From the ARRL website:

End of an Era: FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License
Classes
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 15, 2006 -- In an historic move, the FCC has acted
to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license
classes. The Commission today adopted, but hasn't yet released, the
long-awaited Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235, the "Morse
code" proceeding. Also today, the FCC adopted an Order on
Reconsideration in WT Docket 04-140 -- the "omnibus" proceeding --
modifying the Amateur Radio rules in response to an ARRL request to
accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80
meters in the wake of rule changes that became effective today at 12:01
AM Eastern Time. The Commission said it will designate the 3585 to 3600
kHz frequency segment for such operations, although the segment will
remain available for CW, RTTY and data as it has been. In a break from
what's been the usual practice in Amateur Radio proceedings, the FCC
only issued a public notice at or about the close of business today and
not the actual Report & Order, so some details -- including the
effective dates of the two orders -- remain uncertain. Currently,
Amateur Radio applicants for General and higher class licenses have to
pass a 5 WPM Morse code test to operate on HF. Today's R&O will
eliminate that requirement all around.

"This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may
discourage current Amateur Radio operators from advancing their skills
and participating more fully in the benefits of Amateur Radio," the FCC
said. The ARRL had asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM for Amateur Extra
class applicants only. The FCC proposed earlier to drop the requirement
across the board, however, and it held to that decision in today's R&O.


Perhaps more important, the FCC's action in WT Docket 05-235 appears to
put all Technician licensees on an equal footing: Once the R&O goes
into effect, holders of Technician class licenses will have equivalent
HF privileges, whether or not they've passed the 5 WPM Element 1 Morse
examination. The FCC said the R&O in the Morse code docket would
eliminate a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician
and Technician Plus class licensees -- something the ARRL also has
asked the Commission to correct following the release of its July 2005
Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in WT Docket 05-235.

"With today's elimination of the Morse code exam requirements, the FCC
concluded that the disparity between the operating privileges of
Technician class licensees and Technician Plus class licensees should
not be retained," the FCC said in its public notice. "Therefore, the
FCC, in today's action, afforded Technician and Technician Plus
licensees identical operating privileges."

Technician licensees without Element 1 credit (ie, Tech Plus licensees)
currently have operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30
MHz. Tech Pluses or Technicians with Element 1 credit have limited HF
privileges on 80, 40, 15 and 10 meters. Under the Part 97 rules the
Commission proposed last year in its NPRM in WT Docket 05-235, current
Technicians lacking Morse credit after the new rules went into effect
would have had to upgrade to General to earn any HF privileges.

The wholesale elimination of a Morse code requirement for all license
classes ends a longstanding national and international regulatory
tradition in the requirements to gain access to Amateur Radio
frequencies below 30 MHz. The first no-code license in the US was the
Technician ticket, instituted in 1991. The question of whether or not
to drop the Morse requirement altogether has been the subject of
often-heated debate over the past several years, but the handwriting
has been on the wall -- especially since the FCC instituted an
across-the-board 5 WPM Morse requirement effective April 15, 2000, in
the most-recent major Amateur Radio licensing restructuring (WT Docket
98-143).

The FCC said today's R&O in WT Docket 05-235 comports with revisions to
the international Radio Regulations resulting from the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference 2003
(WRC-03). At that gathering, delegates agreed to authorize each country
to determine whether or not to require that applicants demonstrate
Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an Amateur Radio license
with privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz.

The list of countries dropping the Morse requirement has been growing
steadily since WRC-03. A number of countries, including Canada, the UK
and several European nations, now no longer require applicants for an
Amateur Radio license to pass a Morse code test to gain HF operating
privileges. Following WRC-03, the FCC received several petitions for
rule making asking it to eliminate the Morse requirement in the US.

Typically, the effective date of an FCC Order is 30 days after it
appears in the Federal Register. If that's the case, the Morse
requirement and the revised 80-meter segment for automatically
controlled digital stations would likely not go into effect until late
January or early February 2007. That's not clear from the public
notice, however. The FCC can order its decision effective upon release.


The ARRL will provide any additional information on these important
Part 97 rule revisions as it becomes available.

----------------------

Back in the days, when men were men . . .

Grim Reaper wrote:
From the ARRL website:

End of an Era: FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License
Classes
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 15, 2006 -- In an historic move, the FCC has acted
to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license
classes. The Commission today adopted, but hasn't yet released, the
long-awaited Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235, the "Morse
code" proceeding. Also today, the FCC adopted an Order on
Reconsideration in WT Docket 04-140 -- the "omnibus" proceeding --
modifying the Amateur Radio rules in response to an ARRL request to
accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80
meters in the wake of rule changes that became effective today at 12:01
AM Eastern Time. The Commission said it will designate the 3585 to 3600
kHz frequency segment for such operations, although the segment will
remain available for CW, RTTY and data as it has been. In a break from
what's been the usual practice in Amateur Radio proceedings, the FCC
only issued a public notice at or about the close of business today and
not the actual Report & Order, so some details -- including the
effective dates of the two orders -- remain uncertain. Currently,
Amateur Radio applicants for General and higher class licenses have to
pass a 5 WPM Morse code test to operate on HF. Today's R&O will
eliminate that requirement all around.

"This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may
discourage current Amateur Radio operators from advancing their skills
and participating more fully in the benefits of Amateur Radio," the FCC
said. The ARRL had asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM for Amateur Extra
class applicants only. The FCC proposed earlier to drop the requirement
across the board, however, and it held to that decision in today's R&O.


Perhaps more important, the FCC's action in WT Docket 05-235 appears to
put all Technician licensees on an equal footing: Once the R&O goes
into effect, holders of Technician class licenses will have equivalent
HF privileges, whether or not they've passed the 5 WPM Element 1 Morse
examination. The FCC said the R&O in the Morse code docket would
eliminate a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician
and Technician Plus class licensees -- something the ARRL also has
asked the Commission to correct following the release of its July 2005
Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in WT Docket 05-235.

"With today's elimination of the Morse code exam requirements, the FCC
concluded that the disparity between the operating privileges of
Technician class licensees and Technician Plus class licensees should
not be retained," the FCC said in its public notice. "Therefore, the
FCC, in today's action, afforded Technician and Technician Plus
licensees identical operating privileges."

Technician licensees without Element 1 credit (ie, Tech Plus licensees)
currently have operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30
MHz. Tech Pluses or Technicians with Element 1 credit have limited HF
privileges on 80, 40, 15 and 10 meters. Under the Part 97 rules the
Commission proposed last year in its NPRM in WT Docket 05-235, current
Technicians lacking Morse credit after the new rules went into effect
would have had to upgrade to General to earn any HF privileges.

The wholesale elimination of a Morse code requirement for all license
classes ends a longstanding national and international regulatory
tradition in the requirements to gain access to Amateur Radio
frequencies below 30 MHz. The first no-code license in the US was the
Technician ticket, instituted in 1991. The question of whether or not
to drop the Morse requirement altogether has been the subject of
often-heated debate over the past several years, but the handwriting
has been on the wall -- especially since the FCC instituted an
across-the-board 5 WPM Morse requirement effective April 15, 2000, in
the most-recent major Amateur Radio licensing restructuring (WT Docket
98-143).

The FCC said today's R&O in WT Docket 05-235 comports with revisions to
the international Radio Regulations resulting from the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference 2003
(WRC-03). At that gathering, delegates agreed to authorize each country
to determine whether or not to require that applicants demonstrate
Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an Amateur Radio license
with privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz.

The list of countries dropping the Morse requirement has been growing
steadily since WRC-03. A number of countries, including Canada, the UK
and several European nations, now no longer require applicants for an
Amateur Radio license to pass a Morse code test to gain HF operating
privileges. Following WRC-03, the FCC received several petitions for
rule making asking it to eliminate the Morse requirement in the US.

Typically, the effective date of an FCC Order is 30 days after it
appears in the Federal Register. If that's the case, the Morse
requirement and the revised 80-meter segment for automatically
controlled digital stations would likely not go into effect until late
January or early February 2007. That's not clear from the public
notice, however. The FCC can order its decision effective upon release.


The ARRL will provide any additional information on these important
Part 97 rule revisions as it becomes available.

----------------------

Back in the days, when men were men . . .
I PUNCE

wrote:

but seriously the FCC has acted to begin the true end of the Coders
tyrany over the ARS hurah

Only a loser like you would think such a thing, Morkie.

Steve, K4YZ

Whew!

Finally, the code requirement is going away.

Now we can start working towards only one license class. One that doesn't
separate those who know more and those who know less. After all, look how
it hurts the self esteem of those technician class licensees.

And then, when we have only one license class that permits all privileges,
then we can work towards removing the written testing requirement, given the
state of store bought equipment these days.

And then, finally, getting a ham license will be merely filling out a form,
writing a check, and then mailing it in.

And then, finally, the true end state, no license requirement at all.

Breaker breaker 14.230, there, good buddy! You got yer ears on?

Guy

wrote in message
news
On 17 Dec 2006 07:59:06 -0800, "K4YZ" wrote:


wrote:

but seriously the FCC has acted to begin the true end of the Coders
tyrany over the ARS hurah

Only a loser like you would think such a thing, Morkie.

no only a NoCoder would and there are thousands of Us steve

Steve, K4YZ
http://kb9rqz.blogspot.com/

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Can you guys please remove alt.drugs.hard from the headers before you hit
send?
Thank you!!

"Guy" wrote in message
...
Whew!

Finally, the code requirement is going away.

Now we can start working towards only one license class. One that doesn't
separate those who know more and those who know less. After all, look how
it hurts the self esteem of those technician class licensees.

And then, when we have only one license class that permits all privileges,
then we can work towards removing the written testing requirement, given
the state of store bought equipment these days.

And then, finally, getting a ham license will be merely filling out a
form, writing a check, and then mailing it in.

And then, finally, the true end state, no license requirement at all.

Breaker breaker 14.230, there, good buddy! You got yer ears on?

Guy

wrote in message
news
On 17 Dec 2006 07:59:06 -0800, "K4YZ" wrote:


wrote:

but seriously the FCC has acted to begin the true end of the Coders
tyrany over the ARS hurah

Only a loser like you would think such a thing, Morkie.

no only a NoCoder would and there are thousands of Us steve

Steve, K4YZ
http://kb9rqz.blogspot.com/

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com






--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

pookie wrote:
Can you guys please remove alt.drugs.hard from the headers before you hit
send?
Thank you!!

sorry hard drugs does seem proper for these luny coments

"Guy" wrote in message
...
Whew!

Finally, the code requirement is going away.

Now we can start working towards only one license class. One that doesn't
separate those who know more and those who know less. After all, look how
it hurts the self esteem of those technician class licensees.

And then, when we have only one license class that permits all privileges,
then we can work towards removing the written testing requirement, given
the state of store bought equipment these days.

And then, finally, getting a ham license will be merely filling out a
form, writing a check, and then mailing it in.

And then, finally, the true end state, no license requirement at all.

Breaker breaker 14.230, there, good buddy! You got yer ears on?

Guy

wrote in message
news
On 17 Dec 2006 07:59:06 -0800, "K4YZ" wrote:


wrote:

but seriously the FCC has acted to begin the true end of the Coders
tyrany over the ARS hurah

Only a loser like you would think such a thing, Morkie.

no only a NoCoder would and there are thousands of Us steve

Steve, K4YZ
http://kb9rqz.blogspot.com/

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com






--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com