[Fists] Well...Welcome to the Wonderful World of Ham Radio

[Justin Grenier]

> ARRL to Propose New Entry-Level License, Code-Free HF Access
> 
> NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 19, 2004--The ARRL will ask the FCC to create a new
> entry-level Amateur Radio license that would include HF phone
> privileges without requiring a Morse code test. The League also will
> propose consolidating all current licensees into three classes,
> retaining the Element 1 Morse requirement--now 5 WPM--only for the
> highest class. The ARRL Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved the
> plan January 16 during its Annual Meeting in Windsor, Connecticut. The
> proposals--developed by the ARRL Executive Committee following a Board
> instruction last July--are in response to changes made in Article 25
> of the international Radio Regulations at World Radiocommunication
> Conference 2003 (WRC-03). They would continue a process of
> streamlining the amateur licensing structure that the FCC began more
> than five years ago but left unfinished in the Amateur Service license
> restructuring Report and Order (WT 98-143) that went into effect April
> 15, 2000.
> 
> "Change in the Amateur Radio Service in the US, especially license
> requirements and even more so when Morse is involved, has always been
> emotional," said ARRL First Vice President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, in
> presenting the Executive Committee's recommendations. "In fact,
> without a doubt, Morse is Amateur Radio's 'religious debate.'" The
> plan adopted by the Board departs only slightly from the Executive
> Committee's recommendations.
> 
> The "New" Novice
> 
> The entry-level license class--being called "Novice" for now--would
> require a 25-question written exam. It would offer limited HF CW/data
> and phone/image privileges on 80, 40, 15 and 10 meters as well as VHF
> and UHF privileges on 6 and 2 meters and on 222-225 and 430-450 MHz.
> Power output would be restricted to 100 W on 80, 40, and 15 meters and
> to 50 W on 10 meters and up, thus avoiding the need for the more
> complex RF safety questions in the Novice question pool.
> 
> "The Board sought to achieve balance in giving new Novice licensees
> the opportunity to sample a wider range of Amateur Radio activity than
> is available to current Technicians while retaining a motivation to
> upgrade," said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. "It was also seen as
> important to limit the scope of privileges so the exam would not have
> to include material that is inappropriate at the entry level."
> 
> As an introduction to Amateur Radio, the Novice license served
> successfully for most of its 50-year history. The FCC has not issued
> new Novice licenses since the 2000 license restructuring, however.
> Under the ARRL plan, current Novice licensees--now the smallest and
> least active group of radio amateurs--would be grandfathered to the
> new entry-level class without further testing.
> 
> Anticipating assertions that the new plan would "dumb down" Amateur
> Radio licensing, Harrison said those currently holding a ticket often
> perceive the level of complexity to have been greater when they were
> first licensed than it actually was. "Quite frankly," he said, "if you
> review the questions presented in our license manuals throughout the
> years, you will be surprised how they compare to those of today."
> 
> Technicians and Generals
> 
> The middle group of licensees--Technician, Tech Plus (Technician with
> Element 1 credit) and General--would be consolidated into a new
> General license that no longer would require a Morse examination.
> Current Technician and Tech Plus license holders automatically would
> gain current General class privileges without additional testing. The
> current Element 3 General examination would remain in place for new
> applicants. ARRL already has proposed additional phone privileges for
> Generals in its "Novice refarming" petition, RM-10413, but the FCC has
> not yet acted on that petition.
> 
> Morse Code Testing Retained for Extra
> 
> At the top rung, the Board indicated that it saw no compelling reason
> to change the Amateur Extra class license requirements. The ARRL plan
> calls on the FCC to combine the current Advanced and Amateur Extra
> class licensees into Amateur Extra, because the technical level of the
> exams passed by these licensees is very similar. New applicants for
> Extra would have to pass a 5 WPM Morse code examination, but the
> written exam would stay the same. The League's plan calls for current
> Novice, Tech Plus and General class licensees to receive lifetime
> Element 1 (5 WPM Morse) credit.
> 
> "This structure provides a true entry-level license with HF privileges
> to promote growth in the Amateur Service," Harrison said. "It also
> simplifies the FCC database by conforming to the current Universal
> Licensing System (ULS) structure and does not mandate any
> modifications to it."
> 
> Sumner concurred. "The Board started out by recognizing that three
> license classes was the right number when looking down the road 10 or
> 15 years," he said. "We need a new entry-level license."
> 
> "On the other hand, there's nothing particularly wrong with the
> existing Extra class license," he continued. "The change in the
> international regulations notwithstanding, the Board felt that the
> highest level of accomplishment in the FCC's amateur licensing
> structure should include basic Morse capability."
> 
> Sumner and Harrison say the current Technician entry-level ticket
> provides little opportunity to experience facets of ham radio beyond
> repeater operation. "The quality of that experience," Sumner said,
> "often depends on the operator's location."
> 
> Among other advantages, Sumner said the plan would allow new Novices
> to participate in HF SSB emergency nets on 75 and 40 meters as well as
> on the top 100 kHz of 15 meters. The new license also could get
> another name, Sumner said. "We're trying to recapture the magic of the
> old Novice license, but in a manner that's appropriate for the 21st
> century."
> 
> Proposal Includes "Novice Refarming" Band Plan
> 
> The overall proposed ARRL license restructuring plan would more
> smoothly integrate HF spectrum privileges across the three license
> classes and would incorporate the "Novice refarming" plan the League
> put forth nearly two years ago in a Petition for Rule Making
> (RM-10413). The FCC has not yet acted on the ARRL plan, which would
> alter the current HF subbands. The Novice refarming proposal would
> eliminate the 80, 40 and 15-meter Novice/Technician Plus CW subbands
> as such and reuse that spectrum in part to expand phone/image subbands
> on 80 and 40 meters.
> 
> The ARRL license restructuring design calls for no changes in
> privileges for Extra and General class licensees on 160, 60, 30, 20,
> 17 or 12 meters. Novice licensees would have no access to those bands.
> 
>