"N2EY" wrote in message
...
In article , "Carl R. Stevenson"

But the FCC couldn't grant that because of the (now gone) ITU requirement
that
one pass a Morse test BEFORE getting on HF ...

Maybe. But look at what the UK did. Does the "Morse appreciation" thing
used
with the Foundation license really constitute a "test"?

73 de Jim, N2EY

It's actually called a "Morse Assessment" ... no speed and a "crib sheet" is
allowed IIRC ... the UK RA took a more liberal interpretation ... there
never
was any speed spec'd in the Radio Regs. The FCC took the CYA approach
and used 5 wpm because that was the CEPT limit and we'd been granting
Novices/Techs (some) HF access with 5 wpm for years with no complaints
from the ITU or the international community.

Carl - wk3c