Visitor's memo

 

Using your amateur radio licence in Estonia


The Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (ECPTRA) have co-ordinated with ERO the conditions concerning the participation of Estonia in the CEPT radio amateur licensing system and Estonia has implemented CEPT T/R 61-01 as of 1.01.1994.  

If you hold a valid CEPT amateur radio licence, then please be acquainted with the terms of its usage in Estonia here. In all other cases please check the conditions of applying a licence from ECPTRA authorities directly (Frequency Management Dept) - contacts can be found here. Before planning your trip please also check some useful web-pages about Estonia, e.g. using help by Google etc.   

Estonia became the full member of the European Union on May 1st, 2004, thus the citizens of most European countries (and of course all EU members) can freely travel to Estonia without any visa. Furthermore, Estonia has also joined the Schengen visa treaty and thus, if you are a citizen of a Schengen "state", the travelling is fairly easy for you! Yet, you should have your passport or ID-card along, though nobody usually asks for it. If you are from another country not mentioned above, please check the web-page of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs here - you will find useful info and links there! 

While arriving with your amateur radio devices, please be aware that all the common regulations on importing and exporting your own radio equipment accepted in the EU are valid also in this country. Still, for temporary import of an amateur radio equipment into Estonia, the following information must be acknowledged:

Persons traveling to Estonia from countries outside of Europe or from non-EU member states with their own HAM-equipment (larger than e.g. a hand-held FM-rig) are kindly asked to fill in two custom declarations with the indication of their rig(s) (types, serial numbers etc.) and to prepare also two copies of their valid national (or CEPT) licence. If your equipment is brand new, then it is advised that you do not keep it in the original packing to avoid it look like a merchandise.

Please also write an application in free style addressed directly to the customs authority where you indicate that you are a radio amateur, will bring into Estonia the following declared equipment for amateur radio purposes and will take it all back while leaving the country. At the customs you should choose the "red line" and ask stamps on the declarations, one of which you should give away together with the copy of the licence and the above mentioned application. Please ask for another stamp on the declaration when leaving Estonia to secure yourself on the way back to your own country / customs, in order to prove the ownership of the once imported equipment.

Some practical hints to help you to operate in Estonia are as follows:

     - Estonia is divided into 9 call-areas, please check your potential prefix from here;

     - Data about active VHF/UHF repeaters in Estonia can be found here;

     - Other centres of local activity on the bands are – 80m local LSB traffic and calling frequency is 3.670 MHz; 
       2m FM calling frequency (simplex) is 145.500 MHz.

For additional assistance you can also turn to the Estonian Radio Amateurs Union officers, our mailing list address is


73 & WELCOME TO ESTONIA!