FCC Drops Morse Code Testing

From February 2007 QST © ARRL
The FCC has erased the line
between “know code” and “no
code,” at least in terms of Amateur
Radio licensing requirements. In
an historic move announced December
15, the FCC acted to drop the Morse code
requirement for all Amateur Radio license
classes. The Commission adopted the longawaited
Report and Order (R&O) in WT
Docket 05-235 — the “Morse code” proceeding
— on December 19. The effective
date was not available at press time, but it
appeared likely that it would occur sometime
in February, 30 days after its publication in
the Federal Register. Amateur Radio applicants
have had to pass a 5 WPM Morse code
test to operate on the HF bands. The new
rules the FCC has adopted will do away with
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 in its December 15 public notice. The
Commission had proposed in 2005 to drop the
requirement across the board, but the ARRL
asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM requirement
for Amateur Extra class applicants only.
The FCC declined to do so in the R&O, staying
instead with its initial decision.
Moving Beyond the Morse Debate
ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, has
devoted his “It Seems to Us . . .” editorial
on page 9 of this issue to the demise of the
Morse code examination requirement. “Now
that the debate is over, we can focus on learning
Morse code simply for its own sake,” he
said. Acknowledging fears on the part of
some CW operators, Sumner pledged that the
League would maintain its traditional support
of Morse code as an operating mode.
“The ARRL continues to encourage people
to develop Morse code ability,” he said, noting
that the League offers Morse training materials
as well as such incentives as bonus credit
for CW contacts in ARRL-sponsored operat-
End of an Era:
FCC Drops Morse Testing Requirement
Rick Lindquist, N1RL
The effective date most likely will fall in February.
“This change eliminates
an unnecessary
regulatory burden . . .”
~ FCC
ing events. Beyond that, he said, the ARRL’s
Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station
W1AW will maintain its schedule of Morse
code practice and bulletin transmissions after
the new rules go into effect.
An enthusiastic and regular CW operator
himself, Sumner noted that other countries
have successfully transitioned to a no-code
examination regime, some even experiencing
an uptick in CW activity after dropping the
requirement.
the Morse licensing requirement goes away,
Technicians of both stripes will be on an equal
footing, the FCC said.
“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 Commission said in its announcement.
“Therefore, the FCC, in today’s action, afforded
Technician and Technician Plus licensees identical
operating privileges.”
In its July 2005 Notice of Proposed Rule
Making (NPRM) in WT Docket 05-235, the
FCC had said Technicians lacking Morse credit
after the new rules went into effect would have
to upgrade to General to earn any HF privileges.
In the R&O, however, the Commission went
along with the ARRL’s request in its comments
on the NPRM to address the Technician-Tech
Plus disparity issue. Beyond that, privileges
will remain unchanged for Novice, Technician,
General, Advanced and Amateur Extra class
licensees.
When the rule changes adopted in the
R&O appear in the Federal Register, the
Federal Register summary will include the
effective date. The new rules will not go into
effect anytime before they show up in the
Federal Register.
Examination Sessions and CSCEs
Until the new rules become effective, the
FCC said, there will be no changes in the
administration of Amateur Radio examination
elements and in granting a Certificate
for Successful Completion of Examination
(CSCE) conferring General and Amateur
Extra class privileges. CSCEs are only valid
for exam element credit for 365 days from
date of issuance; applicants cannot use
CSCEs older than that to upgrade. Volunteer
Examiner Coordinators (VECs) will handle
all upgrades at exam sessions through their
volunteer examiner (VE) teams.
Candidates for General or Amateur Extra
testing prior to the effective date of the new
rules must still pass Element 1 (5 WPM
Announcement of the pending rule
change had the telephone ringing off the hook
in the ARRL VEC offices, where Manager
Maria Somma, AB1FM, and her team were
gearing up for an anticipated avalanche of
upgrade applications. The FCC’s decision
also prompted the doubling in demand for
Amateur Radio license study materials by
new and upgrading applicants.
“Clearly people were waiting for this to
happen,” said ARRL Sales and Marketing
Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R.
All Technicians Get
“Tech Plus” Privileges
Once in effect, the R&O in WT Docket
05-235 also will grant limited HF privileges
to all Technician licensees, whether or not
they’ve passed a Morse code examination.
It’s perhaps ironic that the bulk of the new
HF privileges Technicians will gain are in
CW-only allocations.
Technician licensees without Element 1
Morse code credit currently have operating
privileges on all amateur frequencies above
30 MHz. Technicians with Element 1 credit
(“Tech Plus” licensees) also have limited HF
privileges on 80, 40, 15 and 10 meters. After
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T
From February 2007 QST © ARRL
Morse code) to obtain new privileges. Those
earning Element 3 or Element 4 credit before
the effective date of the new rules will receive
a CSCE from the VE team. Once the new
rules are in place, anyone holding a valid
CSCE may apply for an upgrade at an exam
session and pay the fee, if any.
Handwriting on the Wall
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 codeless license in
the US was the Technician ticket, instituted
in 1991. The question of whether or not to
drop the Morse requirement completely has
Frequently Asked Questions About the FCC’s Morse Code
Report and Order in WT Docket 05-235
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 the R&O in WT Docket
05-235 will comport 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
national administration 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.
The ARRL will provide any additional
information on these important Part 97 rule
revisions as it becomes available.
Rick Lindquist, N1RL, is ARRL Senior News
Editor. He can be reached at rlindquist@arrl.
org.
There’s been no change in that rule. If you have a non-expired
CSCE for Element 3 credit, you will need to take your CSCE
to a VE test session, pay the test session fee, if any and have
the examination team prepare and submit the paperwork for
your license upgrade.
If your Element 3 CSCE has expired or if it expires before
you attend a test session to process your upgrade, you
must retake that examination element in order to receive the
upgrade. The test session fee will apply.
Remember: CSCEs are only valid for 365 days. You cannot
use an expired CSCE for an upgrade.
Q. I hold a Novice license. Will I be grandfathered to
Technician under the new rules?
A. No. There is no grandfather provision. In order to upgrade to
Technician, you will need to pass the Element 2 theory exam.
Q. I hold an Advanced ticket. Does this change affect me?
A. No, this ruling does not impact your license. While the FCC
isn’t issuing new Advanced class licenses, current Advanced
ticket holders retain the same privileges they been enjoying.
The R&O does not change operating privileges for Novice,
General, Advanced and Amateur Extra class licensees.
Q. I obtained my Technician license prior to March 21,
1987. What happens to my license?
A. You actually could have already taken that license and proof
that you had the Technician license before that date to a VE
test session, paid the test session fee and already be enjoying
General privileges. The FCC’s “Morse R&O ” doesn’t change
anything in this regard.
This is based on the fact that before March 21, 1987, the
only difference between the Technician and General class
licenses was the Morse code speed requirement; the theory
exams were identical. Starting March 21, 1987, the Technician
and General class license exams no longer were the same,
so the “grandfather” rule doesn’t apply for Technician licenses
issued after that date.
Proof that you held the license prior to March 21, 1987,
could be a copy of your old Technician license or the Callbook
page showing your license class as “Technician.”
Q. Do I have to pass a Morse code test to use CW on the
air?
A. No. Any Amateur Radio licensee who wishes may use
Morse code on the amateur frequencies they’re authorized to
use — except the five USB-only channels at 5 MHz.
Q. The FCC adopted on December 15, 2006, the Report
and Order in WT Docket 05-235 eliminating the Morse
code testing requirement for all license classes. When
will it become effective?
A. Typically, the effective date of a FCC order comes 30 days
after its publication in the Federal Register. If that’s the case,
the new exam requirement and the revised 80-meter segment
for automatically controlled digital stations would likely go into
effect sometime in February 2007. When the rule changes
adopted in the R&O appear in the Federal Register, the
Federal Register summary will include the effective date. The
new rules will not go into effect anytime before they show up
in the Federal Register.
Q. I am a “no-code” Technician. What does WT Docket
05-235 mean for me?
A. Once the changes are in effect, all Technician licensees
– whether or not they have passed a Morse code examination
– will have “Tech Plus” operating privileges. This means you
will have all of your current VHF/UHF and above frequencies
and also will have access to the Novice/Technician Plus frequencies
on HF. These include:
3525-3600 kHz CW
7025-7125 kHz CW
21,025-21,200 kHz CW
28,000-28,300 kHz CW, RTTY and data
28,300-28,500 kHz CW, SSB
The power limit is 200 W PEP output for Technicians.
Technicians can upgrade to General by passing the
Element 3 written exam and to Amateur Extra by also passing
the Element 4 written exam. No Morse code test will be
required.
Q. What about other bands and modes?
A. There are no additional new privileges available to
Technician/Tech Plus licensees as a result of WT 05-235. The
R&O does not change the operating privileges of Novice,
General, Advanced and Amateur Extra class licensees either.
Q. I have a Certificate for Successful Completion of
Examination (CSCE) for Element 3 (General written exam)
and have been waiting for the FCC to drop the Morse
code requirement. What will I need to do? Will I automatically
receive my General license?
A. It will not happen automatically. You also will need to wait
until the new rules are in effect. CSCEs are valid for 365 days.