[Elecraft] M3 operation of a K2 in UK

[John Crux]

I have held a UK ham licence since 1953 when a UK amateur radio 
transmitting licence was much more difficult to get. 
In those days you even had to have a receiving licence for public 
broadcasting. Incidentally that BC receiver licence also authorised 
reception of legitimate ham stations .... 

There is NO provision for specific type approval dependant on UK 
licence class. In fact there has never been one, except for a period 
when importation of single band 27/28 mHz equipment was banned 
because of its obvious potential for conversion to illegal CB use. 
Anyone with OR without a valid UK ham licence can walk into a store 
and buy ANY radio they can afford.

The only offence is to TRANSMIT without a licence. Mere possession of 
a radio transmitter has not been an offence since WWII ended .... 
Many ham rigs will transmit outside the band limits - but that does 
not make their possession illegal in UK. Note that the old BC 
receiver licence provision remains in the current TV licence ...  You 
can watch ham TV transmissions if you want, and you can have a TV 
transmitter, but you cannot legally transmit TV pictures without a 
licence.

Nothing has changed. If you do not make an illegal transmission you 
do not commit an offence. The correct question is "what does the 
licence authorise me to do ??" If it says I can transmit CW on 
certain frequency bands but not others, then that it is it. Just stay 
within the licence terms !  

End of problem, at least in UK. At least one other country (in Asia) 
takes a very different view of type approval.

John  G3JAG