Intermediate Course

Once you have gained experience at the Foundation level we are sure you will want to take the next step up – this is the Intermediate Amateur Radio licence. The Intermediate licence gives access to the Intermediate frequency allocations within the amateur bands and Permitted power levels are increased to 50 watts.

To obtain the Intermediate licence it is advisable to take a training course. This course is longer than the Foundation course and aims to teach many of the fundamentals of radio in a stimulating way by actually undertaking practical tasks such as soldering, building a small project and a variety of other exercises building on the experience you have gained as a Foundation licence holder.

After completing the course candidates sit the Intermediate Licence Examination. Again this examination is a multiple-choice test based on what was learnt on the course, covering the basic concepts of radio operating on the amateur bands and the licence conditions. With both of these successfully completed an Intermediate licence can be obtained.

The course manual, Intermediate Licence – Building on the Foundation, is currently available from the Radio Society of Great Britain’s (RSGBs) on-line book shop.

Cost & timetable

The Southport & District Amateur Radio Club (SADARC) runs its Intermediate courses on a distance learning basis over a period of about three months. During this time you will have access to an exclusive Internet resource were you can contact your instructors as you study the course manual.

The course concludes with attendance on two single days on consecutive weekends (wherever possible) starting at 09:00 and finishing at approximately 17:00 on each day. The first day involves the practical assignments whilst the second day is a final chance to review the course materials and ask any questions.

At the end of the second day you will sit the multiple-choice examination.

The attended sessions usually takes place during February. Please see our courses calendar for the next available course.

The course cost £75 and this includes your examination fee and refreshments and venue hire for the final weekend.

We like to limit our courses to between six and ten candidates since we find that this atmosphere is more conducive to learning and it enables us devote more time to the candidates individual learning requirements.

We have no age limit on our courses and we have staff who hold the relevant CRB certificates. Our venue is also equipped to handle the requirements of those with disabilities.

Further information

Further details about our course schedule, together with application forms, can be obtained from our Course Administrator.

Venue

The course is run at Cottage Lane Mission, Ormskirk.

Syllabus & Sample Test

The syllabus shows you what you will need to know to pass the Foundation Course and all of this is covered during the course and in the course manual which you will receive as part of your registration pack.

We encourage all delegates to read the course manual a few times before they attend the course as it will help with your understanding of the subjects taught on the course. The sample test allows you to guage how well your reading has gone before you attend the course, but please do not worry if you are not obtaining pass scores on the sample test – the course is where you will do the majority of your learning.

You can download a copy of the syllabus, sample test and a list of amendments to the courase manual, Foundation Now!, from the RSGB web site.

Catchment area

We are happy to accept candidates from all over Europe – one of our recent successes was from Czech Rebuplic and he has since gone on to pass his Intermediate Course with us. However, our more traditional catchment area includes West Lancashire (Ormskirk, Burscough, Bickerstaffe, Lathom, Newburgh, Up Holland, Wrightington, Skelmersdale, Aughton, Parbold, Tarleton and Rufford), Lancashire (Chorley, Mawdesly, Croston, Bretherton and Euxton), Wigan, St. Helens, Liverpool, Merseyside and Sefton (Southport, Birkdale, Ainsdale, Formby, Freshfield, Hightown, Crosby, Litherland, Bootle, Maghull, Lydiate, Aintree and Netherton).