[K3PZN-List] Been waiting for a no code HF license?

Mon, 19 Jan 2004 21:20:22 -0500

Keith,

The article was copied from the ARRL website intact (i.e., no editing on my
part), and posted to the club reflector as a matter of information only.
It, like the other things that I copy over from the ARRL website is always
done a matter of news which I think has importance to the Amateur Radio
community at large (see my past posting on BPL, the death of AO-14, et al).
Or, at least to the CCARC membership.  I think that the article explains its
point. I don't see how you could have missed anything.  If you wish to
construe from it a "kick in the face" and are offended, I suggest that you
drive on over to the ARRL website and voice your opinion, displeasure, what
have you, to the ARRL.

As it's my perception that you took this as an insult, I'll add some injury
just for you.  There are many, many fine Amateur Radio Operators out there
who, for one reason or another, simply cannot conquer the Morse Code and
have been restricted by what is only a mode of operation and has been used
as a "filtering" device to (supposedly) keep "CB'ers and other radio
ne'er-do-wells" out of the elite ranks of ham radio.  A good Amateur Radio
Opertor is a good Amateur Radio Operator, whether they can send cw at 5-,
13-, or 20 wpm or can't tell a dit from a dah.  Knowledge of CW is NO
benchmark of how good or bad a ham is.  I've seen some damned good operators
come from the ranks of CB'ers.  Two that I can think of right off the top of
my head are both CCARC Hams-of-the-Year.

If you are an advocate of CW, fine.  If you hate it and think that it's
unfair to be tested on to get a ticket and work HF voice, that's fine too.

'Nuff said?

73 Al K3ZE

----- Original Message -----
From: "Keith Krichinsky" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 8:35 PM
Subject: RE: [K3PZN-List] Been waiting for a no code HF license?

> Is this a kick in the face or am I missing something here?
>
> 73's;
> Keith Krichinsky, KB3HHK
>
>
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: "Al Bisasky" <[email protected]>
> Reply-To: [email protected]
> To: <[email protected]>
> Subject: [K3PZN-List] Been waiting for a no code HF license?
> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 16:51:40 -0500
>
> 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.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------- BREAK
> -----------------------------------------------
> Next CCARC meeting Monday February 9, 7:30 PM, at the FTC.
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> -----------------------------------------------------
BREAK -----------------------------------------------
> Next CCARC meeting Monday February 9, 7:30 PM, at the FTC.
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