How do I renew my ham ticket?

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Do you remember your FRN credentials at fcc.gov? If you have those you can do it easily there. Used to be outfits like W5YI would help you through that but they're not around anymore. The ARRL will handle it too, via snail mail as I recall. I think there's a nominal renewal fee now, I did mine just before that took effect but it amounts to creating a 2nd account for fee remittance.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
 
If you are a member of the ARRL they will send you an e-mail with a link to the proper FCC web page
I not log into your FRS web page as K5LXP said and follow the prompts.
IF someone says "We well renew for $XX.CC" They are a scammer.. Report them.
 
I stand corrected. For some reason I thought W5YI exited the VEC scene years ago. I recall they were audited by the FCC for "irregularities" and about that time I let my accreditation with them lapse. Don, says you're good until June 29 2023 and you can't renew until 90 days prior to expiration, so you have some time to figure out your FCC login stuff.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
 
John From Detroit said:
If you are a member of the ARRL they will send you an e-mail with a link to the proper FCC web page
Click to expand...
Is that link so top secret that only the ARRL has it?

I was hoping for some step-by-step instructions here.

I also asked the question in the QRZ forum and getting messages such as reply 3 & 4 here.

Seems many are having a problem with the new system to the point they give up and do not renew at all. Why would they make the new procedure so complicated?

-Don- AA6GA
 
Can you still do HAM stuff even if you can't figure out how to renew after 6/29/23?
 
I got this link from QRZ.com. That looks like a good place to start.

Do I really have to wait until 90 days before the expiration date? I was thinking it was six months. Or did they change that also?

-Don- AA6GA
 
DonTom said:
I got this link from QRZ.com. That looks like a good place to start.

Do I really have to wait until 90 days before the expiration date? I was thinking it was six months. Or did they change that also?

-Don- AA6GA
Click to expand...
Here's a better source - from the FCC itself.

Common Amateur Filing Task: Renewing A License

"Renew your license through the Universal Licensing System (ULS) at any time within 90 days of the expiration date for the license and up to two years after the license expires."
 
I'm not home right now to look at my file but yes, your password from ten years ago. In fact the paper I have I refer to is from I think 25 years or so ago when they went to the CORES system from the old form 605 (which used to be the form 610) and I had to create an account for myself and the XYL (KC5TZF). I wrote the login and passwords on it and it still works after all these years (I think I printed it from Netscape). I recall it was a separate step to submit a payment back when I got my vanity call not long after that and I think it works that way today with the recently reinstated renewal fee. This is most easily done with a credit card. Once you're logged in it's not horrible, but if you forgot your login it will be annoying to navigate getting that resolved. Myself and W9YA got a club call for our repeaters a few years ago and that ended up being an administrative circus, as somehow my buddy's call got mixed up with the club call and he couldn't log in to administer either one of them. It amounted to navigating a predictably obtuse federal bureaucracy to find someone that both understood the problem and was empowered to resolve it, which took a few steps.

CORES is the same system all FCC license holders use. Airplane pilots, boat captains, taxi drivers, public safety, radio/TV stations, cellular providers, hams, everyone. So it is commensurately bloated and onerous as anything that is administered by the federal government. The good news is that especially just a renewal, or an address change is pretty straightforward.

You, or someone you pay to do it for you, can't do anything this far out from your expiration date. I don't think it's ever been eligible 6 months out. 90 days may seem like it's cutting it close but once you log in it's literally a 5 minute exercise to renew, so I wouldn't sweat it. So you have some time to either find, or reestablish your credentials. I'll add that this is the only way to get a (electronic) copy of your license that isn't watermarked, so after you've renewed and it goes through, log back in and get it.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
 
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You can't legally operate without a current license. There's no proactive means of enforcement though, "bootlegging" isn't unheard of. At a practical level, most hams won't communicate with anyone they know isn't legal, so it's self policed in a way. I've known more than one person that I've looked up to see their license expired and let them know, it's not something you check often with a renewal interval of 10 years. You've got 2 years after it expires to renew, or you forfeit your callsign and all privileges, so quite a grace period.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
 
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