[nrv-hams] Fwd:** FCC to reinstate Morse Code test ** FOR IMMEDIATERELEASE

[Brian Squibb]

A joke?  Rats.  I practiced all night and got my speed up to 187 wpm…


Brian
W4PAJ

On Apr 2, 2015, at 9:18 AM, Larry W McCoy <lwmccoy at verizon.net> wrote:

> I figured it was April fools joke, but I would welcome it, Thanks Dotty Dasher.  Perhaps Carter's pet Ditzy would concur.  Funny Patrick.  Thanks
> Larry
> W4LWM
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Johnson
> Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 8:54 PM
> To: nrv-hams
> Subject: [nrv-hams] Fwd:** FCC to reinstate Morse Code test ** FOR IMMEDIATERELEASE
> 
> Forwarded from a colleague in Michigan.
> 
> 73s,
> Patrick
> 
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: W8TCM - Cherryland Amateur Radio Club <cherrylandarc at gmail.com>
> 
> ** * FCC to reinstate Morse Code test *
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> ***VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE ***
> FCC to reinstate Morse Code test
> *April 1, 2015*
> 
> *Washington, D.C. – April 1, 2015 – Today, the Federal Communications
> Commission (or FCC) approved Report and Order 14-987 which reinstates
> the Morse Code test for General Class and Amateur Extra Class
> licensees.
> “It was a big mistake eliminating the Morse Code test,” admits Dotty
> Dasher, the FCC’s director of examinations. “We now realize that being
> able to send and receive Morse Code is an essential skill for radio
> amateurs. As they say, it really does get through when other modes
> can’t.”*
> *Not only will new applicants have to take the test, but General Class
> licensees who have never passed a code test will have one year to pass
> a 5-wpm code test. Similarly, Amateur Extra class licensees that never
> passed a code test will have one year to pass a 13-wpm test. Those
> amateurs that fail to pass the test will face revocation of their
> operating privileges. Materials for administering the examinations
> will be distributed to Volunteer Examiner Coordinators by the end of
> April, so that they can begin the testing on May 1, 2015.
> Moreover, any Extra Class amateur who does not improve his/her code
> speed to 20 wpm during that one year period will have his/her license
> revoked--and cannot reapply for another license for 5 calendar years.*
> *“This isn’t going to be one of those silly multiple-choice type
> tests,” noted Dasher. “We’re going to be sending five-character random
> code groups, just like we did in the old days. And, applicants will
> have to prove that they can send, too, using a poorly adjusted
> straight key.”*
> *Technician Class licensees will not be required to take a Morse Code
> test, nor will a test be required for new applicants. “We discussed
> it,” said Dasher, “but decided that since most Techs can’t even figure
> out how to program their HTs, requiring them to learn Morse Code
> seemed like cruel and unusual punishment.”
> *When asked what other actions we might see from the FCC, Dasher
> hinted that in the future applicants taking the written exam may be
> required to draw circuit diagrams, such as Colpitts oscillators and
> diode ring mixers, once again. “We’re beginning to think that if an
> applicant passes an amateur radio license exam it should mean that he
> or she actually knows something,” she said.*
> *For further information, contact James X. Shorts, Assistant Liaison
> to the Deputy Chief of Public Relations for the FCC .*
> Note: One report confirmed that a lobbyist, Mr. R. F. Burns, had a
> great deal to do with enacting this bold move.
> 
> ============================================================
> 
> Happy April Fools' Day,
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