FCC morse code decision would not affect CW sub-bands

Any FCC decision to eliminate the 5 WPM Morse code
requirement for US HF access would have no impact on either the current HF CW subbands or on the CW privileges of Amateur Radio licensees. So says John Hennessee, N1KB, of the Leagues Regulatory Information Branch as reported
in the ARRL Letter. Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, is here with the details:

John Hennessee says that there seems to be a lot of confusion on these points, judging by the questions he has been receiving. Hennesseee emphasizes that the proceeding does not put forward or recommend any changes in CW allocations or privileges.

Hennessee also notes that the FCC also has not proposed to extend High Frequency privileges to current Technician licensees who have not passed a Morse code examination. The Commission's proposal instead suggests that in a no-Morse-requirement regime, such Technician licensees would be able to gain HF access by taking the Element 3 General class written examination.

The FCC is currently accepting comments on its Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order in WT Docket 05-235 which was released on July 19th. It simply proposes to do away with the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for all license classes with no other changes.

To file your comments or view those of others, take your web browser to www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs and click on "Submit a Filing" or "Search for Filed Comments." In either case, type
"05-235" in the "Proceeding" field, being careful to include the hyphen but not the quotation marks.

Directions for filing comments, which can be in the form of an attached document, are on the ame ECFS site. Click on "Getting Started" to learn more.

As of Wednesday, August 24th, 1,888 people have filed comments in this matter with the opinions at least 4 to 1 in favor of abolishing the need for United States hans to be tested on proficiency in the Morse code.

Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, Amateur Radio Newsline

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