As a federal licensee you are required to make the station and any station records available for inspection whenever an FCC representative requests them. The licensee's operating privileges are subject to oversight, so an authorized FCC inspector may examine the station and records without needing to give prior written notice or obtain a warrant. You should keep the original license (or a readily accessible copy where required) available so it can be shown during an inspection.

Memory aids:

• Keep your original license available for inspection.
• Inspections are rare and usually occur only when there is reason to suspect a rules violation.
• Think "available any time upon request" — the FCC representative only needs to ask.

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The rule for using tactical identifiers is the same as for normal call sign identification: you must transmit your FCC-assigned call sign at least once every 10 minutes during a communication and at the end of each communication. A tactical name like “Race Headquarters” can be used for on-air convenience, but it does not replace the requirement to periodically identify with your assigned amateur radio call sign.

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97.119 Station identification.

(a) Each amateur station, except a space station or telecommand station, must transmit its assigned call sign on its transmitting channel at the end of each communication, and at least every ten minutes during a communication, for the purpose of clearly making the source of the transmissions from the station known to those receiving the transmissions. No station may transmit unidentified communications or signals, or transmit as the station call sign, any call sign not authorized to the station.

This means you are required to send your assigned call sign at the end of any transmission and at least once every ten minutes while a communication is ongoing. You are not required to give your call sign at the start of every transmission unless ten minutes have elapsed since the last identification; the rule ensures listeners can always determine the source of a transmission. Exceptions are limited (for example, space stations and telecommand stations).

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When using a phone (voice) emission in the United States, you must identify your station in English. While you may carry on conversations in any language, FCC rules require that station identification — your call sign — be given in English so it can be clearly understood and recorded by other stations and regulators.

Memory aids:

• When giving your call sign, use English letters and/or the NATO (ICAO) phonetic alphabet to spell it clearly.

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For a station transmitting phone (voice) signals, the required identification method is to send the station call sign using either a phone (voice) emission or CW (Morse code). Indicators such as “R” or “RPT” are not used for normal phone identification. Repeaters commonly identify using CW even when carrying phone traffic, which is why CW is accepted as an identification method for phone transmissions.

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The spoken words “stroke,” “slash,” and “slant” are all acceptable ways to indicate the separator in a self-assigned indicator during a phone (voice) transmission. A self-assigned indicator is appended to your call sign to show that you are operating away from your normal licensed station location. On phone you simply say your call sign followed by the chosen separator word and the indicator (for example, "KL7CC stroke W3"). All three spoken forms are acceptable.

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When a non-licensed person uses an amateur station to speak to someone, that non-licensed person is considered a third party (the two licensed amateurs at each end of the connection are the other parties). The FCC permits third-party communications to foreign stations only when the foreign country has a third-party traffic agreement with the United States. That is the restriction that applies here.

A non-licensed person who speaks over the station is not required to be a U.S. citizen, and the licensed control operator does not have to personally speak the station identification (the control operator remains responsible for ensuring the station properly identifies itself, but the third party may provide the identification).

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The FCC regulations (Part 97) define third-party communications as a message sent by the control operator of one amateur station to the control operator of another amateur station on behalf of a third person. In other words, the control operator who transmits is acting for someone else (the third party) and relaying that person's message to the other station's control operator.

§97.3(a)(47) Third party communications. A message from the control operator (first party) of an amateur station to another amateur station control operator (second party) on behalf of another person (third party).

Example: Alice (the control operator at Station A) sends a message to Bob (the control operator at Station B) that contains a request from Carol. Alice is transmitting on Carol's behalf, so the transmission is third-party communications.

Memory aids:

• First party = the control operator who sends the message
• Second party = the other station's control operator who receives the message
• Third party = the person on whose behalf the message is sent

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Repeater stations listen on one frequency and simultaneously retransmit what they receive on a different frequency (or channel). This lets stations with limited range communicate over greater distances by using the repeater's higher location or better antenna. On the popular 2 meter band the transmit and receive frequencies are typically separated by 600 kHz; on 70 cm the separation is commonly 5 MHz.

Other station types behave differently: a remote control station is one that is operated from a distant location by a licensee and does not imply simultaneous retransmission on another channel; a message forwarding station receives messages and later forwards them (not necessarily simultaneously); and beacon stations normally only transmit periodic signals to indicate propagation conditions and do not act as simultaneous retransmitters.

Memory aids:

• Repeater = repeats (listens on one frequency, repeats on another)
• Beacon = just beacons (transmit-only, shows propagation)
• Remote control = operated from afar (remote operator)
• Message forwarding = receives and forwards later, not simultaneous

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Repeaters operate under automatic control, so there is no control operator at the repeater who can be expected to monitor every transmission. Because of this, the person who transmits the original signal is responsible for its content.

Under the FCC rules the control operator of the originating station is accountable for any communications they originate, even if a repeater inadvertently retransmits material that violates the rules. In short, whoever originates the transmission is responsible for what is sent.

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A club station license grant requires that the club be composed of at least four persons. The license trustee must be a person who holds an operator/primary station license grant, and the club must have a name, a document of organization and management, and a primary purpose devoted to amateur service activities consistent with the rules.

The relevant rule is §97.5(b)(2):

§97.5(b)(2) A club station license grant. A club station license grant may be held only by the person who is the license trustee designated by an officer of the club. The trustee must be a person who holds an operator/primary station license grant. The club must be composed of at least four persons and must have a name, a document of organization, management, and a primary purpose devoted to amateur service activities consistent with this part.

Memory aids:

• Remember: a club must have at least four members to qualify for a club station license grant.
• You can form a club with fewer than four people, but you won't be eligible for the club station license until you reach four members.

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