What changed
After you pass — edited Aug 29, 2026 by Unknown editor
This is the first recorded version, so every line is shown as added. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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## Pay the FCC application fee
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Within about a week the FCC emails your CORES login with instructions to pay the **$35 application
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fee**. You have ten calendar days from the notice. Miss it and the application is dismissed and you
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retest.
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## Your call sign appears
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Once the fee clears, the FCC grants the license and your call sign appears in the ULS database —
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usually one to three business days after payment, sometimes the same day.
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**You may not transmit until your call sign is actually in the database.** A CSCE is not a permit
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to operate. Check the ULS or [QRZ](https://www.qrz.com/) daily; there is no other notification.
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## The paper license
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The FCC no longer mails licenses. Download and print your official copy from the ULS if you want
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one; a printout is sufficient for any purpose that asks.
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## First things to do
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1. Program your local repeaters and listen to a net.
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2. Set up a [QRZ.com](https://www.qrz.com/) page so people you contact know who you are.
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3. Join a [club](https://usnara.org/find-a-club) — it accelerates everything else.
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4. Read [making your first contact](/wiki/getting-started/first-contact) and key up.
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## Then
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Most operators upgrade to General within their first year, once local operating has made the HF
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material concrete. See [license classes](/wiki/licensing/license-classes).