"Bert Craig" wrote in message
...
Here's a question. Forgive me if it appears trollish, but I gotta ask.

Is there any individual or dept. within the FCC that folks can send
e-mails
to in support of retaining the 5-wpm exam? Or, for instance, all Techs
would
automatically get Novice/Tech+ privies while Element 1 is retained for
General and Extra?

Or is it a forgone conclusion that the FCC WILL drop Element 1 despite any
volume of sentiments to the contrary?

Bert,

Back a few years ago, when the FCC issued its Report and Order
"restructuring" the ARS, the ONLY reason they gave for keeping
ANY Morse testing at that time was the requirement in S25.5 of
the ITU Radio Regs.

Now that that is gone, all of the countries of the world are free to
drop Morse testing from their national rules.

While I think it's a fairly good bet that the FCC WILL drop Morse
testing, frankly, I don't see the FCC acting on this in any sort of
"automatic"
or "self-initiated" way ... the status quo is 5 wpm for General and
Extra.

And, since there is currently no petition or open docket item at the FCC
proposing to make any such changes, letters and e-mails would, at this
point,
most likely be considered an unwarranted annoyance by the FCC staffers
who would have to deal with them. (and no matter what our respective
views on code/no-code, I don't think that ANY of us want the ARS
to be viewed as being a thorn in the FCC's side ...)

I remember a few years back when the ARRL got the amateur community
all fired up over "little LEOs trying to take the 2m band" ... the result
was
a firestorm of e-mails to the FCC that overloaded their servers and cause
them great difficulty in conducting normal business ... something that they
DEFINITELY did NOT appreciate!

I'm sure that the amateur community will get notice when this question
finally does come up at the FCC ... THAT will be the time to comment
(when they ASK for comments). In the meantime, a major mail/e-mail
"blitz" on the FCC will almost certainly harm the standing of the ARS
as a whole at the FCC.

73,

--
Carl R. Stevenson - wk3c
Grid Square FN20fm
http://home.ptd.net/~wk3c
------------------------------------------------------
NCI-1052
Executive Director, No Code International
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Member, IEEE Standards Association
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Member, Wi-Fi Alliance Spectrum Committee
Co-Chair, Wi-Fi Alliance Legislative Committee
Member, QCWA (31424)
Member, ARRL
Member, TAPR
Member, The SETI League
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