Sandton Radio Amateur Club's Radio Amateur Exam (RAE)

If you already know what Amateur Radio is and you want to do your licence, you have come to the right place.

Class-A General Information

The recommended RAE course duration is approximately 12 weeks, but this could vary from club to club. Times and days will also vary, so it is important to find out all the details and to get a schedule from the clubs RAE manager. Note, clubs may arrange extra lessons or give revision classes from time to time. It is the individual candidate’s responsibility to attend every class and to catch up work, if classes are missed. Clubs will generally run a mock exam towards the end of the course and it is highly recommended that you attend these sessions. We also suggest that you go and register at the following ham exam study site: www.weprepare.co.za Do these exercises on a regular basis as they will stand you in good stead for the final exam.

As part of the RAE course you are required to learn how to operate an HF station in a safe manner without interfering with others. This needs to be done using the correct operating procedures, and by abiding by the rules and regulations as set out by ICASA. You need to make a minimum of five contacts and do a practical assessment on setting up the HF station. There should be regular opportunities, during the course, for you to operate an HF station and make contact with other hams using a club call sign. This will be done under supervision of a suitable qualified Amateur Radio operator. The final HF assessment will be undertaken by an HF assessor as appointed by the SARL. If you are not attending lectures and doing home study, then have a look at the following link and contact one of the listed HF assessors in your area: http://www.sarl.org.za/Web3/RAE/HFAssessorsPublic.aspx

The final assessment, including the logbook and declaration by the assessors, needs to be handed in at the latest with the final exam papers.

Study Material

The study material is available to download from the SARL website at the following address: http://www.sarl.org.za/public/licences/rae.asp

Weekly classes cover the following topics, which are in the study guide.

1. Overview of Amateur Radio, Operating Procedure, Basic electrical concepts:
2. Resistance and Ohm’s law, The Resistor and Potentiometer, Direct Current Circuits
3. Power in DC Circuits, Alternating Current, Capacitance and the Capacitor
4. Inductance and the Inductor, Tuned Circuits, Decibel Notation
5. Filters, The Transformer, Semiconductors and the Diode
6. The Power Supply, The Bipolar Transistor, The Transistor Amplifier
7. The Oscillator, Frequency Translation, Modulation Methods
8. The Transmitter Receiver fundamentals, Super Heterodyne receiver
9. The Transceiver and Transverters, Antennas, Propagation
10. Electromagnetic Compatibility, Measure, measurements, Digital systems.
11. Digital Communication Modes, Safety Considerations
12. Review and mock exam

The amateur radio examinations are generally held twice a year, towards the end of May and October of each year. It is recommended that you register as soon as possible and upload all the required documents as per the “RAE Registration information sheet V6.1” This document and the RAE Registration page can be found at the following link: http://www.sarl.org.za/Web3/RAE/RAERegistration.aspx