As a result of the restructuring, there are several different versions
of Technician license:
1. The old Tech Plus licensees: Unlike the No-Code Technicians, they
have limited operating privileges on HF and do not need to take the 5
wpm exam again to upgrade to General.
2. Old No-Code Techs: They have no HF privileges and must take the 5
wpm exam to upgrade to General.
3. New No-Code Techs: See above.
4. New Technicians with the 5 wpm CSCE within the past year: They are
treated the same as the old Tech Plus licensees.
5. New Technicians with the 5 wpm CSCE more than a year old: They have
Tech Plus Operating privileges but must pass the 5 wpm exam again to
upgrade to General due to the expired CSCE.

Why did the FCC do this? It's a cause for confusion for VEs and
prospective upgraders, and it makes it needlessly more difficult to
enforce the rules when some Technicians have HF operating privileges
and some do not and when some Technicians need to take the 5 wpm exam
again to upgrade while some do not. Although I think the restructuring
of 2000 was long overdue, I think merging the No-Code Tech and Tech
Plus licenses was a boneheaded move. Either the distinction should
have continued, or all Technicians should have been given an automatic
upgrade to Tech Plus.

The only explanation I can think of is that the FCC intended to
completely eliminate the 5 wpm exam requirement and thus make the
distinctions between each of the 5 versions of Technician license a
moot point.

Jason Hsu, AG4DG
usenet AAAATTTT jasonhsu.com