You are still here? Very well. I took the amateur radio test here in Taiwan recently. There are only two ways for a foreign radio amateur to operate from Taiwan: One way is to take your original license and apply for a short-term license (six months), but you do not get a BV call and have to operate under supervision at local stations. (You are not familiar with the special flavour of ROC amateur radio after all, so someone needs to watch over you.) The other, which has been opened a few years ago, is to take the exam. This is open to anyone, and this is what I would like to rant about.

Originally I wanted to do this earlier, while I was still memorizing (better not use the word "learn"), but that may have been bad, and some people may have thought I would only be whining because I could not pass the exam. I passed it, with one incorrect answer for class 3 and three for class 2. So that was not a problem. But the first problem is: The test is completely in Chinese. (And this is just the beginning.) The civil servants at our local "relevant authority" (more about this later) said that local hams would also have to take the exams on the local language elsewhere, so they do the same. (the famous reciprocity game, so beloved in Taiwan)

The first thing I doubt is that BV hams need to take exams everywhere. I did not when I went to Japan years back, but still I was operating there, from the dorm where I lived, with my own 7J call sign. Next, I find it a bit strange to insist on Chinese for something like this, when even the driving license test is not only offered in English, but now also in Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai - in addition to Chinese, of course. So the people here who manage amateur radio, the medium that connected people throughout the world decades before an internet, appear somehow narrow-minded. But that is not the worst part.

Much worse are content and form of the exam. First the basic rules: You must start at the bottom, with the class 3 exam. If you passed that, you can take the class 2 exam, and one year after you set up a class 2 station you can take the class 1 exam. All exams consist of multiple choice questions. Class 3 is 35 questions out of 360, 25 need to be answered correctly. Class 2 is 40 questions out of 691, 32 answers must be correct. Class 1 is 50 out of 691, 40 correct answers needed. Class 2 also includes a telegraphy test, which is now only listening to 18 fiver groups at 5wpm. (Yes, one can easily fall asleep at that speed.)

Now the form, and this is really bad news: If you ever had to do with Chinese, you should know that there are thousands (actually tens of thousands) of characters. There are a few transcription systems that would only display the sound of those characters (just like the sounds when you talk, which is much easier), but none of them gets used here. You may also have heard that there is something called "Classic Chinese", also known as "wenyanwen" (文言文). If you have ever tried to learn that, you will probably start showing a very painful grimace now. The exam is not in wenyanwen, but it is close, partially very close. If you ever had to deal with those official documents they call "gongwen" (公文) here in Taiwan - that's the style, which is very different from what people use when they talk. Want to see how bad it is?

7. 業餘無線電人員從事業餘無線電活動時 （1） 因屬業餘性質，可任意為之 （2） 只須維持自身的合法性 （3） 只須互相尊重，不須共同監督 （4） 應本互相尊重之精神共同監督之 

In the Chinese that people actually speak these days, this item may look like this:

7. 業餘無線電人員參加業餘無線電活動時 

（1） 因為是業餘活動，沒有特別的規則或限制 

（2） 只要注意自己的合法行為 

（3） 只要互相尊重，不用互相觀察

（4） 以互相尊重的精神互相觀察

I especially love the 之 at the end of answer 1 and 4. If you have learned Chinese to a certain extend, I would bet my version is easier to understand. If you have not learned the language, here is the translation:

7. When radio amateurs participate in amateur radio activities, then

(1) since it is an amateur activity, they are free to do as they wish

(2) they only need to obey the law themselves

(3) they only need to respect each other, but do not need to watch over each other

(4) based on the spirit of mutual respect they should watch over each other

The correct answer is 4 btw. There are others that can be considered worse (linguistically), but this was also ridiculous and meaningless. While most of the text is in archaic Chinese, there are indeed a few answers where you can see real spoken Chinese, and I can tell you one thing: Those answers are wrong. The reason I can only assume here, but there is a method behind it: Someone tortured himself coming up with another question for this meaningless exam that would not further his career, then wrote a "nice" (meaning: archaic) correct answer and quickly filled the remaining three positions with some meaningless spoken Chinese.

103. 未經主管機關核准，強行佔用特定業餘無線電頻率。例如：某一電臺在頻率上宣稱「這個跑道我們用很久了」以驅趕其他合法使用者，此種行徑 

（1） 屬違法的行為 

（2） 屬合法的行為 

（3） 很好，佔久了就是我們的 

（4） 無所謂，沒人管 

Answers 3 and 4 are very oral, even though answers 1 and 2 are not too archaic either. At least, the "author" here used "的" instead of "之". Another issue in this context is how numbers and units are used throughout the test. In all languages using Latin script, the frequency of fourteen megahertz is written as "14MHz". OK, in Cyrillic script it would be 14МГц, slightly different, but still understandable. Now let us have a look at this question:

85. 作業頻率在三十兆赫以上，發射之平均功率在二十五瓦以下之業餘電臺， 其不必要發射之平均功率應不超過二十五微瓦且低於主波功率 

（1） 三十分貝以上 

（2） 四十分貝以上 

（3） 五十分貝以上 

（4） 六十分貝以上 

You see, if this question had used Arabic numerals and units in Latin script, it may have been possible even for someone not understanding Chinese to grab the meaning and find the correct answer. Here is the same text with these substitutions:

85. 作業頻率在>30MHz，發射之平均功率在<25W之業餘電臺， 其不必要發射之平均功率應不超過25uW且低於主波功率 

（1） >30dB 

（2） >40dB 

（3） >50dB 

（4） >60dB

I did one more thing actually, I replaced "以上" with ">" and "以下" with "<", because that is what they mean. And now you can perhaps indeed guess what this is about: Restriction of harmonic signal strengths on frequencies above 30MHz and with transmitting power of less than 25W. Answer 2 is correct. Such transmissions should be less than 25uW and less than 40dB of the main signal.

Taiwan is still pretty isolated. In other countries the exam would ask for a few country prefixes. In Taiwan, all questions regarding call sign structure are only about local call signs: What does the number stand for, what is the first letter (This one is really difficult.), which letters could be at the second position, which class is this call sign, can you apply for a special suffix (you can not - at least that is the correct answer) etc.

How many control points (控制點) do you have at your station? The correct answer would be "at least one". You wonder what a "control point" is? It is "the point where an amateur radio station is controlled". Got it now? No? Neither do I. The people who wrote these questions have basically no relation to amateur radio, but they have heard of commercial radio: When you hear someone call something like "may-dee-cal", what is this? A call for medical assistance. Never heard of this? That only shows you have never taken a Taiwanese "amateur radio" exam. When you hear two sounds, 2200Hz and 1300Hz, alternating every 250ms, what is this? What, you do not know a warning signal?

If you want to buy a new transceiver, who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! No, the "relevant authorities"! (主管機關) Where do you apply for an import permit for a transceiver? Relevant authorities! And who the hell are the "relevant authorities"? Now that is a good question - which is not answered anywhere, funnily. There is no mentioning of the Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC, 交通部), and none of its National Communication Commission (NCC, 國家通訊傳播委員會). There is an (incorrect) answer mentioning the Ministry of the Interior, but the people in charge are always in the dark: relevant authorities. This has the advantage though that as soon as you spot those four characters (主管機關) in an answer, you can be sure it is the right one - without even reading the question.

OK, administrative issues may be different in every country, but electronics and RF are the same everywhere on this planet, right? And you are an experienced OM, so tell me please, if you add Boron to Silicon, what kind of semiconductor is the result? Haha, got you there, right? A "P type" of course! Fine, a different one: According to "international radio rules and regulations" (They love this phrase...), into how many bands is the RF spectrum divided? What do you look at me, that was not my idea! I can only tell you the correct answer should be "9". And did you know that SSB emissions are designated "J3A"? I am not sure how this is supposed to work, since "3" stands for analogue information, while "A" is clearly digital...

OK, OK, I will make it easier for you. How do you pronounce the dot between numbers in a frequency, like in "3.64MHz"? Ah, sorry, "point" was one of the choices, but not the correct one. The correct answer is of course "decimal". You tell people to come to "three decimal six four" MHz. What do you mean, you are a "native" English speaker? You would not want to mess with highly qualifi^^^^^^^ paid ROC civil servants, would you? Tssss... OK, even simpler: How do you pronounce "4" in conversation? "Four"? Poor boy... Yes, that was a choice, but not the right one! It is of course "KARTEFOUR". (which should probably be "katrefour") Never heard of this? Neither have I - until I memorized the correct answers for this exam.

Something funny for a change: I already ranted about language (ab)use. There are a few funny spots though, like this one: Foreign radio amateurs operating in the ROC - have to be restricted by our national amateur radio laws and regulations. Yes, they did indeed use the term "restricted" (需受我國業餘無線電管理辦法及相關法令之限制). They could have phrased it differently, like "has to abide to", "has to follow" or the like, but they did not. So restriction is all what this is about. One of the incorrect answers was "can himself bring transceivers from abroad and use them." So, forget about this. Btw, you do not have a choice. If you are a foreigner, have passed the amateur radio exam and have a residence permit, then you must  apply for setting up a station.

46.具何種資格之外國人於取得業餘無線電人員執照後，得比照本國業餘無線電人員申設業餘無線電臺

OK, the "得" here is more "should", but it is almost the same, it is definitely not "can" or "may".

So, if you passed all this madness, you think you get a call sign? Wrong again. You get a license. With it and some more paperwork you can apply for a station. For this, you need a transmitter, and that transmitter needs to be inspected. Yes, especially those mass-manufactured ones from Japan, you simply can not trust them! And if inspection and paperwork are OK, then, and only then do you get a call sign. Beautiful plumage, isn't it?