[CW] New RadioTelegraph Operator License

Wed May 22 02:14:56 EDT 2013

I have been considering doing this ... for what reason?  Because it's
there, I guess. I have even talked about it with the guy who administers
the exams in my area.  He's waiting for me to tell him that I'm ready.

However, I'm a new enough ham that I will have to take the code test.  I
move NTS traffic routinely at 20 - 22 WPM, but I make mistakes under
pressure, so the test could be interesting.  My understanding is that,
unlike the amateur code exams, they test both sending & receiving.

I'm not sure if I have all the relevant written material.  I have the
booklet from W5YI that covers Radiotelegraph elements 5 & 6.  I also have
Gordon West's GROL + Radar book, which has its own element on radio law.
 Does that cover it all?

My main impediment is that I am on too many traffic nets & don't have much
time to study.

73 Kate K6HTN

On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 11:31 AM, <sbjohnston at aol.com> wrote:

>   I'm proud to announce that the FCC granted my new RadioTelegraph
> Operator License yesterday.  It is number T000000001, so I am the very
> first to receive the new type of radiotelegraph ticket.  There doesn't
> seem to be a T000000002 yet, so apparently I am the *only* holder as
> well.  -grin-   That and $5 will buy me lunch at McDonalds.
>
> When the FCC announced the new radiotelegraph license structure in January(see below), I asked
> the FCC's helpdesk what elements would be needed for me to get the new
> ticket.  They confirmed that applicants for the new Radiotelegraph
> Operator License would be required to pass written elements 1 and 6, and
> telegraphy elements 1 and 2.  I hold an Amateur Extra class license issued
> before April 15, 2000, so my passing of that 20 wpm code test would
> substitute for Telegraphy Elements 1 and 2.  I also hold a General
> Radiotelephone Operator License (was originally a First-Phone), so that
> would cover written element 1.  That left me only needing to take the
> exam for written element 6.
>
> ETA was the only COLEM (the commercial equivalent of volunteer examiners) that
> responded to my email inquiries - none of the others even bothered to
> reply.  It took me three months to work out with ETA how to take the
> exam. Their examiners based at a nearby college apparently vanished
> without notice, and thus there was a lot of dead-end emailing and
> back-n-forth discussion. ETA finally offered the option to have a local
> library proctor the exam.  I made all the library arrangements and took
> the exam a couple weeks ago.  In just a few days ETA let me know I'd
> passed.  Then last week they told me they needed two signed passport photos
> for the application.  Fortunately I got their message when I was having lunch
> next door to a Walgreens that takes such photos, near a post office where
> I could mail them to ETA, all done in a half-hour or so.  ETA apparently
> received the pictures in time to submit my application on the first day
> the Commission was able to accept them, May 20.
>
> With the demise of commercial maritime CW, there is little practical use
> for a radiotelegraph ticket.  Except for museum-ships and historical club
> shore stations, there is little commercial Morse to be heard on the "ship-to-shore"
> bands.  Why bother with a new version of an antique license?  I appreciated
> the challenge of studying for a serious exam covering technology from a
> very wide time range - 1920s to 2000s, and I'd like to be able to operate
> one of the restored maritime stations some day.
>
> "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" George Mallory is famously
> quoted as having replied, "Because it's there".   It is unlikely I will climb
> Mount Everest, but I can always learn more about radio and electronics.
>
> 73   Steve WD8DAS
>
> sbjohnston at aol.com
> http://www.wd8das.net/
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> Radio is your best entertainment value.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Changes to FCC Radiotelegraph Operator Licenses Coming May 20
>
> *Effective May 20, 2013*<http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0419/DA-13-798A1.pdf>,
> the FCC will no longer accept applications for First (T1), Second (T2) or
> Third Class (T3) Radiotelegraph Operator Certificates. In addition, the FCC
> has consolidated the T1 and T2 Radiotelegraph Operator Certificates into a
> new license class called the Radiotelegraph Operator License (T). According
> to the FCC, this change takes effect upon renewal: T1s and T2s that are
> renewed on or after May 20, 2013 will be renewed as Ts, but existing T1s
> and T2s will retain their current license class for the duration of the
> current license term. The Commission also consolidated the T3 with Marine
> Radio Operator Permits (MP); T3s renewed on or after May 20, 2013 will be
> renewed as MPs, but existing T3s will retain their current license class
> for the duration of the current license term. These new rules were first
> announced in a *Report and Order* (*WT Docket No. 10-177*<http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7022100656>),
> issued January 8, 2013.
>  - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
>
>
>
>
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