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| The award-winning monthly publication of The Baltimore Radio Amateur Television Society P.O.Box 5915 Baltimore, MD 21282-5915 |
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| The award-winning monthly publication of The Baltimore Radio Amateur Television Society P.O.Box 5915 Baltimore, MD 21282-5915 |
New Era for Ham Radio -- No Morse Code Testing
Morse code will no longer be a requirement for earning any Amateur Radio (often called "ham" radio) license
in the US. In a statement last week, the FCC joined an international trend by announcing the elimination of
testing for proficiency in Morse code for all Amateur Radio license classes. While many Amateur Radio
operators continue to learn and use Morse code, now it is for their own enjoyment of the skill. The hams
have been using newer digital, image, satellite, voice and other modern wireless technologies for years.
Nonetheless, the FCC move to eliminate code testing (Report & Order in WT Docket 05-235) signaled the
end of an era. Since 1991 it has been possible to earn a "Technician" class Amateur Radio license without
passing a Morse examination. The higher class licenses, "General" and "Amateur Extra," required at least
5 words per minute code proficiency. Within 72 hours of the announcement that the Morse requirement was
being dropped, the ARRL staff reported a doubling of the requests for study materials for new or upgrading
licensees. The elimination of a Morse code requirement for all license classes ends a longstanding national
and international regulatory tradition in the requirements for Amateur Radio licenses. The question of
whether or not to drop the Morse requirement altogether has been the subject of often-heated debate over
the past several years. The FCC action follows revisions to the international Radio Regulations resulting from
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference in 2003. At that
gathering, delegates agreed to authorize each individual country to determine whether or not to require that
applicants demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an Amateur Radio license. The ARRL,
the national association for Amateur Radio, had requested that the code requirement be retained for the
highest license classification (Amateur Extra class), but the FCC, as expected, chose to drop it entirely.
For more information see http://www.arrl.org/
California Radio Amateur Has Role in Rescue at Sea
A radio amateur from California played a significant part in an international effort to rescue a US sailor
attempting to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe. Miguel "Mike" Morales, KC6CYK, of Riverside,
told ARRL he was able to contact fellow radio amateurs in Chile to obtain and relay reassuring
information to the family of Ken Barnes, whose 44-foot ketch Pivateer was foundering off South America.
A Chilean trawler, Polar Pesca 1, rescued Barnes from his disabled vessel on January 5. Upon learning
of Barnes's predicament on January 2, Morales said he contacted the sailor's fiancée, Cathy Chambers,
offering to see if he could make radio contact with Chile.
| February, 2007 |  |
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