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How do I become a radio amateur?

In Germany, amateur radio needs an exam at the Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA, German regulator). After that you get a callsign that's yours alone and you may transmit: on your own frequencies, with your own gear, with no fee per contact and no provider in between.

What amateur radio is

Amateur radio is radio operating out of interest in the technology. No commercial service, no business over the air, no music and no advertising. In return you may build, measure, experiment and transmit on your own frequency ranges, with far more power than licence-free radio like PMR or CB.

Pass the exam at the Bundesnetzagentur and you get a personal callsign. With it you can go from the local repeater round the corner to worldwide contacts on shortwave, all the way to contacts via satellites or the ISS. Emergency communications are part of the idea too: when mobile networks and the internet go down, a station with a battery and a wire still works.

Getting started is cheaper than its reputation. A used handheld for 2 m and 70 cm costs little, a wire antenna even less, and you can prepare for the exam entirely with free material.

Three steps

Between “sounds interesting” and your first QSO there are three things. Everything else is detail.

1. Learn

The question pool is public, and the exam uses exactly these questions. For class N a few weeks of regular study are enough.

What to study with

2. Take the exam

Written, at a Bundesnetzagentur branch office, three parts, each passed on its own. Free dates are scarce, so look early.

Dates with distance search

3. Get your callsign

With the certificate you apply for the assignment. You can pick a callsign as long as it's free, and then you may transmit.

Is my pick still free?

The three classes

Since 2024 there are three certificate classes. They differ in which bands you may use and with how much power. The exam syllabus grows to match.

N Entry class
Bands
10 m, 2 m, 70 cm
Power
10 W ERP on 10 m, 6.1 W ERP on 2 m and 70 cm

Smallest syllabus. Enough for repeater use, portable operating on 10 m and your first home-made antennas.

E Intermediate class
Bands
160 m, 80 m, 15 m, 10 m and the VHF/UHF bands from 2 m up
Power
100 W PEP on HF, 75 W on 2 m, 70 cm and 23 cm

For anyone who wants HF without learning the full technical syllabus.

A full privileges
Bands
all amateur bands
Power
up to 750 W PEP on most HF bands

If you like electronics anyway, you can start right here.

The exact limits per band are in the band plan, including bandwidths and extra provisions.

The exam

Written, multiple choice, at a Bundesnetzagentur branch office.

3
parts
25
questions per part
4
answers, one is right
19
correct to pass
45
minutes per part

The three parts are technical knowledge, operating knowledge and knowledge of regulations. Operating and regulations are the same for all classes.

The technical part differs: class N draws its questions only from the N pool, class E from N and E, class A from all three pools. For the class A technical part you get 60 minutes instead of 45.

Parts you pass stay passed. If you fail one part, you only retake that one.

A calculator and the official aids are allowed. The formula sheet is provided in the exam, so you don't have to memorise formulas, just know which one you need when.

Dates and costs

The Bundesnetzagentur doesn't run exams everywhere or all the time. Free dates are regularly scarce, especially at popular locations.

The exam dates page lists all published dates with a distance search. You can subscribe to free places as a feed or calendar instead of checking every week.

Exam fee and callsign assignment together come to roughly 88 euros for class N and about 101 euros for class A in 2026. If you upgrade later, you only pay for the supplementary exam.

After you're licensed there's a yearly contribution for frequency use and EMC, in the region of 30 euros.

The Bundesnetzagentur fee schedule is what counts. The amounts change now and then; the figures here are as of 2026.

Preparing

The complete question pool is public. The exam uses exactly these questions, just in a different order, so you can plan your preparation.

Funkpate

Our learning platform: the official question pool with a study plan up to exam day, a repeat of your mistakes after a few days and explanations for the questions you get stuck on. On your phone too.

www.funkpate.de

50ohm.de

The free course material from the DARC. It covers the syllabus as chapters rather than a list of questions, good if you want to understand why an answer is right.

50ohm.de

Course at a local club

Takes a lot of pressure off: someone explains, and you ask questions in the room instead of a forum. Here at B37 it's free, and you don't have to be a member.

Haßberge club, B37

How long it takes depends on what you already know. For class N a few weeks of regular study are enough. Class A is more of a six-month project if you start from zero.

After the exam

With the certificate you apply for a callsign. You can pick one as long as it's free. Then you may transmit.

Notify a fixed station

If you run a fixed station with more than 10 watts EIRP, you must notify the Bundesnetzagentur and show that the limits for electromagnetic fields are met. How that works and what you need is in the BEMFV assistant; the safety distance calculator gives a quick estimate.

Keeping a logbook

A logbook is no longer required, but it's handy: for awards, for confirmations and to see what your antenna can really do. The log analysis shows you what's in an existing log.

What you do with it

FM via repeaters. The usual start. A handheld on 2 m or 70 cm, a repeater nearby, and you reliably reach the region. A good chance to practise operating before moving to HF.

SSB and CW on HF. Here range depends on propagation, not power. In good conditions a few watts are enough for contacts across continents. CW, Morse telegraphy, is no longer required, but it gets by with very little bandwidth and power, which is why many portable operators use it.

Digital modes. FT8 and its relatives pull signals out of the noise that you can no longer hear. That makes worldwide contacts possible even with a modest antenna. On top of that there's APRS for position reports and short messages, and digital voice like DMR, D-STAR and C4FM.

Satellites. There are amateur satellites with transponders on board, and some can be worked with a handheld and a hand-held beam. Your first contact takes surprisingly little gear, but you need a pass prediction and some patience.

Operating outdoors

Portable operating is the part of the hobby that actually gets you out of the house. Three programmes have become established:

In practice the hardest question is often where the area actually starts. POTA only knows one point per park, and it tends to be in the car park or in the middle of nowhere. That's what the xOTA map is for: it shows the boundary as an area, plus SOTA summits and current spots.

Inside the area doesn't automatically mean allowed. Nature reserves have their own rules, and in some you may neither leave the paths nor set anything up. The signs on site are what count.

FAQ

Do I need to know Morse?

No. Telegraphy has not been part of the exam for a long time. Many learn it anyway, because CW goes a long way on little power.

Is there a minimum age?

No. There are hams who passed the exam at ten and others who started at seventy.

Do I need to join the DARC?

No, the licence comes from the Bundesnetzagentur. But a local club helps with studying, building antennas and working out why the SWR is off.

Can I listen in first?

Yes. Anyone may receive. A simple receiver or a WebSDR in the browser is enough to get a feel for how contacts go. The glossary has the abbreviations you'll hear all the time.

What do I need as a first radio?

For class N a handheld for 2 m and 70 cm is enough to work through repeaters. It usually makes more sense to put the money into a decent antenna first: a good antenna on a simple radio beats an expensive radio on a poor antenna.

Can I operate anywhere with my callsign?

Within Germany yes, fixed, portable or mobile. In other European countries the CEPT arrangement usually applies: you put the country prefix in front of your callsign. Which class gets which privileges there is under Abroad.

The local club: Haßberge, B37

This site comes from the DARC local club Haßberge, DOK B37 (DARC district/club code), district Franken. We're based in the Haßberge nature park and run several repeaters and digipeaters there: DB0NU on the Altenstein (FM, DMR, D-STAR, APRS, packet radio, HAMNET and paging), DB0NH with HAMNET, MeshCom, APRS and weather data, plus DB0KR.

We meet at the club night on the second Friday of every month from about 7 pm in Pfarrweisach, and on Sundays from 10 am local time for the club net on DB0NU, right after the national DARC news bulletin. On top of that there's field day, hikes and online study groups for anyone working towards the exam. The next date and the exact meeting place are on bravo37.de.

You can listen and join in without membership and without a callsign. If you fancy it, just come along to a club night. The club supports newcomers from the first question to exam day; if you live in Lower Franconia, just drop in at a meeting.

Join the DARC, directly with B37

The application is entirely online through the DARC portal (in German). Via the button, B37 is already preselected as your local club, and you can still change it in the form. The application comes to us at the club first, then goes to the district and head office.

Apply to B37 Look around first

Questions first? Write to vorstand@bravo37.de. We don't bite, and when you're starting out there are no stupid questions.

Exam procedure and number of questions per 50ohm.de and the official question pool (3rd edition, March 2024). Binding are the Amateurfunkgesetz (German Amateur Radio Act), the Amateurfunkverordnung (AFuV, German amateur radio regulations) and the information from the Bundesnetzagentur.