"Larry Roll K3LT" wrote:

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. (snip)


The FCC has already done so in the paragraph I quoted. Basically, they
said to encourage technically inclined persons to learn and to prepare
themselves in the areas where the United States needs expertise, less
emphasis should be placed on Morse code proficiency. The key to this is
"where the United States needs expertise." Morse code just doesn't fit in
that picture. They base this on the fact that "no communication system has
been designed in many years that depends on hand-keyed telegraphy or the
ability to receive messages in Morse code by ear," while pointing to more
modern technology instead. If you missed the paragraph quoted, I'll repeat
it again...

"We are persuaded that because the amateur service is
fundamentally a technical service, the emphasis on Morse
code proficiency as a licensing requirement does not
comport with the basis and purpose of the service. We
note, moreover, that the design of modern communications
systems, including personal communication services, satellite,
fiber optic, and high definition television systems, are based
on digital communication technologies. We also note that
no communication system has been designed in many years
that depends on hand-keyed telegraphy or the ability to
receive messages in Morse code by ear. In contrast,
modern communication systems are designed to be
automated systems. Given the changes that have occurred
in communications in the last fifty years, we believe that
reducing the emphasis on telegraphy proficiency as a
licensing requirement will allow the amateur service to, as
it has in the past, attract technically inclined persons,
particularly the youth of our country, and encourage them
to learn and to prepare themselves in the areas where the
United States needs expertise." - FCC WT Docket No.
98-143 RM-9148 RM-9150 RM-9196


(snip) I think that the FCC responds to political pressure. (snip)


And I think they're instead responding to the realities of the modern
world.


(snip) 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. (snip)


The "value of the Morse/CW mode" remains even without a test requirement.
With that intact, only the basis and purpose of the ARS remains to be
considered. And the FCC addressed that in the quote above and in the
remainder of the docket I took that quote from (emergency communicaitons and
so on).


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/