[PPRAANet] RE: PPARES: End of CW for HF in Great Britain, Switzerland

Sat, 26 Jul 2003 12:03:50 -0600

I find it interesting, when I went to England in 1997 on a business trip, I
was under the impression that to operate on the HF bands required a more
stringent examination than what the USA offered their amateur radio
operators.  I kinda figured that they would be the last to minimize the CW
requirement for HF access.

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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Wes Wilson
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2003 07:57
To: PPARES; PPRAA
Subject: PPARES: End of CW for HF in Great Britain, Switzerland

All -- FYI

>From the Radio Society of Great Britain website -- just sell those ham
licenses right next to the fishing and hunting licenses at Wally World!
Plop down your $12 and you're an Extra.  For those who think CW is dead or
no longer of benefit, PPARES used it on 40m to pass sensitive messages the
Red Cross didn't want the public/media to overhear during the Campbell Fire
near Guffey.  Once the code requirement goes, the push will be to do away
with all other requirements . . . i.e., written tests.

73  Wes K�HBZ

Class B Amateurs Gain HF Privileges This Week

The RSGB is pleased to announce that, with effect from Saturday the 26th of
July, there is no longer a requirement to have passed a Morse code test in
order to operate on the HF bands in the UK. All Full and Intermediate Class
B licensees are therefore automatically granted their respective Class A
operating privileges and may operate on the HF bands using their existing
callsigns from the 26th of July. Class B licensees need not take any action
to obtain these additional operating privileges.

This long-awaited move comes about following the decision taken at the
recent World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, which agreed that a
Morse code test should no longer be an international requirement in order to
hold an HF amateur licence. The Radiocommunications Agency is to be thanked
for moving quickly in introducing this change in the UK. The official
'Gazette Notice' to bring in the change in the UK is scheduled to be
published on the 25th of July.

A series of 'Frequently Asked Questions' and answers about these changes are
published on the RSGB website. Please note that these changes do not affect
Foundation Licensees.

The RSGB welcomes all former Class B amateurs on to the HF bands and hopes
that they will obtain even greater enjoyment from their hobby.

Meanwhile, in Switzerland, the Federal Office for Communications there has
authorised Swiss CEPT Class 2 licensees to operate on the HF bands without
taking a Morse test with effect from the 15th of July.

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