[RVRC] Recent FCC Action - Sounds like April Fools Day

[HMLong]

Sounds Like April Fools Day is here
73  Hank   N2MU    ...-.-    ..



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "E. Drew Moore" <drumor at optonline.net>
To: "RVRC" <rvrc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2016 5:00 PM
Subject: [RVRC] Recent FCC Action


>
>
>
> Washington, D.C. – April 1, 2016 – Today, the Federal Communications 
> Commission (Commission or FCC) approved Report and
> Order 14-987af 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, 2016.
>
> “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
> .
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