In article .net, "Dwight
Stewart" writes:


"Larry Roll K3LT" wrote:

The FCC's language seems to be geared mainly to pander
to those commentors who favored the reduction/elimination
of code testing, and for good reason. (snip)


The only pandering I see in the quoted paragraph is that to the future
needed expertise of this country.

Dwight:

Unfortunately, neither you nor the rest of the NCTA has been able to
show just exactly what the connection is between technical expertise
and the requirement for learning and being tested in a practical and
useful communications skill such as Morse/CW in the AMATEUR
Radio Service.

The FCC, if they can get the code testing requirement lifted,
faces a smaller administrative burden in running the ARS
licensing system, an important consideration since the ARS is
an economically irrelevant communications service. (snip)

Where exactly is this "smaller administrative burden" supposed to occur?
Since the cost of entering code-related data while processing an overall
license is almost infinitesimal, I just don't see a significant financial
windfall for the FCC here. But what I do see here (in your overall mesage)
is an effort to undermine the real reasons for the elimination of the code
test requirement by suggesting the FCC is only doing it for financial gain
instead. Of course, there is not a shred of evidence to support your claim,
but the exact same thing could be said for all popular conspiracy claims.

Sooo, you're saying that eliminating the code testing requirement, and
the associated licensing data, would not lead to a quantifiable reduction
in the administrative workload related to licensing in the ARS? Sorry,
Dwight, but you're just plain wrong about that.

(snip) Nothing less than I would expect from people who
don't understand or appreciate the nature of the ARS, and
view it as an administrative burden which deflects valuable
resources away from much more economically pertinent
issues. As I've said many times before, follow the money,
and you learn the truth.

I think the FCC understands and appreciates the nature of the ARS just
fine. If you honestly can't see that, then perhaps you don't understand or
appreciate the nature of the FCC when it comes to its regulation of the ARS.

I think that the FCC responds to political pressure. This is what brought
about Restructuring and the elimination of code testing, save for the 5 WPM
requirement which was tied to the ITU Treaty. I believe that if they (the FCC)
truly understood the nature of the ARS, and the value of the Morse/CW
mode within the ARS, that wouldn't have happened. However, the Bush Sr.
Administration allowed JY1 to meddle with the U.S. amateur radio
licensing requirements as the result of a plea by a "handicapped" ham in
PA, and you know the rest.

73 de Larry, K3LT