(Jan 30, 2007) — “Ham Radio . . . Getting the message through for your family and community” is the theme of the League’s 2007 public relations campaign. The “Emergency Radio” Web site debuted this week. ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, says the 2007 emergency communications initiative pick up the momentum ARRL public information officers started during the just-ended “Hello” campaign. More info.

Jim Weaver, K8JE, our ARRL Great Lakes Divsion Director, will be our featured presenter at our February 8th meeting.

Jim will talk about:

“The changes I will discuss relate to shuffling the Field and Educational Services Department, and the Membership Services Department to form essentially one department while splitting the regulatory services area into another department. These changes should greatly facilitate getting things in Field Services, Education, DXCC, LoTW, contesting and the like into a much more supportive and facilitative role for our members. The same is true of shifting the Regulators Affairs group so it reports directly to Dave Sumner. For example, if people are wondering who will take on the role previously filled by Wane Mills as our DXCC guru, folks will find out and, I believe, be pleased.”

Morse Code Requirement Ends

The FCC has modified the Amateur Radio Service rules, eliminating Morse code exam requirements. The new rules become effective at 12:01 AM Eastern Time Friday February 23, 2007.

The rule changes will grant limited HF operating privileges to Technician licensees on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters.

Once the new rules take effect, Technicians can upgrade to General by passing a single written exam (Element 3) and to Amateur Extra by also passing the Element 4 written exam. No Morse code test will be required.

For more information, please visit the ARRL web site at www.arrl.org/FCC/Morse.

Like it or not the FCC finally made a decision on its morse code stance.

Steve K8JI

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From ARRL Headquarters — Newington CT December 16, 2006

In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission today adopted a Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235. In a break from typical practice, the FCC only issued a public notice at or about the close of business and not the actual Report and Order, so some details — including the effective date of the R&O — remain uncertain. The public notice is located at, http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-269012A1.pdf.

Also today, the FCC also adopted an Order on Reconsideration, in WT Docket 04-140 — the “omnibus” proceeding — agreeing to modify the Amateur Radio rules in response to an ARRL request to accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80 meters in the wake of rule changes that became effective today at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. The Commission said it will carve out the 3585 to 3600 kHz frequency segment for such operations. Prior to the long-awaited action on the Morse code issue, Amateur Radio applicants for General and higher class licenses had to pass a 5 WPM Morse code test to operate on HF. The Commission said today’s R&O eliminates that requirement for General and Amateur Extra applicants.

“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. The ARRL had asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM for Amateur Extra class applicants only. The FCC proposed earlier to drop the requirement across the board, however, and it held to that decision in today’s R&O.

Perhaps more important, the FCC’s action in WT Docket 05-235 appears to put all Technician licensees on an equal footing: Once the R&O goes into effect, holders of Technician class licenses will have equivalent HF privileges, whether or not they’ve passed the 5 WPM Element 1 Morse examination. The FCC said the R&O in the Morse code docket would eliminate a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician and Technician Plus class licensees. Technician licensees without Element 1 credit (ie, Tech Plus licensees) currently have operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30 MHz.

“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 FCC said in its public notice.
“Therefore, the FCC, in today’s action, afforded Technician and Technician Plus licensees identical operating privileges.”

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 no-code license in the US was the Technician ticket, instituted in 1991. 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, but the handwriting has been on the wall. A number of countries, including Canada, no longer require applicants for an Amateur Radio license to pass a Morse code test to gain HF operating privileges. The list has been increasing regularly.

The FCC said today’s R&O in WT Docket 05-235 comports 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 country 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.

Typically, the effective date of an FCC Order is 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register. That would mean the Morse requirement and the revised 80-meter segment for automatically controlled digital stations would likely not go into effect until late January 2007.

The ARRL will provide any additional information on these important Part 97 rule revisions as it becomes available.

Catch up on the latest news and notes from the Dayton Hamfest.� Several people have been posting inforomation on the ARRL website, so I thought I’d put this link on here. Check it out!

Passport, Expanded League Presence Back This Year at Dayton Hamvention® (May 8, 2006) — Many of the features that proved popular during ARRL EXPO 2005, a national convention year, will return during ARRL EXPO 2006 at Dayton Hamvention, May 19-21. Among activities back this year are mini-forums on the ARRL stage, the ARRL Internet Café (and free WiFi) and the ARRL Passport–the ultimate Amateur Radio scavenger hunt.
Full Story

ARRL, April 28, 2006� The US Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will cosponsor the annual military/Amateur Radio communications tests Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14 in celebration of the 56th Armed Forces Day. Although the actual Armed Forces Day is Saturday, May 20, the Armed Forces Day on-the-air activities will take place earlier, to avoid conflicts with those who might be attending Dayton Hamvention, May 19-21. The annual activity features traditional military-to-amateur crossband (ie, hams transmit on amateur frequencies and receive military stations on nearby military channels) SSB voice tests and copying the Secretary of Defense’s annual Armed Forces Day message via digital modes (RTTY, PACTOR, AMTOR, PSK-31 and MT63). “These tests give Amateur Radio operators and Short Wave Listeners an opportunity to demonstrate their individual technical skills and receive recognition from the Secretary of Defense and/or the appropriate military radio station for their proven expertise,” the US Armed Forces Day announcement says. QSL cards will be provided to those making contact with military stations. Commemorative certificates will be awarded to those receiving and copying without error the digital Armed Forces Day message from the Secretary of Defense. The tentative schedule of on-the-air events–including a list of participating stations, the Secretary of Defense’s message transmission schedule and more information–is available on the US Army MARS Web site (click on the “Armed Forces Day” link). The schedule is subject to change without notice.

The new quarterly issue of the Ohio Section Journal has been issued.

The first components of the ARRL’s “Hello” Amateur Radio public relations campaign now are available. “This campaign will give hams the tools they need to reach out in their communities to non-hams and influence their perception of Amateur Radio,” says ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, who conceived the campaign and is its principal Headquarters contact. The “Hello” campaign is aimed at recasting Amateur Radio in the light of the 21st century and focus on its universal appeal. At the same time, it will mark the 100th anniversary of what many historians consider the first voice radio broadcast in 1906 by Reginald Fessenden. More Info