[NLRS] CW Requirement Removed at WRC 2003

[Scott L.]

They did it, it has been written.  So know its just up to the individual
governing bodies to decide.  According to one source at the FCC, Petitions
for Rule Making are already being filed with the FCC for removal now.  That
didn't take long?

73,

Scott, KB0NLY


Other Amateur Radio-Related Actions at WRC-03

WRC-03 delegates also agreed to an extensive rewrite of Article 25 of the
Radio Regulations, which defines the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services.
Article 25 had included a requirement that an amateur applicant "shall prove
that he is able to send correctly by hand and to receive correctly by ear
texts in Morse code signals" but permitted administrations to waive the
requirement for operation for "stations making use exclusively of
frequencies above 30 MHz."

The reworded Article 25.5 now says, "Administrations shall determine whether
or not a person seeking a license to operate an amateur station shall
demonstrate the ability to send and receive texts in Morse code signals."
Sumner said edits to the Article 25 rewrite--including the Morse
issue--continued right up to the proposal's first reading in the Plenary.
That included agreement upon a Canadian proposal to replace the word "prove"
with the word "demonstrate."

The practical difference is that the wording change now leaves it up to
radiocommunication regulatory bodies in each country to determine if they
wish to require a Morse code test for amateur applicants. Some US observers
predict that the revised wording of 25.5 will spark a flurry of petitions
for rule making to the FCC to eliminate Element 1, the 5 WPM Morse code
examination, as a requirement for HF operation.

An additional Article 25 change calls on administrations to verify "the
operational and technical qualifications" of amateur applicants, using ITU
Radiocommunication Sector Recommendation M.1544 as guidance. Other revisions
permit international communication on behalf of third parties only in case
of emergencies and disaster relief, but it leaves up to administrations to
determine the applicability of the provision to amateur stations under their
jurisdiction. In addition, an administration may determine whether or not to
permit those granted an amateur license by another administration to operate
an amateur station while that licensee is temporarily in its territory,
"subject to such conditions or restrictions it may impose."

A more detailed explanation of these and other Article 25 changes is
included in the article "New Regulations for the Amateur Services," by
Michael Owen, VK3KI, a member of the IARU team at Geneva, is available on
the IARU Web site.