No-Morse G3 licences in the 1950's

It is a popular misconception that it was necessary to pass a 12-wpm morse test to get an Amateur Radio licence up until 1964 when the G8 (Sound) licence was introduced.

In fact the then UK regulator, the General Post Office (GPO), issued Amateur Radio licences that didn't require a morse test from 1954 onwards.

The catch was that those licences were restricted to Amateur Television (ATV) only operation on 420 Mc/s (MHz) and above. (Yes the Amateur 70cm band in those days was 420-450 MHz).

This picture shows a letter from the GPO in 1958 issuing one such call sign G3MMX/T.

In 1964 the Class B (Sound) licence was issued in the UK which permitted voice operation above 420 MHz. A seperate licence, G6xxx, which cost extra money, was then still required for ATV operation. Years later ATV operation was incorporated into the Class B licence and the G6 call signs were re-issued as Class B call signs in the 1980's.

Interestingly Japan was well ahead of the game. In the late 1950's they introduced the world's first Foundation licence (Japanese Class 4). This required no more techincal knowledge than todays UK Foundation licence but allowed Japanese Radio Amateurs to use certain HF bands for AM/SSB without the need to pass any morse test.