FCC Ponders Removing Morse Code Reqs for Amateur Radio Licenses 341
Nalez writes "This story on the ARRL website outlines six petitions currently in front of the FCC to drop the Morse code requirement for the amateur radio license exams. Currently the ability to do Morse code at 5 words per minute is required to operate on the high frequency bands (below 30Mhz), which are the bands that propagate best around the world." While this may or may not attract more people to ham radio, it will make it easier for the novice to use packet radio devices.
Oh no! (Score:5, Funny)
About Time (Score:5, Funny)
Re:About Time (Score:5, Funny)
Morse over SSH? Big deal. I've been tunneling SSH over morse code for years now!!
And let me tell you, running vi over SSH over morse code REALLY sucks.
Technician class? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Technician class? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Technician class? (Score:4, Informative)
As a technician, you have full band priveleges on every band from 6m on up through the GHz ranges.
Anyone who's at least a tech. should know this.
Granted, most techs only work on these bands, but that's a different story.
kc8rwb
Re:Technician class? (Score:5, Interesting)
Technician class gives you access to all the amature bands "above" (higher freq, shorter wavelength) 6 Meteres and includes the 6 meter band. This also includes the multi GHz bands where things like, say Wireless LAN, live.
While CW may have dubious value any more for "real world" work, it's still in use by a lot of Hams worldwide, and is one of the best ways to do QRP (low power) work. It takes minimal bandwidth and power to communicate with CW.
Another thing it does is put up a minimal barrier working the HF bands. While that may seem "lame" to you, it would suck royally to have the Ham bands turn into the CB bands. The 5 WPM requirement is not that hard to achieve, but it at least shows "you" have enough dedication to go through the trouble to actually learn something that didn't just come from a cram session for your test.
Re:Technician class? (Score:5, Insightful)
Considering that one of the main justifications for amateur radio is to provide a means of communication when other systems fail, doesn't this mean that keeping a minimal code requirements is good? In an emergency, with limited power, and perhaps cobbled together equipment, something you can send Morse code with is the easiest to get working.
Enlighten thyself (Score:4, Insightful)
This has nothing to do with the no-code tech license. At the moment you must pass a 5wpm morse test to gain access to the HF (international) bands or to go beyond tech and get your general or extra class ticket. If you want to work below 6m then you will certainly encounter lots of morse communication and will need to know it anyway.
If someone wants to be a ham and only do packet, 2m and 70cm, then they don't need access to the HF bands and I don't understand the complaining about the test.
Liken this to requiring people to understand the international standard highway signs (stop, yield, do not pass, etc...) before giving them the privelege of traveling on international roadways. Instead of saving lives by preventing wrecks, this is a courtesy that we still extend even though several other countries let hams that can't understand morse loose on the HF bands.
Never mind the aliens... (Score:3, Interesting)
Now there are no Ruskies, no german tanks rolling around, no ships to save since no longer international rescue stations uses morse (everyone has a satellite phone apparently).
IMHO, it will live, as a hobbyist's tool. Once I turn the DSP on an
probably too late to save the hobby (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:probably too late to save the hobby (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm truly surprised that this proposal has reached this far. I used to constantly listen to the arguments that Morse Code was a necessary hurdle to prevent the riff-raff from entering the hobby. Morse Code was never a problem for me - I passed 20WPM to graduate from Naval Radioman School in 1966 - but only attempted to use it twice. Good Riddance.
Re:probably too late to save the hobby (Score:3, Insightful)
But anyway, as friendly and interesting as the "old farts" are in amateur radio, many have war experience, and this hobby is their outlet for the training they received. That's fine. But the ideology behind licensing is the problem, that only by learning code (and up to 16 or 20 wpm for advanced licenses) can one fully a
Re:probably too late to save the hobby (Score:5, Insightful)
At the time the amateur radio community in the UK was run mostly by people who got their G3 licences in the 1950s and spent most of their time sitting on 80M(3.5MHz) talking about their gardens and what they did in tne war. These people were anti anything that they percieved to threaten the way amateur radio had been for them all those years ago (73 OM and all that) and the morse test was a key(sorry:) bastion of their defence against what they saw as an advance of CB-ers into 'their' patch. The fact that most of the code-less licencees (a) really had no interest in HF communications and (b) had never used a CB in their lives obviously escaped them. In fact the class B licencee building 23cm TV gear is a lot closer to the cutting edge than the G3 with his gbp1000 Icom multi-band HF rig.
So like a lot of licencees in the '90s faced with a load of arrogant and rude old gits on one side and the internet just starting to look interesting on the other I just let my licence lapse and turned to my PC.
Amateur radio is a warning to the open source movement, I hope we dont see a load of 60-something OS coders in 30 years time excluding a new generation because they perceive that their patch is being encroached upon.
Re:probably too late to save the hobby (Score:4, Informative)
Old farts on voice getting upset when you tried to use "their" frequency to do something other than talk about the latest disease/death/perscription.
There were a lot of helpful and knowledgable men and women in Amateur Radio also, but it just got to be fun dealing with the minority.
Re:probably too late to save the hobby (Score:5, Insightful)
What do the old farts do that ruins the hobby for new/young people?
Too many of them are G.D. knowitalls. Others fancy themselves as some sort of emergency officials. I just wanted to chat on 2 meters while I commuted to and from work. I found that unless I got involved with the clubs, upgraded my license and volunteered to work hamfests, Skywarn/EMS/whatever, my welcome wore thin. I lost interest.
Re:probably too late to save the hobby (Score:4, Interesting)
Ditto. There's just really not any advantage to using it. I only turn on my radio for one weekend a year to help support a volunteer event for emergency medical communications. It would've been nice to chat with people during this past blackout, but alas I'm only a technician class so I need to bounce off a repeater and they were all in disaster mode to save power on battery/generators. If I had HF privileges I could've talked to people outside the blackout area from my car. I have no interest in learning morse code though so that's not an option for me (yet?).
It also doesn't help that amateur radio is a very elitist medium. The "old timers" treat anyone interested in getting into the field like they're n00bs as much as we would them getting into computers. I wouldn't mind playing around with APRS and packet radio, but it's hard to find any decent info and get help without being treated like a fucking moron.
Re:probably too late to save the hobby (Score:2)
What the hell are you talking about? When I got my license about 3 or 4 years ago, I was instantly accepted by the hams in my club (BARC). If I needed help
Re:There must be a balance (Score:3, Insightful)
You are completely unjustified in comparing algebra to Morse, as algebra has important and practical use in real life a million times greater than that of Morse. There is nothing "dumbing down" about removing something with so little use that stands in the way of greater a
About time! (Score:5, Insightful)
Kids these days--the very people you want to get excited about ham radio--have absolutely no interest in pounding the brass, fumbling over the differences between A and N and trying to copy what others have to say via Morse. Remember, they're growing up in a HDTV, 500-channel, broadband Internet world. It's absolutely no surprise that they think sending letters with dits and dahs is draconian. It is.
Let's give the customary 2-meter and 6-meter privileges to new tickets and push the cutting-edge technologies like PSK31 on the newbies. Show them that ham radio can truly be exciting and modern. But it really is about time the code went the way of the dinosaur. Don't outlaw it--just make it optional.
Re:About time! (Score:5, Insightful)
And for this to continue there have to be some off-putting requirements. If you want to transmit radio waves without learning anything one should choose citizien band.
(Apart from the fact that morse code is still one of the most reliable kinds to communicate world wide even under worst conditions)
Re:About time! (Score:4, Insightful)
But there's already a fairly extensive written test. It's not like the morse-code exam is the only thing preventing the FCC from handing out licenses to anyone with five dollars and a heartbeat. If they want to make the written test more technical, that's fine with me. Just get rid of the requirement for learning a stupid monkey trick. It should be about knowledge, not rote-learning a silly cipher.
Re:About time! (Score:3, Insightful)
And with less people in the hobby, where is the motivation for Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, etc. to innovate and build new transceivers? There are a lot fewer vendors selling ham equipment than there were 20 years ago. I want to see new equipment. I want people to be excited about ham radio.
One of the other replies to your comment is dead on. The technical
Re:About time! (Score:5, Insightful)
I hate to break it to the old-timers who have this opinion, but if amateur radio continues to dwindle in users you're not going to have it pretty soon. The government will take away those frequencies and sell them off to the highest bidder for commercial communications. There's already VERY strong support for doing that. I'd be very sad to see that happen which is why I hope that they can do something to increase interest and decrease the amount of meaningless hoops you have to jump through to obtain broadcast privileges on certain bands. I'm not about to take a morse code test, but I'd certainly go learn the extra material required to pass a written test for general or advanced/extra (whatever) license.
Re:About time! (Score:3, Insightful)
Thanks!
Re:About time! (Score:2, Funny)
Are you talking about Amateur Radio or Linux?
Re:About time! - what no one has mentioned (Score:5, Insightful)
A similar rule change has been made before, and MANY MANY hams felt that it had a negative effect. Around 1989, I believe, the morse code requirement for the technication class license was removed. After that, there was a flood of bad, inconsiderate, and disrespectful new hams. Many of them were CBers who didn't want to take the time and effort to learn the code. It let in the riff raff, more Anonymous Cowards and first posters if you will.
The are several good reasons why the cw requirement should still kept after all these years. Apologies to Bruce Perens.
Think of morse code as a candle. Sure, we have lightbulbs, flashlights, glow sticks, and the sun. But, if something bad happens - the lights go out, the flashlights batteries are dead, your out of glowsticks, and its the dead of night, wouldn't it be nice to have a candle. It might be boring, plain, ugly, smelly, near useless in the modern world - but when the s*** hits the fan, you'll be glad you have it.
It is a good filter. Most people have to really give an effort to learn the code. Not all but some. I studied for a couple of weeks to pass my 5wpm test. I studied a few days for the 13wpm test. Some people claim it takes them years to learn it. Maybe, i don't know. The point is, if you want to just talk to you buddy down the street, you can get a cb for $40 at radio shack and not even think twice about a license. Think of the bad operators as spam. If you had a chance to have a really good spam filter or not, would you take it. Don't get me wrong, not all no coders are bad guys and they should have a chance to use ham radio - and they do. They can get a no code tech license and use frequencies above 30mhz. What this would change is give them frequecies priviledges below 30mhz. These frequences are special because of physics and the ozone in that they can propogate thousands of miles instead of the couple hundred of the uhf (50mhz) freqencies and above.
History. Morse code and ham radio have been together since the beginning. Its almost disrespectful in my mind to push the code to the wayside. Like putting an old dog down just because he isn't good for fetching the papers anymore.
Anyway, im fairly confident that cw will be around for a long time after its required. If i had to bet, I would say that the requirement will be dropped. I'd say at least 50 years (hopefully i'll make it to my 80th birthday)
As an aside, several people have mentioned that the written tests themselves are an appropriate filter. I disagree. All the questions that appear on every test are known in advance. I could teach my 10 year old daughter the answer to the questions without her having a clue what the questions actually mean.
Re:About time! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:About time! (Score:2)
Re:About time! (Score:2)
Yeah, like why don't they just join the 21st century or something and do it digitally like everyone else.
KFG
Re:About time! (Score:2)
Gee. Ya think?
[/humor]
The inevitability of it ... sigh (Score:5, Insightful)
Still, even though we may love it, it is an anachronism, and the requirement will be dropped, like it or not.
73
W4TI
Re:The inevitability of it ... sigh (Score:2)
What language do you use when communicating in morse code? My understanding was that it was for roman characters only... so that eliminates many languages right there.
However, I imagine the Russians must have created a cyrllic version of morse code.
Re:The inevitability of it ... sigh (Score:4, Informative)
Interestingly enough, they use standard morse code and map the cyrillic letters to their closest phonetic counterparts in the roman alphabet. I was a signal intelligence analyst in the army in the cold-war days and even the Red Army used standard morse. They did everything via code tables and didn't spell out actual words very often so it wasn't a big deal for them.
Re:The inevitability of it ... sigh (Score:2)
How does it overcome language barriers? All it can be used to send is letters, and letters make up words. Last time I checked, words were somewhat different between languages.
Re:The inevitability of it ... sigh (Score:2)
Probably because CQ DE KE5FX QRZ RST 599 73 makes about as much sense in Afrikaans as it does in English.
Re:The inevitability of it ... sigh (Score:3, Informative)
Allow cipher on ham radio (Score:2, Insightful)
There is no way for a person to have a secure private conversation over long distances without going over some sort of provider.
802.11b don't count cause it has limited range.
That sucks.
-Johan
morse code? (Score:5, Funny)
isint that what they used to stop the aliens in Independance Day?
Not before time.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Morse Code Fanatics (Score:2)
I recently got a grandfathered upgrade to a General license, because I got my Technician license way back when it included a 5 WPM send/receive morse code test and the General written test. I'm studying for the Extra license, now that it doesn't require another morse c
Re:Not before time.... (Score:3, Informative)
morse code will always be important! (Score:5, Funny)
This was going to say "First Post" in Morse Code (Score:4, Insightful)
Ahem...anyhow, you could argue that being a ham operator is like joining the Army: you're making yourself and your abilities available to your country/neighbours/fellow humans if necessary. Morse code is intelligible when packet radio and voice are not. Multiple, redundant channels of communication are Good Things, especially when disaster strikes...why allow one of those channels to wither and die?
Morse code on the cell phone (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Morse code on the cell phone (Score:2, Interesting)
Some of Nokia's ringtones are in morse code though - the 'Special' SMS tone is 'SMS SMS' and the 'Nokia' Ringtone spells 'Nokia' (proving that someone in Finland *almost* has a sense of humour)
Re:Morse code on the cell phone (Score:2)
Nobody is proposing banning morse code. If you know it or wish to learn it, you might be able to adapt a wireless device to use it. You could have the advantages you speak of. Just as anyone who cares to learn can get more and more advantage out of Linux and the software that surrounds it. The more you learn, the more advantage you have. Nonetheless, there are major efforts at making Linux easier to us
One Button (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Morse code on the cell phone (Score:2)
Going much faster, I think, would require a decent telegraphy key on a flat surface, which is sort of unweildy for a cellphone, but a key in the form of, say, a ring worn on a finger that you activate by tapping a specific code (CQ?) on,
2-Meter Packet ... (Score:4, Insightful)
There's already packet for 2-Meter ... so changing the Morse requirement would only allow it on different frequencies.
As an Amateur Extra class holder, I can see both sides of this ... if you drop the requirement, then more people would be able to get the General or AE license.
However, if there is a roadblock (not a very high one), that would limit the number of poor operators on HF frequencies that would travel around the world.
If BPL [arrl.org] does come to fruition, it really won't matter on HF anymore.
BTW, what type of communication would prevail if aliens invade [imdb.com]?
Ok... (Score:2)
But in all seriousness, part of the Ham Radio culture is being slightly above everyone else with your mad communication skillz, and Morse code should remain part of that. If they drop that, then all Ham Radio-ites are are guys with way to much money to spend on radios.
And in all seriousness, the requirement is 5 words a minute. It's not like they're asking for your college disserta
Clarification .. (Score:5, Insightful)
- Why was morse code originally required for amatuer radio operators?
- How often is morse code used today?
- What advantages does morse code have, vs other forms of radio communication?
Re:Clarification .. (Score:3, Informative)
IIRC - it served several purposes but primarily kept poor operators off the airwaves. It also showed that you had "technical prowess" ...
- How often is morse code used today?
Given the fact that it is easily discernable, takes very little bandwidth (4 * WPM) = Hz, and global, it is used quite a bit. In fact with my handheld, I can pick up Morse on 7.110 (or so) just about anytime.
- What advantages does morse code have, vs other fo
Re:Clarification .. (Score:2)
Interesting. I would have thought that morse code would have been the cheapest, easiest way to get started. Forgive me for guessing, but don't you just need an oscillator, an amplifier, an antenna, and an easily toggled switch?
Heh. I think the "geek factor" is undeniable, though.
Re:Clarification .. (Score:2)
The effort needed to learn morse code is trivial... You just look at a morse-code chart, and in a few minutes, you will be able to translate. It takes longer than that to learn what the dials on front of the radio do...
Re:Clarification .. (Score:2)
In the old days, you would run into shipboard radio operators who could listen to morse code and type the received message on a typewriter, while simultaneously having a conversation with someone in the radio room. Transcribing the code had become a reflex.
Re:Clarification .. (Score:5, Interesting)
2. Morse is still used extensively. Tune around the H.F. CW bands and you'll always hear lots of QSOs going on.
3. In addition to being a simple form of modulation, Morse is also very good at moving data through low SNR (signal to noise ratio) conditions. It's much easier to discern whether or not there is a C.W. tone present than to try to understand spoken language. Note: There are other digital modes which add FEC (forward error correction) and these are actually even more robust than Morse; but you can't do them without additional equipment. Morse communication can be accomplished without a computer.
Re:Clarification .. (Score:2)
- What advantages does morse code have, vs other forms of radio communication?
I dislike the morse code requirement, but I think both of these can be summed up in that even under the worst communications conditions you can almost always transmit and receive morse code. A noisy signal that would be uncopyable for voice communications would be sufficient to hear morse code. One of the main reasons for amateur radio to exist has been and
Re:Clarification .. (Score:2)
I'm not a ham, but your questions are incredibly simple.
Maybe because morse was the first form of communication... Before voice, before packet, there was morse. Absolutely any equipment can send a morse signal, and somebody has to be able to understand it, don't they?
I will leave that for the actual hams.
Re:Clarification .. (Score:4, Insightful)
- Why was morse code originally required for amatuer radio operators?
- How often is morse code used today?
- What advantages does morse code have, vs other forms of radio communication?
Most of the early gear was built by operators. There was no commercially avaible gear. You built everything by scratch, and the first radios were CW, then voice.
Despite what most non hams would love to tell you, CW is widley used on the HF bands. Why?
It is a highly efficient way of operating.
When band conditions are not optimal for voice or othe rmodes, CW usually gets through, and usually with less power. Morse is universal, so talking to that Japanese will not be a problem. When I first became licensed as a No Code Novice (teenager at the time) I too thought CW was moronic and for old times, and thought I would never use it. Then I started to read more about things like QRP [qrparci.org] (5 watts or less) and home brew gear and my interest in CW grew.
Go visit sites like Small Wonder Labs [smallwonderlabs.com] or Nor Cal QRP kits [fix.net] and take a look at some of these high quality CW battery operated kits. Were talking a handfull of parts, battery operated, less than a couple of watts and you could literally work the world all within a few Khz of band space. Some of these kit's are availble for under 40 bucks, and can be built in one night with some hand tools and a low wattage soldering iron. Now go read the reviews [eham.net] of some of these "kits" compared to high priced, bells and whistles laden, rush to market, poor quality control, consumer rigs. [eham.net]
Some of the younger people (ages 9-18) trying to get into the hobby today just don't have thousands to spend on a new all-in-one 100 watt radio. Some of these people are also turned off to the fact that they'll become appliance operators. They could just surf the net at 1Mb instead.
So in respects to CW, some folks don't look at the BIG picture when it come to this antiquated mode.
Some of our worst nightmares came true on Sept. 11, and it was a disaster on a grand scale. But what if there was a disaster on a national or even planetary scale? Isn't bulletproof, battery operated worldwide communications with a simple wire antenna sound like a great idea?
I don't have any objections to having CW dropped as a requirment, but I do think that if it does happen, people will eventually want the CW portions of the HF band turned over to other modes, which I object to.
Re:Clarification .. (Score:2)
Well, it's worth noting that CW is the one mode you're allowed to transmit anywhere in the RF spectrum. You don't have to use SSB on 3.819 MHz -- you can use CW if you want. Any objections will come from the guys trying to carry on an SSB conversation, not the FCC. Even if the FCC opened up CW su
Standard SCO joke.. (Score:2, Funny)
Darl McBride
Looks like I'm in... (Score:3, Insightful)
Why? (Score:4, Informative)
And why would one want to lower the entry level for HAM? If someone really wants to do HAM, learning to morse won't be a barrier, but the requiements keeps the twits away from HAM and that probably maintains a good 'quality of service'. For the lack of a better word. It's just like Fido Net: People where required to give their real name and address and therefore noise and junk was/is *very* low on Fidonet.
Why? For very good reasons (Score:4, Insightful)
There are actually much better technologies for doing anything Morse code claims to do now. PSK31, for example, is a far better digital modulation system than Morse. Even Morse could survive if it was desired, but why keep a very knowledgable ham (perhaps one that has even passed the Expert class written exam) off the bands just because they can't learn an ancient 19th century audio encoding technique? There is plenty of computer technology that would allow a ham to both send and receive code much better than someone doing it by hand and ear. You need some technology to receive a radio signal anyway, why arbitrarly draw that line short of letting a ham put a morse-to-speach converted in a set of headphones? (Which, of course, is perfectly legal for all use, just not for qualifying for a license in the first place. In fact I know many hams who learned code to get their license and never used it again afterwards, and, although they have renewed their licenses since then, could not use morse code now if they had to.)
Most importantly, a frequent argument the old farts like to make is the "importance" of Morse code in emergency situations. But keeping people out of the hobby and having less stations able to monitor and respond in emergency situations because people who can not learn morse code have been kept out does not make sense. In this sense the morse code license requirement actually keeps many hams (like myself) from having HF equipment that they could provide aid with when a disaster hits.
And yes, although some people have no problem with it, there is a significant barrier for Morse code for many. It's not just learning what the patterns are and what letters they match up to, it's being able to hear them and do that translation in real time while signals continue to come in. Easy for some, hard or imposiable for others, even though they have tried all of the tricks many times.
Forcing new hams to learn Morse code would be like a teacher forcing new computer students to learn the Hollerith code for punch cards, saying "I had to learn it so you have to learn it". The information shouldn't be lost, but new programmers no longer need to be able to look at rectangular holes in a punch card and read the information on sight. The same should be the case for Morse code.
I don't get it.... (Score:2)
CW required for packet? (Score:3, Insightful)
Did you mean Novice class licensees, or new licensees?
Assuming the latter: A technician-class license (no code, 30 MHz and up operation only) has no code requirement and packet radio use is common.
What this will make easier is for people who don't have any use for code (like myself, I have to admit) to transmit on the worldwide HF frequencies with packet.
Of course, if they do drop the code requirement, I am not sure I will operate on HF, because the equipment is kinda spendy, antennas are kinda big (I live in an apartment), and all the fun stuff that I like to do is on VHF/UHF. (I like satellite & other space stuff like EME.)
If these petitions go through... (Score:2, Interesting)
...then - think about it - soon we'll never hear the nostalgic, reassuring aural tapestry of Morse Code ever again...
...oh, apart from those thousands of mobile phones bleeping out "SMS" daily to owners who have no idea what it means...
Re:If these petitions go through... (Score:2)
[ Reply to This ] i love that little cookie nokia put in their phones
Good move (Score:3, Insightful)
In order to conserve space... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:In order to conserve space... (Score:2)
Unfortunately, this helical-scan morse encoding standard has already been patented. The FCC proposal will require CW operators to pay royalties on every QSO copied by this method. Of course, the old lineer-scan method will be banned under the new regs.
73, -KC4TQP
Article: A Business Man's View (Score:4, Interesting)
K9JRW
Re:Article: A Business Man's View (Score:2)
Hmm, why should business care? If you ANYTHING for money/objects/services, you're breaking FCC rules. The ham licenses were created for hobbists and hobbists alone.
Keep the requirement (Score:3, Insightful)
We have to respect the rules and understand the subtle details of the hobbies we choose (be it morse code or where to drop an out-of-bounds shot). What's next - do we change chess because people can't remember that the knight has to move in that crazy 'L' shape? Yeah, that's it - we'll protest the Internation Chess Federation for that - it's not fair to those who don't want to or can't learn how to use the piece correctly!
Sorry for the rant, but at some point you have to stand up and say no!
--AB
support this (Score:4, Informative)
As a kid... (Score:5, Interesting)
Morse code is basic radio (Score:3, Insightful)
When you're sinking at sea and the boiler explosion has thrown your microphone and keyboard over the side, you'll still be able to call for help, give your position, and ask for clean drawers by plugging and unplugging the antenna lead.
If the FCC wants to create a new class of licenses for selfish, aloof operators who "just don't want to get involved", well, that's what the Radiotelephone licenses are for.
Barriers to Entry (Score:2)
I don't know what to make of it really. As far as the Internet is concerned I am usually in favor of removing barriers to entry for all. This means that I fully support cheap PCs, free and open software, public b
Why do they call it MORSE CODE?? (Score:2)
(yeah, I'm a ham too. bad joke)
Why Morse? (Score:5, Informative)
Long distance HF bands aren't useful, unless everyone agrees what those bands are -- no use having the US hams on 40M, if the UK is using that same band for broadcast. So, the amatuer bands were set by treaty. This treaty also had a morse requirement. However, this year, the World Radiocommuncation Conference, held every so often to review things like this, dropped the code requirements for the HF bands.
I agree that Morse as a requirement has passed it's time. It is a bandwidth efficent and noise resistant mode -- but there are better now, such as PSK31. I've copied 90% of a PSK31 transmission that was so weak I could barely see it on a waterfall display -- never mind actually hearing it.
Note that eliminating the Morse code requirement wouldn't eliminate Morse code from the bands. There are segements of the ham bands that are CW only. Those who work with low power (QRP) are very fond of CW morse.
Re:Why Morse? (Score:3, Interesting)
And, as those who have used and loved it move on to other pursuits, pass away or whatever, the number of CW operators is going to drop until there will be no further j
Lowering The Bar (Score:2)
Instead of continuing to require a level of competency, just lower the bar to include more people. Eventually there will be no expectations to meet at all.
As related to amateur bands, this will be another step in reducing it to the level of the citizens bands..
Great. Just what we need. A bunch of incompetent's clogging the airwaves..
Good and Bad (Score:2, Interesting)
CQ? The Net? Which is more fun? (Score:3, Insightful)
My partner also learned CW, and loves it, eventually getting her Extra-class license. As we now live in an apartment, antennas are not allowed, so we both gave up on ham radio. However, she hasn't given up on CW.
She's found a new program - IRCQ - that uses CW over the Net. Yikes!
So, I guess that CW won't die, despite the FCC's wishes. I personally won't mourn iys passing, but I do see how it can be useful in a very tight situation. Maybe I'll even give ITCQ a try some day,
73 de N9JZW
10-4 good buddy (Score:2)
Why Require a License At All? (Score:2)
Better yet, why does demonstrating additional proficiency give you access to more frequencies? Why exactly would you need to know more to successfully use one frequency, than another?
Wow (Score:2)
Is it just me, or did nearly everyone snicker at this (or think it was a typo)?
Re:Wow (Score:2)
This is why SETI wont work. (Score:3, Interesting)
So its concievable that within 100 years that we will not be using any current communication median, or at a minimum that we encrypt it to almost sound like static (military is/has moving to this).
just my 2 cents,
epic
Reminds me of AOL (Score:2)
Was eliminating that form of a "cluelessness filter" end up being a good thing for the communities?
Bruce Perens, of "open source" fame, and nocode (Score:3, Interesting)
A bit of trivia: Bruce Perens [perens.com] of Open Source fame founded No-Code International [nocode.org], "a norganization dedicated to the abolition of the Morse code testing requirement as a prerequisite for any class of Amateur Radio license." I didn't see NCI mentioned anywhere in the article, but they're pretty much responsible for the last overhaul of Morse requirements.
A good article summarizing his No-Code work is Bruce's own article,"No-Code: The End-Game" [perens.com].
like vi (Score:4, Funny)
fast morse is easy, but makes req pointless (Score:3, Insightful)
1) Try teaching somebody to understand Morse code at 5 WPM, then 12, then 20.
2) Try teaching somebody to understand Morse code starting at 20 WPM, or better yet 30 WPM.
The first is difficult - learning "dot dot dot dash" is a "V" at 5 WPM does NOT translate to faster speeds.
The second is actually fairly easy. You don't hear the individual tones, you hear didididah and it doesn't take long for people to learn to spell out words (spoken and heard) with the new synonyms.
The problem? The people who learn to understand Morse at 30 WPM can speak it, but they can't key it... especially with the dead cat and two pieces of piano wire that the Old Farts(TM) use as an example of the type of equipment a ham should be able to use in an emergency. Worse, they can't understand or key it at 5 WPM either since that's s
o
s
l
o
w
that it would be as meaningless as human speech would be to you if it was slowed down by a factor of 6 or more.
Its about time (Score:3, Interesting)
Not completely up to the FCC ... (Score:3, Informative)
Other countries are already moving in this direction, so it sounds like it's just a matter of time before morse code is removed entirely or reduced even more.
More details here [arrl.org] and here [perens.com] and here [nocode.org].
For the sake of completeness, I'm KD5YRD, just Technician class. I've passed the General and Extra tests, but failed the Morse code test when I tried it (yesterday!) ... so I'll need to work on it bit more (perhaps in two weeks I'll try again.) The written tests are quite simple, especially since you have access to all possible test questions, but the morse code part can be a lot harder for many people, even though 5 wpm is extremely slow.
In any event, don't get the idea that you need to know morse code to do ham radio, even today. You absolutely do not -- the Technician class license does not require it, and gets you access to many (most?) of the `fun' things that ham radio has to offer. But you may want to learn it eventually -- you'll hear a lot of it even mixed in with voice communications.
For those of you who can't read morse code (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Morse code dropped only because its a RACIST! (Score:5, Funny)
shee-it. cw gots rhythm, honky.
Re:Morse code dropped only because its a RACIST! (Score:2)
Now the SAT I can understand how someone could word the questions in a way, or give examples that whites can more easily relate to - which would make it a racist test.
But morse code is pretty straightforward - basically memorization of the roman alphebet in code, and the ability to use that code it communicate. It may be that blacks and hisp
Re:Restrictions on use of the Ham bands (Score:5, Insightful)