"KØHB" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Dee Flint" wrote


Wasn't it the council of VECs who made that decision? I believe that
Part 97 does not specify how the 5wpm test is to be administered.


I think you're correct Dee. The FCC rules are silent on the form of
actual examination:

§97.503 Element standards.

(a) A telegraphy examination must be sufficient to prove that the examinee
has the ability to send correctly by hand and to receive correctly by ear
texts in the international Morse code at not less than the prescribed
speed, using all the letters of the alphabet, numerals 0-9, period, comma,
question mark, slant mark and prosigns AR, BT and SK.
Element 1: 5 words per minute.

Interestingly, the NCVEC has chosen to ignore the "ability to send
correctly by hand" clause of the rules.


Probably just following the example of the FCC itself. I have read that the
FCC dropped the sending test as it was rare for someone to be unable to send
even though they could receive. The more common scenario is that most
people can send faster than they can receive anyway.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE