[HCRA] Elimination of ITU Mandatory CW Requirement

Tue, 8 Jul 2003 17:40:49 -0400

My apologies. I had intended to post my response on this topic to the
entire list, but I'd inadvertently sent it only to Steve (you have to do
a REPLY ALL to hit the list). 

Here's the deal, amended slightly from what I'd told Steve last week:

ARRL reported this was a foregone conclusion on June 24
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/06/24/1, but it did not become
"official" until Saturday, July 5, as noted in
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/07/03/4/. 

The outcome of this matter at WRC-03 notwithstanding, the FCC will not
act on its own motion (ie, of its own accord) to eliminate the
requirement that amateur applicants successfully pass Element 1 (the 5
WPM Morse code exam). The requirement remains in place, and the FCC has
a process by which it may be eliminated or retained. Everyone will have
a chance to comment, probably more than once.

As our story on the final acts of the conference predicts
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/07/03/4/>, more than one petition
for rule making to drop Element 1 likely will be filed with the FCC in
the near future. The FCC is required to put these various petitions on
"public notice"--it may consolidate them, as I'd suggested in my reply
to Steve. Petitions put on public notice are given an "RM" number, and
the FCC invites comments from the amateur community on them.

On the basis of those comments, the FCC then likely will consolidate the
matter into a single Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) and again
invite comments on whatever it proposes. 

The final result, a Report & Order or Memorandum Opinion & Order based
on the FCC's reading of "consensus" within the amateur community, will
be a decision either to retain or drop the Morse code requirement.

Do NOT expect that this process will happen quickly. The FCC acts on its
own schedule, there are set time periods to accept comments and reply
comments and, well, frankly, things like this just tend to languish on
peoples' desks at the FCC for reasons best known to FCC staff. 

It would not be unreasonable to predict that the FCC might take two or
three years to reach a final decision one way or the other, unless
lightning strikes at the FCC. No, writing your Member of Congress or to
individual members of the FCC is NOT helpful, no matter what your
position. (In fact, those kinds of communications actually can diminish
the good reputation the Amateur Service earned in Washington over the
past few years--especially since September 11, 2001.)

I'm strongly inclined to believe this matter will be up for discussion
at the ARRL Board of Directors meeting next week, but I cannot yet
report that as a fact. 

I hope this clarifies the process here in the US. Some countries (called
"administrations" in ITU-speak) undoubtedly will choose to retain the
Morse requirement (Russia appears so inclined), and there's still strong
sentiment in some quarters of the US ham population to keep the current,
minimal 5 WPM Morse requirement. We shall see.

73, Rick N1RL (ARRL Senior News Editor and HCRA member)
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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Steve Rodowicz
Sent: Friday, July 04, 2003 4:05 PM
To: HCRA
Subject: [HCRA] Elimination of ITU Mandatory CW Requirement

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I presume that the FCC will do something similar

Steve - N1SR

The Mandatory International Morse Requirement is to Cease

The mandatory international Morse requirement for access to the HF bands
is 
to cease. Colin Thomas, G3PSM, an advisor to the UK delegation to the
ITU 
World Radiocommunication Conference, reported on Monday the 30th of June

that the mandatory Morse code requirement for HF access would disappear
at 
the end of the conference. However, if any administration feels that it 
needs to keep the requirement, it has the right to do so. Here in the
UK, 
the Radiocommunications Agency has already stated that it will bring in 
code-free HF licences as soon as practical to do so. An announcement
will 
be made on GB2RS and on the RSGB website when Full and Intermediate
Class B 
amateurs can start using the HF bands.

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