[CW] South Africa recommends Morse compromise

[Andrew Roos]

The Council of the South African Radio League has recommended a compromise
proposal on Morse code to members.

In terms of the proposal, the Morse requirement for the unrestricted ZS
license will be retained but reduced from the current 12 wpm to 5 wpm.

A new license class will be introduced with the prefix ZT which will not
require Morse testing and will allow licensees to operate with a maximum
power of 100W in segments of the 160, 80, 40 and 15-meter bands, and with
400W in all VHF bands.

The Morse requirement for the novice ZU license will be dropped. Candidates
for the ZU and ZT licenses will be required to pass a practical test of
their ability to correctly set up, adjust and operate an HF transceiver.

The proposal, which was presented in the national bulletin on 16 November,
is a compromise between those who would like to see all Morse testing
dropped, and those who believe that the current Morse proficiency
requirements should be retained. The �no coders� get access to four HF bands
at a reasonable power level and benefit from the reduction of the Morse
requirement for the ZS license to 5 w.p.m. The �pro coders� see the Morse
requirement retained for the ZS license, albeit at a slower speed.

The SARL is now taking comments on the proposal, which will be considered
before a final recommendation is made to the national regulatory authority.

73,
Andrew ZS1AN