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Welcome to South Dakota!!
Brookings, SD |
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Technician Class Licensees
FCC modifies the Amateur Radio Service rules by eliminating the Morse code exam requirements. The effective date of the FCC's action will be 30 days after publication in the Federal Register -- most likely in February.
In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code test requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission adopted the long-awaited "Morse code" proceeding (WT Docket 05-235), and released it December 19. The FCC's action will eliminate the Morse code test as a licensing requirement to operate on HF.
Technicians Gain Operating Privileges 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.
No Morse Code Test to Upgrade Technicians can upgrade to General by passing the General (Element 3) written exam and to Amateur Extra by also passing the Extra (Element 4) written exam. No Morse code test will be required. Visit the ARRL VEC exam search web page http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml for test session locations.
Navigating through the Upgrade Process
1. Technician Amateurs who wish to upgrade to General have a couple of options.
a. We recommend that Technician licensees who have NOT yet passed the General written exam (Element 3) wait until the new rules take effect to upgrade. At a session, the candidate must present a photo ID and their current license, pay the $14 test session fee and fill out the NCVEC form 605. If the Element 3 written exam is passed, the VE team will issue the candidate a CSCE for the upgrade to a general class license.
b. Technician licensees who have already passed the General written exam (Element 3) or wish to pass the General written exam before the rules take effect, will then have to apply for the upgrade at a VE session once the new rules are in place. At a session, the candidate must present a photo ID, their current license and the non-expired CSCE document, pay the $14 test session fee and fill out a NCVEC form 605. If the Element 3 written exam credit is valid, the VE team will issue the candidate a CSCE for the upgrade to a general class license. If the CSCE for Element 3 credit has expired (a CSCE is only valid for 365 days), you will have to retake the examination element in order to receive the credit toward your upgrade. SB QST @ ARL $ARLB005 ARLB005 It's official! Morse code requirement ends Friday, February 23. ZCZC AG05 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 5 ARLB005 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 24, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB005 ARLB005 It's official! Morse code requirement ends Friday, February 23. 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. On or after 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. Federal Register publication January 24 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. "The overall effect of this action is to further the public interest by encouraging individuals who are interested in communications technology or who are able to contribute to the advancement of the radio art, to become Amateur Radio operators; and eliminating a requirement that is now unnecessary and may discourage Amateur Service licensees from advancing their skills in the communications and technical phases of Amateur Radio," the FCC remarked in the "Morse code" R&O that settled the matter, at least from a regulatory standpoint. The League had asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM for Amateur Extra class applicants, but the Commission held to its decision to eliminate the requirement across the board. The R&O appearing in the Federal Register constitutes the official version of the new rules. It is on the web in PDF format at, http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-729.pdf. Until 1991, when a Morse code examination was dropped from the requirements to obtain a Technician ticket, all prospective radio amateurs had to pass a Morse code test. With the change the US will join a growing list of countries that have dropped the need to demonstrate some level of Morse code proficiency to earn access to frequencies below 30 MHz. The new rules also put all Technician licensees on an equal footing, whether or not they've passed a Morse code examination. Starting February 23, Technicians will gain CW privileges on 80, 40, 15 meters and CW, RTTY, data and SSB privileges on 10 meters. Once the revised rules are in place, an applicant holding a valid Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) for Element 3 (General) or Element 4 (Amateur Extra) may redeem it for an upgrade. A CSCE is good for 365 days from the date of issuance, no exceptions. For example, a Technician licensee holding a valid CSCE for Element 3 may apply at a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) test session, pay the application fee, which most VECs charge, and receive an instant upgrade. The FCC R&O includes an Order on Reconsideration in WT Docket 04-140 - the so-called "omnibus" proceeding. It will modify Part 97 in response to ARRL's request to accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80 meters in the wake of other rule changes that became effective last December 15. The Commission designated 3585 to 3600 kHz for such operations, although that segment will remain available for CW, RTTY and data. The ARRL had requested that the upper limit of the CW/RTTY/data subband be set at 3635 kHz, so that there would be no change in the existing 3620 to 3635 kHz subband. The ARRL has posted all relevant information on these important Part 97 rule revisions on its "FCC's Morse Code Report and Order WT Docket 05-235" Web page, http://www.arrl.org/fcc/morse/.NNNN /EX
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