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 Previous: FCC Lets Former Licensee Re-Apply for Renewal; Reduces, Affirms Fines |  Next: Some Tips on Being a Net Control Station |
By David Sumner, K1ZZ
ARRL Chief Executive Officer
February 1, 2007
Late in the day on Friday, December 15, 2006 the FCC took a step that had been long desired by some and long dreaded by others, but long expected by everyone who cared either way. An FCC news release issued that same evening announced the Commission's decision to eliminate the Morse code examination requirement for the General and Amateur Extra Class licenses.
[Editor's Note: Updated information about the FCC action is available.]
The Commission's decision was made possible by the revision of the international Radio Regulations that took place at the 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-03) in Geneva. Administrations once were required to make all applicants for amateur licenses prove their ability to send and receive Morse code signals, to ensure that they would be able to understand signals sent to them by stations in other services. In 1947 a provision was added, permitting administrations to waive the requirement for operation above 1 GHz. In 1959 the frequency limit for the waiver was dropped to 144 MHz, and in 1979 to 30 MHz. The administrations of many countries took advantage of the waiver to license amateurs for VHF operation without requiring a code test, but it was not until 1991 that the FCC followed suit.
In the waning hours of 1999 the Commission announced that for those classes of license still having a Morse requirement, the examination speed would be reduced to 5 words per minute. That was as far as it could go until WRC-03, which replaced the old rule with one reading simply, "Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking a licence to operate an amateur station shall demonstrate the ability to send and receive texts in Morse code signals." In July 2005 the FCC got around to issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in WT Docket 05-235, which dealt with 18 petitions -- and 6,200 comments on the petitions -- that had been filed in the meantime. In the NPRM the Commission proposed to delete the Morse requirement for all classes of amateur license, so it was no surprise when the decision to do so was announced 17 months later. At this writing the effective date is not known, since it depends upon when the notice of the rules change will be published in the Federal Register.
Reflecting majority membership opinion, the ARRL Board had argued for retention of the Morse requirement for the Extra Class license. The Extra represents the pinnacle of achievement in the FCC's amateur licensing structure; Extras should possess broad knowledge and diverse skills. But the Commission concluded in its Report and Order:
Rather, we believe that because the international requirement for telegraphy proficiency has been eliminated, we should treat Morse code telegraphy no differently from other amateur service communications techniques. This reasoning applies equally to the General Class and the Amateur Extra Class operator licenses. We are not persuaded that the Amateur Extra Class being the highest license class is a sufficient reason alone to retain a requirement that we conclude is otherwise inappropriate and unnecessary. We also note that the action here does not preclude Amateur Extra Class licensees, or for that matter, other amateur service licensees from pursuing and/or continuing to pursue Morse code proficiency should they so desire.
So, what happens now? One thing that happened immediately after the news began to circulate was a dramatic increase in orders for study material for the General and Extra written exams. Whatever one's opinion of the Commission's decision might be, the fact that more people now are motivated to crack the books and to learn more about Amateur Radio cannot be bad. Volunteer Examiner teams and coordinators, including ARRL/VEC, are gearing up for increased demand for all three written exams, as well as for the processing of already-issued Certificates of Successful Completion of Examination into upgrades.
Something that the FCC had not included in the NPRM, but that the ARRL successfully argued for, is that all presently licensed Technicians will have the HF privileges of Technician Plus (and Novice) licensees as soon as the new rules take effect. No doubt the most popular of the new privileges will be SSB voice in the 28.3-28.5 MHz portion of the 10-meter band. The 28.0-28.3 MHz portion of the band also will be available for RTTY, data and CW operation. We hope Techs will equip themselves to take advantage of these opportunities; even at the bottom of the sunspot cycle, 10 meters can offer some pleasant surprises. In addition and somewhat ironically, dropping the Morse requirement gives Techs CW privileges in parts of the 80, 40 and 15 meter bands.
Aside from that, the immediate changes on the air will not be dramatic. New General and Extra licensees will find their way onto HF voice, data, RTTY, and image modes at a faster pace. However, this will occur more gradually here than it did in Europe, where most amateurs who previously were confined to VHF and above were granted full privileges shortly after WRC-03.
Finally, while this may be the epitaph for the Morse code licensing requirement, the Morse code is alive and well as an operating mode. Those of us who believe that it can stand on its own merits, now will be able to prove the point. If we are passionate about CW -- or about any aspect of Amateur Radio, for that matter -- we will win converts if we share our passion with others.
The best reason for developing Morse proficiency is that it makes Amateur Radio more rewarding and more fun. If one's sole motivation for learning Morse is to get past a 5-wpm exam, it's unlikely to be either rewarding or fun -- or ever to result in real fluency. If on the other hand the driving force is a real desire to use CW on the air -- a desire that those of us who love CW can supply -- then that's a horse of a very different hue.
