[PBARC] ARLB003 ARRL to Propose New Entry-Level License, Code-Free HF Access

[E. Glenn Wolf, Jr.]

FYI..... 
glenn

SB QST @ ARL $ARLB003
ARLB003 ARRL to Propose New Entry-Level License, Code-Free HF Access

ZCZC AG03
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 3  ARLB003
>From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  January 20, 2004
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB003
ARLB003 ARRL to Propose New Entry-Level License, Code-Free HF Access

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 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.

''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. 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.

The middle group of licensees--Technician, Tech Plus (Technician with
Element 1 credit) and General--would be merged into a new General license
that also would not 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.

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. Sumner said the Board
felt that the highest level of accomplishment should include basic Morse
capability. Current Novice, Tech Plus and General licensees would receive
lifetime 5 WPM Morse credit.

''This structure provides a true entry-level license with HF privileges to
promote growth in the Amateur Service,'' Harrison said.

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.''

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 current HF subbands.

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.

See ''ARRL to Propose New Entry-Level License, Code-Free HF Access''
on the ARRL Web site, www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/19/1/, for the
specific subband allocations ARRL is proposing for each class.
NNNN
/EX