Basic Qualification · B-001 Regulations and policies · B-001-011-003
If you hear an unanswered distress signal on an amateur radio band where you do NOT have privileges to communicate:
- A you may not respond nor offer assistance
- B you may respond and offer assistance
- C you may respond and offer assistance using international Morse code only
- D you may respond and offer assistance after obtaining permission from Innovation, Science and Economic
Correct answer: B — you may respond and offer assistance. From the official ISED question bank, verified word for word.
Why
Human life takes absolute priority over radio rules, so you are allowed to respond and offer assistance even if the distress call is on a frequency where you normally cannot transmit. The full explanation — and one for every question — is in Pro.
Practise this section
The rules: who may operate, what the certificate allows, station identification, third-party traffic, what you may and may not transmit, and how ISED regulates the amateur service.