[CVCC] Fw: ARLB005 It's official! Morse code requirement ends Friday, February 23.

[Ed Moore]

----- Original Message -----
From: "ARRL Web site"To: Cc: <Subscribed ARRL Members:>
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 10:55 AM
Subject: ARLB005 It's official! Morse code requirement ends Friday, February
23.


> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB005
> ARLB005 It's official! Morse code requirement ends Friday, February 23.
>
> ZCZC AG05
> QST de W1AW
> ARRL Bulletin 5  ARLB005
> From ARRL Headquarters
> Newington CT  January 24, 2007
> To all radio amateurs
>
> SB QST ARL ARLB005
> ARLB005 It's official! Morse code requirement ends Friday, February 23.
>
> Circle Friday, February 23, on your calendar. That's when the
> current 5 WPM Morse code requirement will officially disappear from
> the Amateur Radio Service Part 97 rules. On or after that date,
> applicants for a General or Amateur Extra class Amateur Radio
> license no longer will have to demonstrate proficiency in Morse
> code. They'll just have to pass the applicable written examination.
> Federal Register publication January 24 of the FCC's Report and
> Order (R&O) in the "Morse code proceeding," WT Docket 05-235, starts
> a 30-day countdown for the new rules to become effective.  Deletion
> of the Morse requirement - still a matter of controversy within the
> amateur community - is a landmark in Amateur Radio history.
>
> "The overall effect of this action is to further the public interest
> by encouraging individuals who are interested in communications
> technology or who are able to contribute to the advancement of the
> radio art, to become Amateur Radio operators; and eliminating a
> requirement that is now unnecessary and may discourage Amateur
> Service licensees from advancing their skills in the communications
> and technical phases of Amateur Radio," the FCC remarked in the
> "Morse code" R&O that settled the matter, at least from a regulatory
> standpoint.
>
> The League had asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM for Amateur Extra
> class applicants, but the Commission held to its decision to
> eliminate the requirement across the board. The R&O appearing in the
> Federal Register constitutes the official version of the new rules.
> It is on the web in PDF format at,
>
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov
> /2007/pdf/E7-729.pdf.
>
> Until 1991, when a Morse code examination was dropped from the
> requirements to obtain a Technician ticket, all prospective radio
> amateurs had to pass a Morse code test. With the change the US will
> join a growing list of countries that have dropped the need to
> demonstrate some level of Morse code proficiency to earn access to
> frequencies below 30 MHz.
>
> The new rules also put all Technician licensees on an equal footing,
> whether or not they've passed a Morse code examination. Starting
> February 23, Technicians will gain CW privileges on 80, 40, 15
> meters and CW, RTTY, data and SSB privileges on 10 meters.
>
> Once the revised rules are in place, an applicant holding a valid
> Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) for
> Element 3 (General) or Element 4 (Amateur Extra) may redeem it for
> an upgrade. A CSCE is good for 365 days from the date of issuance,
> no exceptions. For example, a Technician licensee holding a valid
> CSCE for Element 3 may apply at a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator
> (VEC) test session, pay the application fee, which most VECs charge,
> and receive an instant upgrade.
>
> The FCC R&O includes an Order on Reconsideration in WT Docket 04-140
> - the so-called "omnibus" proceeding. It will modify Part 97 in
> response to ARRL's request to accommodate automatically controlled
> narrowband digital stations on 80 meters in the wake of other rule
> changes that became effective last December 15. The Commission
> designated 3585 to 3600 kHz for such operations, although that
> segment will remain available for CW, RTTY and data. The ARRL had
> requested that the upper limit of the CW/RTTY/data subband be set at
> 3635 kHz, so that there would be no change in the existing 3620 to
> 3635 kHz subband.
>
> The ARRL has posted all relevant information on these important Part
> 97 rule revisions on its "FCC's Morse Code Report and Order WT
> Docket 05-235" Web page, http://www.arrl.org/fcc/morse/.
> NNNN
> /EX
>