On 26 Jun 2019 at 04:01p, xqtr pondered and said...

I am not licensed, nor i use radios for communication, but i do like listening to radio frequencies, via Internet or a RTLSDR setup. All of
my antennas are DIY stuff and mostly i listen to 2m and 70cm. If i had a call sign, that would be SV1XQT! :)

That sounds like it would be a very nice call sign to have :)

I don't have any software defined radios but use a Icom IC 2720 for my
VHF/UHF contacts and have a Kenwood TS-440S as a HF rig that I use when I
have my antenna back up on the lower bands.

I did try once to get a license, but then i realized that to do "real" stuff, you need a class b license and a lot of money :) so i gave up. I don't regret as, today you can hear amateur frequencies, via internet sites, with out spending a cent :)

Out of interest what are the steps required there and the approximate costs?

Here you need to sit an exam and pass it and pay the radio club that conducts the exam a small fee (around $5)

We use a General User Radio Licence for Amateur Radio Operators here. GURL is the abbreviation for General User Radio Licence for Amateur Radio Operators and is the licence covering the operation of amateur radio equipment in New Zealand.

Have a look at https://bit.ly/2NgK8eB if interested :)

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Out of interest what are the steps required there and the approximate costs?

from what i remember... the exams are 2 times per year (one per six months),
is a government organization, about telecommunications, but not in all districts/areas... so if you live far, from a big city, you have to take the trip to that city to take the test. You have to submit a paper that says that you want to take the exam for class A/B license and about 50Euros, for the
cost of the exams and the callsign :( There are no lessons to attend... you just download a set of questions/answers and read them. Those who are more lucky and have an amateur radio club, near them, can attend some lessons
there, but those, are just an offer of the club and don't have any relation to the exams. For example the lessons from the club, can be more advanced than
the license you want is demanding.

Also, if you take first the class A license and then the class B, is 50+50 euros :) So many people, take the class B with the first try.

In my case, i had to travel about 100Km to take the exam and also loose a
whole work day, from my job, which at the time was impossible due to work issues.

The call signs beginning with SV or SY are from Greece.. .so if you listen someone with that prefix, you have reached Greece :)

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On 27 Jun 2019 at 03:03p, xqtr pondered and said...

Also, if you take first the class A license and then the class B, is
50+50 euros :) So many people, take the class B with the first try.

In my case, i had to travel about 100Km to take the exam and also loose a whole work day, from my job, which at the time was impossible due to work issues.

That sounds like a big hill to climb and not a very easy way to encourage people to take up the hobby / interest :(

The call signs beginning with SV or SY are from Greece.. .so if you
listen someone with that prefix, you have reached Greece :)

Perhaps one day I will :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A43 2019/03/03 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)