Besluit Radioamateurs BES (BES) handles amateur radio licensing on Bonaire. If you want to just operate PJ4/Your Homecall you don’t need to do anything since Bonaire is a signee on the CEPT. Please note you need to have a US Advanced or Extra class license or equivalent to have HF privileges in Bonaire. If you don’t you can only operate on VHF frequencies and above. If you would like to have a special contest call sign you need to fill out an application and email it to bes@rdi.nl The fee for a contest call sign is $56 US. You will need to also attach a copy of your passport and amateur radio license to your email.
The contact information for BES in Bonaire is :
Dutch Authority for Digital
Infrastructure
Kaya Grandi 69
P.O. Box 791
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Caribisch Nederland
Contact : John Peters
- Phone: +599 717-3140
- E-mail: bes@rdi.nl
Click here for the application form for a contest call.
Call Sign Policy:
Radio amateurs with a valid license (CEPT, FCC/ARRL) may, provided that their stay on Bonaire (or Statia or Saba) is no longer than 3 months, make use of their station (or someone else’s) using “PJ4/[own call sign]”.
It is also possible for a radio amateur with a valid license to apply for a special call sign on a temporary basis. Based on article 40 of the “Besluit radio-elektrische inrichtingen BES”, the Minister has the liberty to determine the duration of licenses that are issued for extraordinary purposes.
* A temporary license can have a 1, 2 or 3 letter suffix;
* 1 letter suffixes are reserved for club or relay stations or contesting;
* A permanent license cannot have a 1 letter suffix, unless it is a club or relay station;
For permanent licenses, the legislation speaks of “Residents”. We apply an explanation that is a little bit broader: “Residents or one who owns a residence”
Thus to prevent the application of permanent licenses by persons that do not have a permanent binding to the island. We have not made this public yet, but we will update the information on our website.
Power
The maximum permissible transmit power during normal operation is 250 Watt P.E.P. unless
otherwise specified.
During international contests the maximum permissible transmit power in the contest bands up to
30 MHz is 1500 Watt P.E.P. and above 30 MHz 1000 Watt P.E.P.
5.3515 MHz 25 watts elrp
10.1 Mhz 250 watts PEP Contesting not allowed
Regulations (In Dutch) Open in Google Chrome and translate to English.
CEPT Regulations Class A license (US Advanced license or above) can operate up to 1500 watts output under 30 Mhz.
- Primary / Secondary: frequency use with a secondary status always yields to frequency use with a
primary status. Frequency use with a secundary status cannot claim protection from harmful
interference from stations of a primary service
| Band (MHz) | Status | Classes of broadcast: |
|---|---|---|
| 1.8 – 2.0 | (S) | A1A F1B A3E F3E G3E A3C A3F F3C F3F H3E J3C J3E R3E. |
| 3.5 – 4.0 | (S) | A1A F1B A3E F3E G3E A3C A3F F3C F3F H3E J2B J3C J3E R3E. |
| 7.0 – 7.3 | (P) | A1A F1B A3E F3E G3E A3C A3F F3C F3F H3E J2B J3C J3E R3E. |
| 10.1 – 10.15 | (S) | A1A F1B |
| 14.0 – 14.35 | (P) | A1A F1B A3E F3E G3E A3C A3F F3C 3F H3E J2B J3C J3E R3E. |
| 18.068 – 18.168 | (P) | A1A F1B A3E F3E G3E A3C A3F F3C F3F H3E J2B J3C J3E R3E. |
| 21.0 – 21.45 | (P) | A1A F1B A3E F3E G3E A3C A3F F3C F3F H3E J2B J3C J3E R3E |
| 24.89 – 24.99 | (P) | A1A F1B A3E F3E G3E A3C A3F F3C F3F H3E J2B J3C J3E R3E |
| 28.0 – 29.7 | (P) | A1A F1B A3E F3E G3E A3C A3F F3C F3F H3E J2B J3C J3E R3E |
| 50.0 – 54.0 | (P) | A1A A2A A2B A3E A3C A3F F1B F2A F2B F3F H3E J3C J3E R3E F3E G3E A1C A2C J2A J2B J2C J3C F2C F3C G1C G1A G2A G2C G3C. |
| 144.0 – 148.0 | (P) | A1A A2A A2B A3E A3C A3F F1B F2A F2B F3F H3E J3C J3E R3E F3E G3E A1C A2C J2A J2B J2C J3C F2C F3C G1C G1A G2A G2C G3C. |
| 220.0 – 225.0 | (P) | A1A A2A A2B A3E A3C A3F F1B F2A F2B F3F H3E J3C J3E R3E F3E G3E A1C A2C J2A J2B J2C J3C F2C F3C G1C G1A G2A G2C G3C. |
| 430.0 – 440.0 | (S) | A1A A2A A2B A3E A3C F1B F2A F2B H3E J3E R3E F3E G3E J2B G2A C3F |
| 902.0 – 928.0 | (S) | A1A A2A A2B A3E A3C A3F F1B F2A F2B F3F H3E J3C J3E R3E F3E G3E A1C A2C J2A J2B J2C J3C F2C F3C G1C G1A G2A G2C G3C C3F. |