It is good practice to keep a log of our amateur radio transmissions. Whilst it is no longer a requirement of the licence to keep one, Ofcom officials can require us to keep one to assist with resolving interference complaints. It is also a useful to record contacts made, signal reports exchanged etc. to build an understanding of propagation for example.
You will find the guidance below helpful for your log keeping. In the event that an Ofcom official requires you to keep a log, you can expect that they will require you to keep it as described below:-
Logs |
|
Item |
Clarification etc. |
|
Dates of Transmission |
|
|
The times in Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) during each day of the first and last transmissions from the station. |
During the wintertime in the UK this is clock time (or GMT). During the summer time don’t forget to take off an hour to convert from British Summer Time to GMT/ UTC. |
|
The times in Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) during each day of change made to the frequency band, class of emission, or power. |
During the wintertime in the UK this is clock time (or GMT). During the summer time don’t forget to take off an hour to convert from British Summer Time to GMT/ UTC. |
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e.g. 21MHz, 1.8 MHz, 70MHz |
|
|
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See the licence schedule |
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Remember that on most bands there is a maximum power limit of 10 Watts. |
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Doesn’t matter whether they were answered or not |
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The callsign of the amateurs or licensed stations with which communication was established (not including any amateurs or stations that form part of an intermediate relay) |
Include all the callsigns in a group. No need to list all intermediate nodes on a packet radio link. |
|
The location if operating from a temporary location |
Address / Post Code, National Grid Reference, Latitude and Longitude, Clear Geographic location (e.g. Poole Park) etc. |
|
Date
|
Time |
Frequency |
Mode |
Power |
Callsign |
Comments |
|
23/05/2019 |
16:04 |
144 |
CW |
5 Watts |
CQ |
Start of Transmissions |
|
23/05/2019 |
16:05 |
144 |
CW |
5Watts |
M7XYZ |
|
|
23/05/2019 |
16:10 |
21.230 |
SSTV |
8 Watts |
CQ |
Change Power, Band and Mode |
|
23/05/2019 |
16:11 |
21.230 |
SSTV |
8 Watts |
G0KKL |
|
|
23/05/2019 |
16:20 |
|
|
|
|
End of Transmissions |
The log itself can be either:
If we use a computer to keep our log, it makes sense to keep a back-up our log.
Worldwide amateurs keep their logs in Universal Co-ordinated Time (UTC) – also known as GMT in the UK. This is done so that whenever we refer to a contact with a distant station, we can use the same time. In the UK, it is same time as we use during the winter. In the summer it is just an hour earlier than British Summer Time (so 15:00 BST is 14:00 UTC). So when it is 15:00 UTC, it is 14:00 UTC everywhere in the world.