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I am a US ham with an Extra Class ticket. If I were to go Poland (or possibly some other part of Europe) on vacation and bring some radios, what legal stuff do I need to know about? I know that my Extra Class license converts into a CEPT license under the reciprocal operating treaty, but what does that mean for me with regard to frequencies, power levels, and things like that? Do I have to register somehow before operating? The information on the Internet seems a bit sparse.

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There are a few important things you will need to remember, which are mainly outlined here and here.

I believe you must follow the power limits and band plans as outlined by the Polish government while operating there. Information will be hidden somewhere in here. Good luck with that. I believe your best bet would be to email some people on those pages and hope for the best.

You won't need to register with anyone in Poland when you arrive, but you will need to be carrying the documentation described in the first two links above.

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First of all Poland is a CEPT country, as is the US, so you can follow CEPT rules. CEPT rules require the following, per ARRL:

  1. Bring their original US license
  2. Bring proof of US citizenship (generally in the form of a Passport)
  3. Bring a copy of the FCC's Public Notice (this notice contains its information in three languages, English, French and German) which details what US Amateurs need to consider, and bring with them, when traveling to a CEPT country.

If you are Advanced/Extra, you will have full privileges. If you are General, you will be more restricted. If you have technician/novice, then you will not be able to operate. However, as they mention on this website, you can apply for one:

What if you have no valid CEPT license? Foreign Radio Amateurs without a CEPT license or a CEPT Novice license can apply for a guest license with the Polish telecommunications authority, which is Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) in Warszawa. The license will be issued for 3 months at the expense of 82,00 PLN (approx. 21 €).

The proper way to identify yourself will be to add a SP/ to the beginning of your call sign. Mine would be SP/KD7UIY, for instance. You cannot operate outside of your US privileges, nor the country in which you are operating. Poland is a ITU Region 1, you can see what that signifies from ARRL. The primary difference is in the 80/40m range. Lastly, make sure you don't go over the power restrictions. I'm not sure what the max power is, but I'm fairly confident it is at least 400W.

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