[FPARC] FCC Code

[Arthur Lin]

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==>FCC PROPOSES DROPPING MORSE CODE REQUIREMENT
 
The FCC has proposed dropping the 5 WPM Morse code element as a requirement
to obtain an Amateur Radio license of any class. The Commission included the
provision in a July 19 Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order (NPRM&O) in
WT Docket 05-235, but it declined to go along with any other proposed
changes to Amateur Service licensing rules or operating privileges. Dropping
the Morse code requirement or any other changes to Part 97 would not become
final until the Commission gathers additional public comments, formally
adopts any new rules and concludes the proceeding with a Report and Order
specifying the changes and an effective date. That's not likely to happen
for several months.
 
"Based upon the petitions and comments, we propose to amend our amateur
service rules to eliminate the requirement that individuals pass a
telegraphy examination in order to qualify for any amateur radio operator
license," the FCC said. The NPRM&O consolidated 18 petitions for rule making
from the amateur community. Several petitioners simply asked the FCC to drop
the Morse requirement, but some--including the ARRL--also proposed a wide
range of additional changes to the amateur rules. The FCC said the various
petitions had attracted 6200 comments from the amateur community, which soon
will have the opportunity to comment again--this time on what the FCC calls
"our tentative conclusions" in its NPRM&O.
 
The Commission said it believes dropping the 5 WPM Morse examination would
encourage more people to become Amateur Radio operators and would eliminate
a requirement that's "now unnecessary" and may discourage current licensees
from advancing their skills. It also said the change would "promote more
efficient use" of amateur spectrum.
 
To support dropping the code requirement, the FCC cited changes in Article
25 of the international Radio Regulations adopted at World
Radiocommunication Conference 2003. WRC-03 deleted the Morse testing
requirement for amateur applicants seeking HF privileges and left it up to
individual countries to determine whether or not they want to mandate Morse
testing. Several countries already have dropped their Morse requirements for
HF access.
 
ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said he was not surprised to see the FCC
propose scrapping the code altogether, although the League and others had
called for retaining the 5 WPM requirement for Amateur Extra class
applicants. Sumner also expressed dismay that the FCC turned away proposals
from the League and other petitioners to create a new entry-level Amateur
Radio license class.
 
"We're disappointed that the Commission prefers to deny an opportunity to
give Amateur Radio the restructuring it needs for the 21st century," he
said. "It appears that the Commission is taking the easy road, but the easy
road is seldom the right road."
 
Sumner said ARRL officials and the Board of Directors will closely study the
30-page NPRM&O and comment further once they've had an opportunity to
consider the Commission's stated rationales for its proposals.
 
In 2004, the League called on the FCC to create a new entry-level license,
reduce the number of actual license classes to three and drop the Morse code
testing requirement for all classes except for Amateur Extra. Among other
recommendations, the League asked the FCC to automatically upgrade
Technician licensees to General and Advanced licensees to Amateur Extra. In
this week's NPRM&O, the FCC said it was not persuaded such automatic
upgrades were in the public interest.
 
The FCC said it did not believe a new entry-level license class was
warranted because current Novice and Tech Plus licensees will easily be able
to upgrade to General once the code requirement goes away. The Commission
also said it already addressed some other issues petitioners raised in its
"Phone Band Expansion" (or "Omnibus") NPRM in WT Docket 04-140.

 
Thanks for reading this & have a great day!
73 Art W4ZEF