Within a few months prior to expiration, it is possible to renew a shortwave radio license (also known as amateur radio or ham radio). The FCC has a Universal Licensing System (ULS) that permits online renewal and updating of license information. Follow these steps to perform a renewal.
- Visit the Universal Licensing System page.
- Click on the option for Online Filing Log In.
- You will need your FCC Registration Number (FRN) and password to login. If you’ve lost these, you can click the Forgot Password link on the ULS page (see step #1 above) to be walked through the process of password recovery. It may require waiting for a reset letter in the mail from the FCC. More is explained on the Online Filing Log In page.
- Once logged into the License Manager (from step #3 above), you should see a message stating “This License Is Eligible For Renewal” and a link to Begin the renewal process.
Note: Your browser may at some point get stuck during the process of going from one step to the next. If this happens, you may need to clear your browser cache and cookies to start over fresh.