutor-in-chief for SARS was Ralph, G3PYR. He would hold weekly in person sessions at his house in Solihull where perhaps four, or five, students would turn up to be put through the the mill. The approach was very much rinse and repeat until you got it. And this method, although tedious and not very enjoyable by me, worked! Ralph would send Morse audibly to those gathered in the room using a device called a 'Fullerphone'. This was a artifact from the First World War (not even The Second!) that emitted a most distinctive musical note when the Morse key was pressed. At first, I found trying to work out what the note sounded like distracted me hugely from copying the Morse code. Over time I got used to it.
More about the Fullerphone may be found here https://www.wftw.nl/ful.html
By May, 1976, I had my very own RAE pass slip. I could have applied for a Class B licence, but had no interest in so doing. As I recall, having passed the RAE but having not elected to get a licence, you were given 12 months in which to pass the Morse test and apply for the Class A, otherwise you went down the snake and had to take the RAE again. So the pressure was on! I must have sat the Morse test in mid-November, 1976. The Morse code tests were available on a freely bookable basis and were administered by the Post Office. I recall my long-suffering mother drove myself and my friend, Keith, from the Solihull club, the 200-odd mile round trip to and from a coastal (ship-to-shore) radio station at Highbridge, near Bristol, to take the test. Highbridge was the receiving site for Portishead Radio (callsign GKA) transmitting site. Both Keith and I passed the sending and receiving of plain test passages with no more than the allowed number of errors and got our bits of paper to prove this. I can remember the debrief from the radio operator, in which he said he thought my sending on a new to me Morse key was quite good. He then gave us a tour of the station and I remember opearators' sat at their consoles with Morse keys, expensive looking (Racal?) receivers and panels of colourful switches. He explained that the receivers and receiving aerials were on-site there, but the transmitters and their aerials were some miles away. This receiver - transmitter split-site arrangement allowed the coastal stations to work full-duplex!
So, by the middle of November, I had an RAE pass slip and one for the Morse Test too. I must have sent these off to the UK Home Office and by return came 'Amateur Radio Certificate', number 4105, dated 24 November 1976. I can't remember quite what the point of the ARC was. I think it did allow you to operate using someone else's station / callsign, under supervision, while waiting for a licence yourself, but why would you wait? It does say on the bottom of the ARC that, "This Certificate will not be regarded as exempting the holder from having to pass the Morse Test again if he {girls were not invented until later in the 20th century!} applies for an Amateur (Sound) Licence more than twelve months after the date on which he passed the Post Office Morse Test mentioned above". Needless to say, I did not hang around and either applied for my licence by return, or else in parallel to applying for the ARC, if you could do such a thing. My licence, with accompanying callsign 'G4FPH' came by post on 26 November, 1976. My friend, Keith, got given 'G4FPN' - would have been either on the same day, or not very long after.
Copyright 2026 Mark Hill, G4FPH.
Last modified: 17 August, 2026.