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FCC Ponders Removing Morse Code Reqs for Amateur Radio Licenses

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the dot-dot-dash dept.

Nalez writes "This story on the ARRL website outlines six petitions currently in front of the FCC to drop the Morse code requirement for the amateur radio license exams. Currently the ability to do Morse code at 5 words per minute is required to operate on the high frequency bands (below 30Mhz), which are the bands that propagate best around the world." While this may or may not attract more people to ham radio, it will make it easier for the novice to use packet radio devices.

5 of 341 comments (clear)

  1. Technician class? by Hayzeus · · Score: 4, Informative

    I think there is no MC requirement already for this type of license, right?

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    Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
    1. Re:Technician class? by Detritus · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not now. But if you want to operate HF, you still need to pass a 5 WPM morse code test.

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      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  2. support this by Rock+Ridge · · Score: 4, Informative

    An int'l radio body recently dropped the code requirement. This is a good thing, even though I learned code to get a general license when about 13 years old. It was easy for me to learn, but really isn't necessary if the potential licensee wants to experiment with radio -- there are many ways to do that without code: packet radio, rtty, tv, ham satellite, vhf/uhf/shf/ehf.

  3. Why Morse? by eriko · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well, the historical reasons for morse are many, but the reason for the 5WPM requirement (and it used to much harder -- the top classes required 20WPM) was treaty.

    Long distance HF bands aren't useful, unless everyone agrees what those bands are -- no use having the US hams on 40M, if the UK is using that same band for broadcast. So, the amatuer bands were set by treaty. This treaty also had a morse requirement. However, this year, the World Radiocommuncation Conference, held every so often to review things like this, dropped the code requirements for the HF bands.

    I agree that Morse as a requirement has passed it's time. It is a bandwidth efficent and noise resistant mode -- but there are better now, such as PSK31. I've copied 90% of a PSK31 transmission that was so weak I could barely see it on a waterfall display -- never mind actually hearing it.

    Note that eliminating the Morse code requirement wouldn't eliminate Morse code from the bands. There are segements of the ham bands that are CW only. Those who work with low power (QRP) are very fond of CW morse.

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    Ceci n'est pas une sig.
  4. Re:probably too late to save the hobby by JGaiser · · Score: 4, Informative

    Old farts that complained when a group of us brought up Linux/AX.25 networks on packet radio. Because they didn't know/didn't care to learn how to filter out the tcp/ip packets, we were screwing up the dot matrix printers which they used to make running logs.

    Old farts on voice getting upset when you tried to use "their" frequency to do something other than talk about the latest disease/death/perscription.

    There were a lot of helpful and knowledgable men and women in Amateur Radio also, but it just got to be fun dealing with the minority.