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FCC Ponders Removing Morse Code Reqs for Amateur Radio Licenses
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.
dah dah dah dit dit dit dit dah dit dah dah dah
I've been tunneling all my morse code over SSH...
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
I think there is no MC requirement already for this type of license, right?
Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
i'm a ham and never bother turning on my rig anymore. I get much more satisfaction out of computers and the internet.
I know the old-timers don't want to hear this, but it's really about time that this outdated modulation and transmission scheme no longer be required. They old-timers won't admit it to others, but they know that their hobby isn't growing because of the code requirements.
Kids these days--the very people you want to get excited about ham radio--have absolutely no interest in pounding the brass, fumbling over the differences between A and N and trying to copy what others have to say via Morse. Remember, they're growing up in a HDTV, 500-channel, broadband Internet world. It's absolutely no surprise that they think sending letters with dits and dahs is draconian. It is.
Let's give the customary 2-meter and 6-meter privileges to new tickets and push the cutting-edge technologies like PSK31 on the newbies. Show them that ham radio can truly be exciting and modern. But it really is about time the code went the way of the dinosaur. Don't outlaw it--just make it optional.
Karma: Excellent Birds (mostly as a result of listening to Laurie Anderson)
We knew that sooner or later this requirement would be removed. Those of us who love CW (Morse Code) still use it, and others will continue to do so, if only because it is simple, it works, and it overcomes real language barriers.
Still, even though we may love it, it is an anachronism, and the requirement will be dropped, like it or not.
73
W4TI
Soli Deo Gloria
Ham radio isnt to be used for commercial and/or encrypted communication.
There is no way for a person to have a secure private conversation over long distances without going over some sort of provider.
802.11b don't count cause it has limited range.
That sucks.
-Johan
whats morse code?
isint that what they used to stop the aliens in Independance Day?
We know that even in the distant future, one's survival may depend on embedding a morse coded message in the warp signature or scanning frequency!
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Ahem...anyhow, you could argue that being a ham operator is like joining the Army: you're making yourself and your abilities available to your country/neighbours/fellow humans if necessary. Morse code is intelligible when packet radio and voice are not. Multiple, redundant channels of communication are Good Things, especially when disaster strikes...why allow one of those channels to wither and die?
Carousel is a lie!
If I knew morse code, I would like to have a cell phone that understood morse code. I'm sure entering SMS messages would be a lot faster that pressing 1 three times for "c" and so on. The phone would need just a single button!
There's already packet for 2-Meter ... so changing the Morse requirement would only allow it on different frequencies.
As an Amateur Extra class holder, I can see both sides of this ... if you drop the requirement, then more people would be able to get the General or AE license.
However, if there is a roadblock (not a very high one), that would limit the number of poor operators on HF frequencies that would travel around the world.
If BPL does come to fruition, it really won't matter on HF anymore.
BTW, what type of communication would prevail if aliens invade?
Karma? Karma? I don't need no stinkin' karma.
Three questions for all you hams:
- Why was morse code originally required for amatuer radio operators?
- How often is morse code used today?
- What advantages does morse code have, vs other forms of radio communication?
As the inventor and patent holder for Morse (TM) every ham operator must pay a $299 licence fee to.. etc..
Darl McBride
"You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
I'm all for dropping the CW req. but I understand why it's there... It's low-tech, and can be received a lot further than any other type of transmission... very little of the actual signal needs to make it thru in order to get the message. High-tech relys on more equipment, and therefore, usually has a higher risk of malfunction, and more difficult repair. Pretty easy to make a cw switch... any two pieces of electrically conductive materials would work in a pinch.
-- Liberalism is a mental disorder.
The Morse code is almost common knowledge, imho. It's a good basic skill and can be somewhat usefull if you can count on a substancial amount of people being able to morse. It's not to far fetched having people be able to morse at 5 wpm in order to get a HAM licence.
And why would one want to lower the entry level for HAM? If someone really wants to do HAM, learning to morse won't be a barrier, but the requiements keeps the twits away from HAM and that probably maintains a good 'quality of service'. For the lack of a better word. It's just like Fido Net: People where required to give their real name and address and therefore noise and junk was/is *very* low on Fidonet.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
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.
Did you mean Novice class licensees, or new licensees?
Assuming the latter: A technician-class license (no code, 30 MHz and up operation only) has no code requirement and packet radio use is common.
What this will make easier is for people who don't have any use for code (like myself, I have to admit) to transmit on the worldwide HF frequencies with packet.
Of course, if they do drop the code requirement, I am not sure I will operate on HF, because the equipment is kinda spendy, antennas are kinda big (I live in an apartment), and all the fun stuff that I like to do is on VHF/UHF. (I like satellite & other space stuff like EME.)
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
...then - think about it - soon we'll never hear the nostalgic, reassuring aural tapestry of Morse Code ever again...
...oh, apart from those thousands of mobile phones bleeping out "SMS" daily to owners who have no idea what it means...
I have a General-class HAM license. There is no reason anymore to require morse code. But with the internet and cell phones and satelite phones, there is no reason to need a HAM license either.
... the FCC is considering a move from using . and - as morse code notation, to using . and /
///...///
/Styx
Here is an article at eham.net with one hams viewpoint and lots of comments. his bottom line - don't sweat the dropping of code requirement.
K9JRW
It's just a link to goatse, a couple of bad jokes (in soviet russia, morse code you!), and one of those huge ass GNAA posts. Who had the time to sit down and read one of those GNAA posts, let alone translate it into morse code, I have no idea. But thanks to the clever work of Samuel Morse, I'm making the worst joke of my /. career and burning my karma away.
-----
jonathan barket
Look - everyone wants to try to bend over backwards to help people feel welcome these days. Instead of changing the rules they should look for alternatives. Maybe create their own spectrum for those who want to participate but don't know morse code. The rules of golf have been around a long time. However recently to make people feel accepted or to try to capture a larger audience those rules have been changed. Cases in point: Casey using a golf cart and Annika Sorenstam playing a PGA event without having earned a proper PGA Tour card. In both these cases the end result was disappointing even though it was done with the best of intentions.
We have to respect the rules and understand the subtle details of the hobbies we choose (be it morse code or where to drop an out-of-bounds shot). What's next - do we change chess because people can't remember that the knight has to move in that crazy 'L' shape? Yeah, that's it - we'll protest the Internation Chess Federation for that - it's not fair to those who don't want to or can't learn how to use the piece correctly!
Sorry for the rant, but at some point you have to stand up and say no!
--AB
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.
shee-it. cw gots rhythm, honky.
Sacred cows make the best burgers.
As a kid, I was actually pretty interested in the idea of ham-radio. I loved the idea of communicating worldwide with people. (I suppose that's when the Internet came along, I took to it like a duck to water...) But, honestly, I couldn't get the morse code requirement. The way my brain works, it's hard for me to, well, memorize stuff. Calling it up on command would be even sillier. So I never got into it. Here's the thing though. We have typewriters. We have computers. You can still *use* morse code without *knowing* morse code - simply hook up a computer on your line, type your message, and have the computer encode all of the message to Morse. If one wants to recieve, that can be translated by computer also. Morse is a great transmission type - and great for redundancy in emergencies - but it's hard to learn and use. Instead, why not keep the positives of morse code, while taking away it's negative - it's hard-to-learn status? -- Funksaw
CM (Carrier Modulation: turning the signal on and off manually) is the most basic mode of radio communication.
When you're sinking at sea and the boiler explosion has thrown your microphone and keyboard over the side, you'll still be able to call for help, give your position, and ask for clean drawers by plugging and unplugging the antenna lead.
If the FCC wants to create a new class of licenses for selfish, aloof operators who "just don't want to get involved", well, that's what the Radiotelephone licenses are for.
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.
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
I'm somewhat torn on this entire idea. First, I do agree with many people who believe that it's definitely quite old and not really neccesary at this point, however, I also agree with those who are saying that it COULD be useful. It is universal to some degree, and it doesn't require a huge degree of electronics to use. In any case, how much longer do you think radio stations and whatnot will even be AROUND? I've already seen some internet-based radio parts... it's probably only a matter of time. They're going to evolve or die, I believe. As to which, no idea.
As a former ham radio geek, I too had to learn CW, at least 5wpm - back then, it was a requirement to be able to use much above 30mHz. I survived the test, and forgot nearly everything about CW after that, workig on packet radio, satellite and 6m ssb dxing.
:) So, while the FCC is finally hoping to abolish CW for more technologically-advanced communications, the old curmudgeons can still use their dinosaur-mode skillset.
My partner also learned CW, and loves it, eventually getting her Extra-class license. As we now live in an apartment, antennas are not allowed, so we both gave up on ham radio. However, she hasn't given up on CW.
She's found a new program - IRCQ - that uses CW over the Net. Yikes!
So, I guess that CW won't die, despite the FCC's wishes. I personally won't mourn iys passing, but I do see how it can be useful in a very tight situation. Maybe I'll even give ITCQ a try some day,
73 de N9JZW
Lemon curry?
It's so user friendly it only has one button, and we push that before it leaves the factory!!
It's an issue of national security. There are many countries that would not issue any amateur licenses if encryption was allowed. Although they have more modern toys today, the stereotypical spy used a hidden transmitter to send his reports back to his case officer in encrypted morse code. Amateur radio was shut down completely during World War II due to concerns about espionage. Even today, the more paranoid countries restrict amateur radio to club stations that can be easily monitored for subversive activities. In the worst cases, amateur radio is prohibited and unauthorized possession of radio equipment is considered proof of espionage, resulting in death or imprisonment.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Getting rid of mc just shows me that seti will more than likely never fullfil its goal of finding intelligent life outside this planet through radio waves (and/or other part of the spectrum). We have just shown that as we advance our knowledge we get rid of old forms of communications for far superior forms.
So its concievable that within 100 years that we will not be using any current communication median, or at a minimum that we encrypt it to almost sound like static (military is/has moving to this).
just my 2 cents,
epic
"Im drowning here, and you're describing the water!"
A bit of trivia: Bruce Perens of Open Source fame founded No-Code International, "a norganization dedicated to the abolition of the Morse code testing requirement as a prerequisite for any class of Amateur Radio license." I didn't see NCI mentioned anywhere in the article, but they're pretty much responsible for the last overhaul of Morse requirements.
A good article summarizing his No-Code work is Bruce's own article,"No-Code: The End-Game".
Now, PSK31, is fantastic. I have reliably worked stations that I can barely hear on the radio using PSK31. Using 5W output.
The year was 1968. It was a warm, summer night and I was walking down MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village with my cousin Michael and our friend Larry. The Village was electric back then with poster stores, head shops, music stores and other places for teenage boys to get lost and kill time. Many had their doors open to the summer breeze and heavy foot traffic. As we walked past one record store, I sensed something unusual about the music I heard.
"Oh dear Miss Morse,
I love you.
Yes I do,
really do."
And then, the refrain, sung the way you'd expect a secret, hidden musical message to be sung.
"dit dit daaaah dit.
dit dit dah.
dah dit dah dit
dah dit daaaaah"
Oh my God! Someone had said the word... that four letter word guaranteed to get you suspended in school and punished at home.
Holy sh... well, you couldn't say that back then either. The song was (Oh Dear) Miss Morse by Pearls Before Swine. It was the kind of thing you could hear on MacDougal Street... not on the radio. Ham radio had never before, and would never again, let me be so cool.
There are actually much better technologies for doing anything Morse code claims to do now. PSK31, for example, is a far better digital modulation system than Morse. Even Morse could survive if it was desired, but why keep a very knowledgable ham (perhaps one that has even passed the Expert class written exam) off the bands just because they can't learn an ancient 19th century audio encoding technique? There is plenty of computer technology that would allow a ham to both send and receive code much better than someone doing it by hand and ear. You need some technology to receive a radio signal anyway, why arbitrarly draw that line short of letting a ham put a morse-to-speach converted in a set of headphones? (Which, of course, is perfectly legal for all use, just not for qualifying for a license in the first place. In fact I know many hams who learned code to get their license and never used it again afterwards, and, although they have renewed their licenses since then, could not use morse code now if they had to.)
Most importantly, a frequent argument the old farts like to make is the "importance" of Morse code in emergency situations. But keeping people out of the hobby and having less stations able to monitor and respond in emergency situations because people who can not learn morse code have been kept out does not make sense. In this sense the morse code license requirement actually keeps many hams (like myself) from having HF equipment that they could provide aid with when a disaster hits.
And yes, although some people have no problem with it, there is a significant barrier for Morse code for many. It's not just learning what the patterns are and what letters they match up to, it's being able to hear them and do that translation in real time while signals continue to come in. Easy for some, hard or imposiable for others, even though they have tried all of the tricks many times.
Forcing new hams to learn Morse code would be like a teacher forcing new computer students to learn the Hollerith code for punch cards, saying "I had to learn it so you have to learn it". The information shouldn't be lost, but new programmers no longer need to be able to look at rectangular holes in a punch card and read the information on sight. The same should be the case for Morse code.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
This would be like using "unix" without learning vi or ed. Never! :)
Now there are no Ruskies, no german tanks rolling around, no ships to save since no longer international rescue stations uses morse (everyone has a satellite phone apparently).
IMHO, it will live, as a hobbyist's tool. Once I turn the DSP on and reduce the filter frequency to 25kHz I can hear any weak signal through the interference. I have a Yaesu FT-847 and you can put nice mechanical filters in it and have even tighter filters. Since default morse code signal fits into a 3 kHz deviation it is an efficient way of communication.
It is just like steam locomotives. The diesels have taken them out of the lines but they still run.
Da da di di dit, di di dit da dat. M1FCJ/P signing off.
A similar rule change has been made before, and MANY MANY hams felt that it had a negative effect. Around 1989, I believe, the morse code requirement for the technication class license was removed. After that, there was a flood of bad, inconsiderate, and disrespectful new hams. Many of them were CBers who didn't want to take the time and effort to learn the code. It let in the riff raff, more Anonymous Cowards and first posters if you will.
The are several good reasons why the cw requirement should still kept after all these years. Apologies to Bruce Perens.
Think of morse code as a candle. Sure, we have lightbulbs, flashlights, glow sticks, and the sun. But, if something bad happens - the lights go out, the flashlights batteries are dead, your out of glowsticks, and its the dead of night, wouldn't it be nice to have a candle. It might be boring, plain, ugly, smelly, near useless in the modern world - but when the s*** hits the fan, you'll be glad you have it.
It is a good filter. Most people have to really give an effort to learn the code. Not all but some. I studied for a couple of weeks to pass my 5wpm test. I studied a few days for the 13wpm test. Some people claim it takes them years to learn it. Maybe, i don't know. The point is, if you want to just talk to you buddy down the street, you can get a cb for $40 at radio shack and not even think twice about a license. Think of the bad operators as spam. If you had a chance to have a really good spam filter or not, would you take it. Don't get me wrong, not all no coders are bad guys and they should have a chance to use ham radio - and they do. They can get a no code tech license and use frequencies above 30mhz. What this would change is give them frequecies priviledges below 30mhz. These frequences are special because of physics and the ozone in that they can propogate thousands of miles instead of the couple hundred of the uhf (50mhz) freqencies and above.
History. Morse code and ham radio have been together since the beginning. Its almost disrespectful in my mind to push the code to the wayside. Like putting an old dog down just because he isn't good for fetching the papers anymore.
Anyway, im fairly confident that cw will be around for a long time after its required. If i had to bet, I would say that the requirement will be dropped. I'd say at least 50 years (hopefully i'll make it to my 80th birthday)
As an aside, several people have mentioned that the written tests themselves are an appropriate filter. I disagree. All the questions that appear on every test are known in advance. I could teach my 10 year old daughter the answer to the questions without her having a clue what the questions actually mean.
This has nothing to do with the no-code tech license. At the moment you must pass a 5wpm morse test to gain access to the HF (international) bands or to go beyond tech and get your general or extra class ticket. If you want to work below 6m then you will certainly encounter lots of morse communication and will need to know it anyway.
If someone wants to be a ham and only do packet, 2m and 70cm, then they don't need access to the HF bands and I don't understand the complaining about the test.
Liken this to requiring people to understand the international standard highway signs (stop, yield, do not pass, etc...) before giving them the privelege of traveling on international roadways. Instead of saving lives by preventing wrecks, this is a courtesy that we still extend even though several other countries let hams that can't understand morse loose on the HF bands.
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
If anyone thinks the ability to understand Morse code means anything today, do a quick experiment.
1) Try teaching somebody to understand Morse code at 5 WPM, then 12, then 20.
2) Try teaching somebody to understand Morse code starting at 20 WPM, or better yet 30 WPM.
The first is difficult - learning "dot dot dot dash" is a "V" at 5 WPM does NOT translate to faster speeds.
The second is actually fairly easy. You don't hear the individual tones, you hear didididah and it doesn't take long for people to learn to spell out words (spoken and heard) with the new synonyms.
The problem? The people who learn to understand Morse at 30 WPM can speak it, but they can't key it... especially with the dead cat and two pieces of piano wire that the Old Farts(TM) use as an example of the type of equipment a ham should be able to use in an emergency. Worse, they can't understand or key it at 5 WPM either since that's s
o
s
l
o
w
that it would be as meaningless as human speech would be to you if it was slowed down by a factor of 6 or more.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
I've had a license for almost 20 years. I use to use it almost everyday, to keep in touch with family and friends. Around town in the late 80's we had phone patches setup to make short phone calls. Cell phones replaced that, the internet and email replaced keeping in touch with family and friends. I've kept my license up "just in case", but hardly use it anymore. I think the FCC is going to be selling off some more band space (they already sold parts of the 220mhz band) to make some money. There are a lot of businesses who would love some of the prime bandwith that for the most part is going unused. Unless there is a way to generate massive interest in the HF bands, I think amateur radio is on the critical list...
At one time I was the thrid or 4th youngest person to ever pass the written test but I can't copy morse at a rate fast enough for the adanced licenses. The result of the stupid requirement is that I never did much with radio and I didn't do any research at all even though I grew up in a house where I had all the tools including good scopes and spectrum analizers and I had access to the best test gear that exists. However the "old boys club" rules about morse keep me from using any of the frequency that was allocated for research. Once the no-code frequencies came it, it just was a 2 meter CB system and you couldn't do any cool stuff like APRS until it had become mainstream. Now if the numebrs of members don't increase quickly soon, all the frequency will get allocated to other things. That will be bad for research but how many hams do that? The EE's I knew that were all the Extras are no longer with us and I don't know too many General class people who could still pass the CW test.
You are completely unjustified in comparing algebra to Morse, as algebra has important and practical use in real life a million times greater than that of Morse. There is nothing "dumbing down" about removing something with so little use that stands in the way of greater achievement. If anything it is "smarting up" to remove a rediculous and unnecessary limitation.
We're going to get the code test killed anyway, you know. During 98-143, the proceeding where we went to 5 WPM across the board, FCC declared that the only reason for preserving Morse testing even at 5 WPM was the treaty. It's right there for you to read in their rule-making. They have already rejected the sort of argument you make.
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
Other countries are already moving in this direction, so it sounds like it's just a matter of time before morse code is removed entirely or reduced even more.
More details here and here and here.
For the sake of completeness, I'm KD5YRD, just Technician class. I've passed the General and Extra tests, but failed the Morse code test when I tried it (yesterday!) ... so I'll need to work on it bit more (perhaps in two weeks I'll try again.) The written tests are quite simple, especially since you have access to all possible test questions, but the morse code part can be a lot harder for many people, even though 5 wpm is extremely slow.
In any event, don't get the idea that you need to know morse code to do ham radio, even today. You absolutely do not -- the Technician class license does not require it, and gets you access to many (most?) of the `fun' things that ham radio has to offer. But you may want to learn it eventually -- you'll hear a lot of it even mixed in with voice communications.