"Alun Palmer" wrote in message
...
Dick Carroll wrote in :



Alun Palmer wrote:

Switzerland has abolished code testing. They have mailed out a letter
to
each Class 2 (no-code) ham authorising them to use all HF bands.

Both of them??

I've done some homework on this. There are something like 4,800 Swiss
hams, about half and half Class 1 (HB9+2 letters) and Class 2 (HB9+3
letters), excepting only about 70 or 80 (!) Class 3 (HB3). I thought at
first that we would hear a new prefix, but the few HB3s will continue to
have only 2m/70cm. In fact there are about a couple of thousand Class 2
Swiss no-coders now unleashed on HF with longer HB9 + 3 letter calls.

Switzerland is only the beginning. In a couple of weeks time you can look
forward to hearing UK no-coders on HF with G1, G6, G7, G8 and M1 calls.
Those are just the ones with full privileges. There will be 2E1s with
Intermediate licences to join the existing 2E0s as well (there are at
least four times as many 2E1s as there are 2E0s). There are probably
about 40,000 UK no-coders.

And it won't stop there.

Is that an expression of concern? Or simply a statement
of fact?

Cheers,
Bill K2UNK