Morse Code No Longer Required

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:29 pm

It's Official! Morse Code Requirement Ends Friday, February 23

NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 24, 2007 -- Circle Friday, February 23, on your calendar. That's when the current 5 WPM Morse code requirement will officially disappear from the Amateur Radio Service Part 97 rules. After midnight on that date, applicants for a General or Amateur Extra class Amateur Radio license no longer will have to demonstrate proficiency in Morse code. They'll just have to pass the applicable written examination. The appearance in today's Federal Register of the FCC's Report and Order (R&O) in the "Morse code proceeding," WT Docket 05-235, starts a 30-day countdown for the new rules to become effective. Deletion of the Morse requirement -- still a matter of controversy within the amateur community -- is a landmark in Amateur Radio history.

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 5:11 pm

Rock on!

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:04 pm

Hoosier Daddy wrote:Rock on!

:D

Does this mean that you are finally gonna get licensed?

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:19 pm

genlock wrote:Does this mean that you are finally gonna get licensed?

Have been since 1991. Time for General class. And maybe Extra.

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:06 am

Extra here.
You can do it.

Dave Loudin · Post by **Dave Loudin** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:07 am

I'm finally going to get licensed along with my son. He's been doing all kind of crazy things with radios lately, so it is time.

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:31 am

Outstanding, we will welcome you to the fraternity.

Big Media · Post by **Big Media** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:56 am

I looked into this years ago and frankly, I don't get it. What is the point of these radios?

I have a telephone in my home that I can use to contact others in the telephone fraternity.

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:58 am

genlock wrote:Extra here.
You can do it.

Thanks. I love working HF. I did it a number of times using an Advanced Class friend's equipment (under his direct supervision) and played around on 48, 80, and 160 meters working AM and SSB.

I just never had an interest in Morse Code, and never found a good system to teach it to me. I have an oscillator key, the Farnsworth tapes, and actually tried to learn on my own several times. I did memorize a few letters (like "E"

) but could never put letters together and figure out the AR and SK abbreviation code stuff. It's like learning another language.

Right now, working voice on HF and maybe dabbling in SSTV are my biggest interests. ATV would be cool, but out here in the sticks, I'd just be melting snow off the pine trees. No one to see it and/or reply.

Dave Loudin · Post by **Dave Loudin** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:00 am

Genlock, the irony is I've beeen noodling with radio and antennas for almost 40 years, plus I was the head of the technical monitoring office at VOA for a while. About darn time to get the ticket.

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:18 am

It is a lot of fun tinkering around with this stuff.
There are a lot of directions to go and it is impossible to do all of them.
I have been having fun for 43 yrs+.

SPIKE NESMITH! · Post by **SPIKE NESMITH!** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:35 am

no more morse code? Oh dash!

/here all week, etc.

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:44 am

Spike, even "GM's" can play.
Of course, you would be an "A,K,W or N" here.

Waveguide · Post by **Waveguide** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:45 pm

Extra..... at least I proved I could do it at 20wpm.

Subject: FCC Announcment

Washington D.C.-

It was announced today that Kellogg's and the Federal Communications
Commission have signed a pact to issue Amateur Radio Licenses on specially
marked boxes of Corn Flakes.

In this unprecedented move the FCC believes this will not hurt
amateur radio but allow all individuals to receive an amateur radio license
without having to demonstrate any skills with the exception of being able to use a
pair of scissors to cut out their operating permit from the breakfast cereal box.

Kellogg's spokesperson commented that they were proud to have been
selected by the government to be the issuer of licenses for amateur radio in
the US and hope to soon make an agreement with other cereal loving countries.
They also expect that will be issuing certificates of achievement for DXCF for
confirmed contacts with 100 corn flakers.

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:49 pm

Knowledge of Morse Code is not the litmus test for a good Amateur operator.

Never has been. Never will be.

And I knew more than one codeless Extra ...

Waveguide · Post by **Waveguide** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:51 am

Hoosier Daddy said:

"....and played around on 48, 80, and 160 meters"

48 meters???? ......... OoooooooK........
Hoosier Daddy said:

Knowledge of Morse Code is not the litmus test for a good Amateur operator.

Your right...... not a good operator........
A GREAT OPERATOR!!!!!!!
I'm not good with the code. Never will be.
I was a tech class for a long time, but unlike most ham's of today,
I wasn't going wait for the Fed's to dumb it down and just give it to me,
I finally put my ass to the fire and passed the test.
And I did this long before all the code reductions came into effect.
And.... have actually used it on the air. ( a shock to some.....)
In weak signal work, ya can't do with out it.
Just tonite, at a VE session, we gave 3 code tests.
They all passed. Seems they wanted to not be classed as a "no-code".
Good for them.
Technical knowledge is one thing.
But this is much more....... It is what Ham Radio was.
The world is changing, so is this hobby, I do accept that.
Don't come off like this something new. The code is something you will never understand.
I am truly sorry I cheated myself of it in my early years as a ham.
B.T.W. 38 years.

(GOD!!!... That was fun )

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:27 am

Waveguide wrote:Hoosier Daddy said:
"....and played around on 48, 80, and 160 meters"
48 meters???? ......... OoooooooK........

Sorry. 40 meters. Typo.

Hoosier Daddy said:
Knowledge of Morse Code is not the litmus test for a good Amateur operator.
Your right...... not a good operator........
A GREAT OPERATOR!!!!!!!

Nah. No one believes that. Not the FCC, or the ARRL, or almost every other Amateur Radio regulatory agency and club in the world. CW is an operating mode. Just like AM, SSB, FM, AMTOR, PSK31, et. al. Most of the people who demand code testing requirement be kept as they were have the attitude "I had to do it, so you should too!

In weak signal work, ya can't do with out it.

No argument. CW has not been eliminated as an operating mode. Those who are interested in Morse will learn it and use it. Just like ATV, SSTV, EME, SSB, RTTY. CW is one of many ways to communicate and enjoy the hobby. It is not the magic key to get inside the Ham Radio fraternity.

But this is much more....... It is what Ham Radio was.

There you go.

The world is changing, so is this hobby, I do accept that.

Do you? Just asking ...

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:07 am

Waveguide accepts it, So do I.
We will do our best to teach and mentor newbies to the amateur ranks.
You all can be radio nerds like us.
Stink up the house with the smoke from soldering.
Stink it up even more by mistakes in construction.
Make your car look like a porcupine.
Talk to people from strange cultures, like Nepal or California.
Use secret codes like QRZ or QTH.
Join the Royal Order Of The Wouff Hong.

lastone · Post by **lastone** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:02 pm

There are good "hams" and there are bad "hams". Unfortunately for me my first encounters were with the bad bunch. I followed a "ham" engineer at WBTH in 71'. Every damn thing in the studio and the transmitters was "jury rigged". Even the antenna switch was a 3 inch knife switch. I asked the guy why so much tinkering and his response was "it works doesn't it?" Well....not consistantly.

A few years later the preacher next door showed me his "set" and explained more about what "hams" were doing. His interest was distant communications (voice) on low (1 watt or less) power (I still have the ARRL book I bought back then). I actually was interested in this "ham" thing. But then there was the "code" deal. It made no sense to me. Why force something on you you would never use as a requirement to have a license? This ended my then interest in "ham" radio.

Decades later I dated a woman with a "ham" license. I could have been interested again but the only reason for her license (yes it was given to her) was to legally buy illegal radios so she could resell them! She even tried to get me to convert power amps to CB frequencies for her.

Then there was the engineer at a station I consulted for. All he could talk about was his 2 meter hand held. He could bring up repeaters, make phone calls, on and on and on. He took it everywhere with him. When he had a generator installed at the transmitter building outside, he turned the radiator against the wall, melting it and the phone. He used his hand held to call for help.

In the early days it was the hobby of the very engineers creating the technology. To me it now looks like just another toy of the young, belittling the "old timers" who can now only remember "CQ", but still have fun.

I have always felt I was born 50 years too late for radio.

What's a 1st Class License with Radar (now lifetime general with radar) worth today?

What's an amateur license worth today?

Will either get you a job?

To work radio today you need A++ certification, just so the bills can come out of the printer right.

What a world.

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:51 pm

http://www.hamsexy.com

The photo section alone is a riot.