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ARRL ON THE
NEW AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE RULES
The ARRL Letter, Vol. 26, No. 08,
February 23, 2007
A new Amateur
Radio Service regime now is in place. The requirement
to demonstrate Morse code proficiency to gain HF privileges
officially disappeared from the FCC's Part 97 rules
February 23 at one minute past midnight Eastern Time.
At the same time, some 200,000 Technician licensees
without Morse code exam credit acquired HF privileges
equivalent to those available to Novice licensees.
March QST includes an eight-page
"tear out" section "Now, New Opportunities
for Every Ham!". Download it yourself at:
http://www.arrl.org/HFWelcome/Welcome.pdf.
It focuses on various topics of interest to those
gaining new HF privileges through upgrading or as a
result of the new rules. Among other things, it covers
mentoring – or Elmering – newcomers, "The
Top 10 Reasons to Try Morse Code," earning ham
radio operating awards by using Logbook of the World
(LoTW) and a "Welcome to the fascinating world
of high frequency (HF) radio!" by ARRL CEO David
Sumner, K1ZZ.
"The FCC's decision to eliminate the Morse code
examination as a licensing requirement opens the door
to HF for all amateur licensees," Sumner points
out in his remarks. Sumner also addresses the topic
in his "It Seems to Us" editorial in March
QST (page 9).
"As these new HF operators join us on our favorite
bands, we old timers need to set a good example and
to be patient, welcoming and positive," he writes.
"Let's all remember how little we knew when we
got started, and honor those who helped us along the
way by doing the same for others."
The March QST special section
includes a new ARRL band chart:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field
/regulations/bands.html.
(Page 8 of the Welcome.pdf document
above.)
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THE END OF MORSE CODE?
Listen
to the segment that aired on NPR’s All
Things Considered, February 24, 2007:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/
story.php?storyId=7590438.
Since the FCC no longer requires Morse
Code for amateur radio licenses, this seems to spell
the end of using dots and dashes to spell out words
over radio frequencies. But will the "Tom
Sawyer effect” keep Morse Code alive?
What’s your take on
this?
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