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

Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:27:46 -0500

Eric,

Just for the record, I first learned the code during my tour in Viet Nam in
'70 - '71.  The local MARS station operator gave me the theory and Code
tests for my "Conditional" license, which was equivalent to General Class.
The thing was good for only one or two years (I think) and during that
period, you had to go an FCC office to convert it from Conditional to
General.  The FCC would then retest you or not at their whim.  For one
reason or another, I didn't convert it and let it elapse.  I had had my fill
of radio after my vacation to beautiful Southeast Asia, to say the least.

I began again in 1980 to learn the code.  I struggled with it, believe you
me!  I hated it, but knew that either I had to learn it and pass the test or
no license, period, amen.  I passed for my General (13wpm + written tests)
in October, 1980 and my Advanced (written test only in January 1981.  I
swore that I would never bother with Extra because I could never make it to
20wpm.  In 1982, I bought my first HF rig.  My Elmer had given me a Heathkit
electronic keyer and I bought a Vibroplex Iambic Key.  I made a few dozen
QSO's on cw, but never really liked it.  In 1997, I got back on the air
doing HF and decided that I would upgrade to Amateur Extra.  I was so rusty
that I almost had to start from scratch to relearn the code.  I was copying
about 85% at 25 wpm when the FCC, in their infinite wisdom, decided to drop
the 20wpm for Extra early in '98.  More work for nothing!

Today, I can bearly remeber my own call sign and can't even copy the
repeater code ID's.  I don't like it, I never have, and I don't intent to
start using it again.  I work voice and a little RTTY and I'm happy as a
little clam.

I don't care one way or another if they keep the code, drop it, make it only
for Extra, whatever.  If you like it, fine; if not, that's fine too.  To me,
it's only a mode of operation.  And, despite what Hamdom's Graybeards and
Old Buffalos will tell you, the written tests ain't any easier than they
were in the "Olden Times".

73 Al K3ZE
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Krichinsky" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 10:01 PM
Subject: RE: [K3PZN-List] Been waiting for a no code HF license?

> I agree, we learned code just so we wouldn't have to.
> --- Keith Krichinsky <[email protected]> wrote:
> > 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
> === message truncated ===
>
>
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