[ARC5] OT - FCC Will Soon Consolidate Commercial Radiotelegraph Certificates

[Michael Clarson]

Mike: First Class license holders (Phone or Telegraph) lost nothing except
the status of having a First Class, which requires a Second Class for the
status to mean anything. Anything a First is allowed to do, they will still
be allowed to do when the classes are consolidated. An interesting
comparison is the Amateur Extra vs Advanced. The Extra now only has 5 WPM
code credit no matter what level of code was passed, while the Advanced has
13 WPM code credit -- there were no Advanced Class 5 WPM licenses issued.
Yet, the Extras have some exclusive CW Only band segments with their 5 WPM
which the 13 WPM Advanced Class licensees are not permitted to operate in.
Of course, the FCC could have just renewed the First and Second Class
licenses for lifetime and made the operating privileges the same which
would have achieved their restructuring goal yet allow the licensees to
retain credit for their accomplishments. If the Report and Order just came
out, you First Class licnesees could petition the FCC for
reconsideration.--Mike, WV2ZOW


On Wed, Jan 16, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Sandy wrote:
>
> > Is there a shorter and more concise document that covers this?
>
> Not that I know about.  What it describes is very similar to what happened
> 30 years ago when the Radiotelephone First Class license was eliminated,
> with only the Second Class license surviving as the lifetime-issued General
> Radiotelephone Operator license.  Now, the Radiotelegraph First Class
> license will be eliminated, with only the Second Class license surviving
> as the lifetime-issued Radiotelegraph Operator license.
>
> In the case of the telePHONE licenses, first class holders lost a license
> that required a significant additional technical exam above that of the
> second class.  They were demoted back to the equivalent of the second class
> license.
>
> In the case of the teleGRAPH license, first class and second class
> certificate holders both take the same technical exams.  But a first class
> certificate can be obtained *ONLY* after a year of service at stations that
> handle public correspondence.  Without that, a second class holder can
> never
> obtain first class even after decades as an operator at other utility Morse
> stations.  First class certificate holders will lose indication of service
> at stations open to public correspondence.  In that sense, they will be
> demoted back to the equivalent of the second class license.
>
> Commercial radiotelegraph regulation, including licensing, lost all *real*
> basis for existence after 12 July 1999.  There have been no SOLAS or
> commercial functions served by radiotelegraph since then.  What remains
> are limited commemorative operations that do not seem to warrant
> maintenance
> of any of the existing regulation.  I have to wonder why the FCC even
> bothers with this exercise.
>
> > I keep mine because it wasn't easy to get and at one time "meant
> > something" in the radio world.
>
> I valued my second class certificate more than any other.  After the
> qualifications for its Morse exam were significantly reduced by the FCC
> about 20 years ago, it was no longer worth $50 ($35 renewal fee plus
> photos for the new license) every five years to renew.
>
> 73,
> Mike / KK5F
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