Many will tell you it’s impossible, but believe it or not operating internationally without full license e.g using a Foundation or Intermediate license is indeed actually possible!

I had heard about this after some discussions on the FreeSTAR network and after speaking to John (EA5JAV) he confirmed it was possible and the process involved.

You can not just rock up in Spain and start to operate, you first need to obtain permission from the Spanish Ministry which can be a bit of a challenge. Thankfully there is an organisation called Fedi-EA who make this process much easier and accessible to non Spanish speakers, the only caveat is you need to be a member but membership is extremely reasonable at approx 10 euros for 1 year. I would recommend the standard level of membership as it includes civil liability insurance, antenna insurance and legal services.

Once you have become a member of Fedi-EA you can email them using the email address fediea@fediea.org state that you would like to operate in Spain using your intermediate or foundation callsign, you will then be asked for some information such as copies of your passport, Ofcom issued license, dates and duration of your stay, address where you will be staying and some other details. Once this information has been provided Fedi-EA will ask you to print off and sign a form, this is the form which they submit to the Ministry on your behalf. Once this has been submitted it is a matter of waiting for the authorisation to come through. You will receive two emails from the Ministry, these are just notifications that a response has been made, unfortunately you are unable to login to the Ministry portal and see the contents of these notifications. The first notification is that your application has been received and all being well the second should be notification your application has been granted.

After your authorisation has been granted you should carefully read the document that the Ministry has provided with your authorisation. Again depending on your fluency of the Spanish language you may need to use Google Translate to help translate this. The document contains details of the frequencies and power you are able to use in addition to details about callsign prefixes. If for example I was operating from the Canary Islands as my old intermediate callsign I would be EA8/2E0YGL. In actual fact I did apply and get granted permission to operate however I passed the full RSGB exam before I departed for my holiday.

Travelling through an airport with radio equipment may raise some interest from airport security, you have to remember our hobby is a niche one many do not know it exists. Radio equipment has also been used in terror incidents in the past with India for example banning the use of satellite phones after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2011. You should carry a copy of your Ofcom license, your authorisation from the Spanish ministry and a copy of your Fedi-EA membership card, this should be enough to demonstrate why you are carrying radio equipment. Although radio equipment is not a prohibited item for air travel according to the CAA it’s good practice to be able to give reason to why you are travelling with it if or when you are asked. In addition remember not to operate your equipment in flight, a condition of your license is to not operate it without the permission of the captain, however for others comfort and peace of mind I would suggest operating it on a commercial flight even if you had permission may cause concern from others so it would be better to refrain.

I hope this short summary is useful for any fellow Intermediate and Foundation license holders, I would be really keen to hear if you managed to operate successfully on your travels or if you had any issues doing so. Please leave a comment.

73

M0YGL