ARTICLE 25

Amateur services
(Updated by the decisions of the WRC-03)

Section I. Amateur Service

25.1   § 1.      Radiocommunication between amateur stations of different countries shall be permitted unless the administration of one of the countries concerned has notified that it objects to such radiocommunications. (WRC-03)

25.2   § 2.    1) Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries shall be limited to communications incidental to the purposes of the amateur service, as defined in No. 1.56 and to remarks of a personal character. (WRC-03)

25.2A  § 2.  1bis) Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries shall not be encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except for control signals exchanged between earth command stations and space stations in the amateur-satellite service. (WRC-03)

25.3             2) Amateur stations may be used for transmitting international communications on behalf of third parties only in case of emergencies or disaster relief. An administration may determine the applicability of this provision to amateur stations under its jurisdiction. (WRC-03)

25.4             not used

25.5   § 3.    1) Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking a licence to operate an amateur station shall demonstrate the ability to send and receive texts in Morse code signals. (WRC-03)

25.6             2) Administrations shall verify the operational and technical qualifications of any person wishing to operate an amateur station. Guidance for standards of competence may be found in the most recent version of Recommendation ITU-R M.1544. (WRC-03)

25.7   § 4.    The maximum power of amateur stations shall be fixed by the administrations concerned. (WRC-03)

25.8   § 5.    1) All pertinent Articles and provisions of the Constitution, the Convention and of these Regulations shall apply to amateur stations. (WRC-03)

25.9             2) During the course of their transmissions, amateur stations shall transmit their call sign at short intervals.

25.9A  § 5A  Administrations are encouraged to take the necessary steps to allow amateur stations to prepare for and meet communication needs in support of disaster relief. (WRC-03)

25.9B  § 5B  An administration may determine whether or not to permit a person who has been granted a licence to operate an amateur station by another administration to operate an amateur station while that person is temporarily in its territory, subject to such conditions or restrictions it may impose. (WRC-03)

Section II. Amateur-Satellite Service

25.10   § 6.    The provisions of Section I of this Article shall apply equally, as appropriate, to the amateur-satellite service.

25.11   § 7.  Administrations authorizing space stations in the amateur-satellite service shall ensure that sufficient earth command stations are established before launch to ensure that any harmful interference caused by emissions from a station in the amateur-satellite service can be terminated immediately (see No. 22.1).