SARL President Graham Hartlett ZS6GJH

SARL announces a reduction in RAE exam fees

During the President's Net last Sunday, the South African Radio League President Graham Hartlett announced a substantial reduction in the RAE fees.

The reduction has been made possible as ICASA has agreed that in future the SARL, as the national body for Amateur Radio, will be authorised to issue the RAE certificate.

Effective immediately, the registration fee for both the class A and Class B examination will be an inclusive R300. There is an additional reduction for students under the age of 25 who can prove that they are full time students or learners. The fee will be R200. The fee will include one re-write should the candidate fail the first attempt at the examination, however no refunds will be considered.

The process for registering for the examination has also been streamlined. Candidates can download the necessary forms from the SARL website or request copies from the SARL administrator and after completion fax or mail the completed forms and required documentation to the SARL.
It is important that candidates carefully follow the checklist on the RAE registration form to ensure that all the required documentation is submitted. Failing to do so may result in unnecessary delays.

The SARL is currently working with ICASA on combining the RAE certificate with the HAREC certificate as specified in the radio regulations. Once this has been finalised, candidates who pass the class A examination will receive a HAREC certificate which will be valid for application of an amateur radio license in CEPT countries and other countries which has contracted into the HAREC system. HAREC is the acronym for Harmonised Amateur Radio Examination certificate. This process may take a few weeks.

MORE FOR MEMBERS

Graham Hartlett also discussed the issue of more benefits for members. He said that the Council had accepted the principle that members should derive maximum benefit from their membership.

As the National Body for Amateur Radio, a number of services must be available to all radio amateurs for which the SARL will in future charge an admin fee. He cited the example of the upgrade process from ZR to ZS. The process will be free for SARL members, but non-members will be charged an admin fee of R100.

The SARL will also relook at the various services on the web and, where necessary, upgrade the website and increase the members only content.

He said that not all changes will be made immediately but will be an ongoing process over a period of time

Source: The South African Radio League