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FCC Proposes Abolishing Morse Code Requirement

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the removing-road-blocks dept.

TaxSlave writes "According to this ARRL article, the Federal Communications Commission has finally decided which path it wants to take with the Morse Code requirement for an amateur radio license. International requirements for Morse Code were done away with some time back, and several countries quickly abolished the requirement. Now, the FCC has proposed doing the same thing. Next step, months of comments, discussion, and navel-gazing."

4 of 439 comments (clear)

  1. well... by rd4tech · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Commission said it believes dropping Element 1--the 5 WPM Morse examination--would "encourage individuals who are interested in communications technology, or who are able to contribute to the advancement of the radio art, to become amateur radio operators."

    Was learning Morse so much of an obstacle for new members? Personally, I had to learn Morse long time ago, and it's not hard at all.
    On the other hand, maybe with the development of the digital technologies, the analog radio technology potential members are just not bothering looking into it.

    The FCC said it did not believe a new entry-level license class was warranted because current Novice and Tech Plus licensees already can easily upgrade to General. "We also note that, if our proposal to eliminate telegraphy testing in the amateur service is adopted," the FCC continued, "a person who is not a licensee will be able to qualify for a General Class operator license by passing two written examinations, and that a person who is a Technician Class licensee will be able to qualify for a General Class operator license by passing one written examination." The FCC said it does not believe either path to be unreasonable.

    Written examinations? Nobody has to type the Morse anymore? Anyone here who got his license recently care to shed some light on this one?

    1. Re:well... by tylernt · · Score: 5, Informative

      The entry-level ticket, Technician, is just a written test, no morse. You also have no HF privileges (VHF and up only). However, as a Technician you can take a morse test and become a Technician Plus, and gain a limited set of HF privileges.

      If you take a second written test, and pass the morse test, now you are a General with most HF privileges.

      Take a third written test (no more morse test, you already passed that) and now you're an Extra, with all privileges.

      Yeah, I'm a no-code Technician. Don't plan to learn code, either. I hope the FCC votes to remove the code requirement for HF, but I also hope that a portion of each band is reserved only for those who do pass a code test. That way, they can go there to get away from us no-code schmucks who are cluttering up the rest of the frequencies. :-P

      --
      DRM 'manages access' in the same way that a prison 'manages freedom'
    2. Re:well... by mph · · Score: 4, Informative
      As for flying planes, huh? What does flying planes have to do with morse code?
      Navaids broadcast their identifier using Morse. That's how you verify you've tuned in to the right facility.
  2. Re:Amateur Radio vs. Internet by fwc · · Score: 4, Informative
    What is the point of amateur radio when the Internet has connected most of the globe?

    Amateur radio has basically become a service organization, providing emergency communications when the crap hits the fan. In our area, our Ham radio club provides communications for both the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, and acts as a backup communications system for the normal communications channels if they are overloaded or unavailable.

    I feel that the Morse requirement definitely hinders the ability of amateur radio to serve in this capacity. A good example of this happened to us a couple of years ago when we were providing communications for the Red Cross during a Forest Fire in the local area which required evacuations. The Red Cross has a policy that their workers have to have available communications at all times to ensure they can contact emergency help when needed. In the area where the forest fire was, there was no cell coverage, so we were providing communications. Also due to the location, the coverage of our VHF (144Mhz) repeater was marginal at best. As a result, we had to rely on 80meters at 3.880 Mhz. The only operators who can work on the 80meter band are operators who have passed the morse test and also a written test. This eliminated about half of the operators at our disposal just because they were not of the correct license class.

    Eliminating the Morse requirement would have increased this pool since most operators are able to pass the General Class test with some studying. Morse code is much more difficult, and is really not neccessary. I learned 5WPM code and got my Tech Plus License and then shortly (after another change to the rules) upgraded to Extra. Today, I operate fairly regularly on the HF bands, but I couldn't read morse code if I wanted to since it doesn't interest me and I haven't kept up with it.