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FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT December 16, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB030 ARLB030 FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes 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_publi...C-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. NNNN /EX |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Finally! The current question pool doesn't expire until June. Wonder if
they will come out with a new pool before then. -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com "Keith" wrote in message ps.com... From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 16, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB030 ARLB030 FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes 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_publi...C-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. NNNN /EX |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Well, well, well...
When the last of the old-time brass-pounders is gone, Morse code will disappear from everything but the history books. RIP Tom Dacon AD7AE "Keith" wrote in message ps.com... From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 16, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB030 ARLB030 FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes 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_publi...C-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. NNNN /EX |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Correct me if I am wrong but I hear (2006) on the Science TV channel that
the Canadian Icebreakers operating in the Arctic are keeping the Morse code communication system as a back up. "Tom Dacon" wrote in message ... Well, well, well... When the last of the old-time brass-pounders is gone, Morse code will disappear from everything but the history books. RIP Tom Dacon AD7AE "Keith" wrote in message ps.com... From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 16, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB030 ARLB030 FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes 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_publi...C-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. NNNN /EX |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
No, we will sill have it on our buoy lights.
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FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
....
Yeah. I'm still bummed that commercial truck drivers are no longer required to show proficiency driving a team of horses. I'm surprised horses haven't become extinct as a result. .... I was involved in a situation where a boat with a broken HF radio was able to make contact with a maritime net using code. For us cruisers, knowing Morse is a good thing. Still, I'm okay with dropping the requirement since I think most of us lose our code proficiency pretty fast after passing the test (well I did anyway). -- Tom. |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
"Keith" wrote in
ps.com: From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 16, 2006 After obstructing joining the rest of the planet in bringing ham radio into the 20th (not 21st) century, always trying to roll back the clock to 1929 by staunchly opposing every type of modulation scheme ever invented (AM, SSB, RTTY, ASCII, Packet, AMTOR/SITOR, Pactor, PSK31, etc.), the magazine bureaucrats at ARRL must be having some kind of funeral wake for their idea of what they tried, quite successfully for many, many years, to block. I've been a ham since 1957. I was 11 and not into its politics for many years. I do remember W2NSD/1, Wayne Green fighting ARRL bureaucrats and getting Radio Teletype (RTTY) approved. I remember them telling us SSB would be the end of ham radio when I was a teenager. I'm very proud to say I was the first full ASCII teletype station to transmit it in the 4th Call District, having been calling CQ for 15 seconds before midnight with a bunch of other ASCII nut cases the day it became legal. We were already on the air, daring to cross over the line above 14.100 Mhz into the precious "Canadian Phone Band" the ARRL and CRRL didn't want us to use by restricting phone priviledges of US amateurs above 14.200. Code and RTTY were legal but ARRL told us all never to stray into Canada's private ham band, a stupid gentlemen's agreement. You can still hear the results of our daring foray into Jammerland by listening to the Packet ASCII stations above 14.100 that are still on the air, today. Our frequency was 14.110 Mhz for the initial QSOs on simplex ASCII at 110 baud, as fast as they'd let us go for a time before raising it to 300 baud once FCC determined the sky wouldn't fall at such breakneck speeds....and FCC finally got more than ASCII teletype machines so they could copy us at faster rates...(c; I've waited just a hair under 50 years for this day.....a proud day for ham radio and the thousands of code victims whos dyslexia kept really nice people off ham radio, just because a bunch of old ARRL fogies tried to keep the bands for themselves. Congratulations, ham radio. I hope it isn't too little - too late. It's been a helluva ride! Larry W4CSC aka KN4IM aka WB4THE aka WN2IWH....God I'm OLD! How awful. No, I don't wanna join QCWA. I'm not THAT old! |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
|
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
wrote in
: Correct me if I am wrong but I hear (2006) on the Science TV channel that the Canadian Icebreakers operating in the Arctic are keeping the Morse code communication system as a back up. If you guys want to see something really amazing, go download WinWarbler for free from: http://www.dxlabsuite.com/winwarbler/ Simply install it as any other Windows program. Too bad these Icebreakers aren't allowed to use this mode....which is BETTER, a LOT BETTER, than Morse in the noise! Run a plug from the headphone jack on your SSB receiver to the Line In on your computer soundcard so the computer can hear the tones. Winwarbler uses the computer to filter and decode. There's no "boxes" to buy that ham radio simply adores for most modes. Boot WinWarbler and you'll see the "waterfall" display, a moving audio spectrum display from 300 to 3000 Hz, the audio frequencies coming out of your receiver. Tune your receiver to 14.070 Mhz, USB, and you'll hear some very faint tones that "warble" in a very narrow (31 Hz or 63 Hz) frequency shift keying. They'll create little dual "tracks" down the waterfall display. Click on one of the 3 WinWarbler "channels" 0, 1 or 2 to select it. A matching color cursor for each of them will show on the waterfall display. The one selected is the one you'll move to a station. Point your mouse pointer to the middle of the little track of a transmitting station. Click the mouse and Winwarbler will move that channel's decoder to that audio frequency of that station. Notice how that channel starts decoding immediately what the guy is sending in PSK31 or PSK63. PSK stands for phase shift keying. Click on another channel and point it at another different station whos frequency is different across the display. Do the same to a third. Your computer is now decoding 3 ham radio PSK conversations at once. PSK stations stay within 3Khz of 14.070 Mhz just for that reason...the bandwidth of the SSB radios used for PSK transmitters. Now, click a channel onto a station you can only faintly make out has some kind of nearly in-the-noise signal, even if you can't hear it in the speaker. It will make a faint trace on the waterfall display. Watch PSK's greatest triumph in action...the ability to copy this mode on a station you simply cannot hear! PSK stations, by agreement to keep one station from saturating everyone's SSB receiver AGC, only run about 10-20 watts....on the other side of the Planet! It is uncanny how well this ham-radio-invented comm mode works for keyboard to keyboard comms. There are several of our beloved "boxes" made to "interface" your computer to the transmitter and key it when you press the TX button to go into transmit mode. Save yourself money. You don't need a "box" at all. Make a simple attenuator cable to connect AUDIO OUT of the soundcard to MIC IN or sometimes called DATA IN on the transceiver. The cable has the computer and radio plugs ground shields connected together and to one end of a 10K potentiometer (any value from 1K to 50K is fine). Audio from the computer hooks to the other end of the pot from the shield. Audio to the mic or data jack on the radio hooks to the center wiper arm of the pot so we can have a "volume control" to keep the computer audio from distorting the first audio amp in the radio. Once transmitting the tone from the computer, just turn the pot up barely enough to make 10-20 watts of RF output from the keyed radio. If it's a marine radio, put a switch in PTT to ground and key it manually. If it's a ham radio, it has a VOX for automatic voice transmit. Set VOX delay to zero and VOX sensitivity high enough so the attenuated tone your feeding it automatically keys the transmitter when you click TX on WinWarbler and stops transmitting when you click it back into receive. No $100 "box" is necessary at all. PSK is an amazing digital mode on ham radio. It occupies LESS bandwidth than 10 wpm of Morse Code....always thrown up in our faces as the reason to keep digital modes off the HF Morse Code bands by ARRL CW lovers. PSK31 uses only 31 Hz of bandwidth...the reason the computer can sort out one very faint station out of all those other warbles you hear....(c; Er, ah, once the novelty wears off, or the wife starts bitching about the tones, you'll want to turn off the speakers so you can't hear PSK31, which will drive most humans insane in a couple of hours....(c; Larry W4CSC and other fine old calls from way back. |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Charlie Morgan wrote in
: On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 09:24:14 -0800, "Tom Dacon" wrote: Well, well, well... When the last of the old-time brass-pounders is gone, Morse code will disappear from everything but the history books. RIP Tom Dacon AD7AE Yeah. I'm still bummed that commercial truck drivers are no longer required to show proficiency driving a team of horses. I'm surprised horses haven't become extinct as a result. CWM Now, we need to change the rules to CONFINE CW transmissions to the bottom 25 Khz of each HF band....to reduce its being used by ****ed off hams as a JAMMING device for phone and data stations, like it has since the first AM station came on the air..... W4CSC |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 18:57:12 -0500, Larry wrote:
Larry W4CSC aka KN4IM aka WB4THE aka WN2IWH....God I'm OLD! How awful. No, I don't wanna join QCWA. I'm not THAT old! Is there a HCWA? If so, you and I will both be eligible next year. QCWA ain't nothin any more. |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Different from what?
"Steve Thrasher" wrote in message ... wrote: Correct me if I am wrong but I hear (2006) on the Science TV channel that the Canadian Icebreakers operating in the Arctic are keeping the Morse code communication system as a back up. Uhhhmmmm...different country? :-) |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Perhaps you missed my point.
Tom Dacon "Charlie Morgan" wrote in message ... On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 09:24:14 -0800, "Tom Dacon" wrote: Well, well, well... When the last of the old-time brass-pounders is gone, Morse code will disappear from everything but the history books. RIP Tom Dacon AD7AE Yeah. I'm still bummed that commercial truck drivers are no longer required to show proficiency driving a team of horses. I'm surprised horses haven't become extinct as a result. CWM |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Wayne.B wrote in
: Is there a HCWA? If so, you and I will both be eligible next year. Hmm...true! I don't think it exists, though. Internet sure has ruined ham radio here. I haven't had an antenna up in years. Nobody complains I'm on their private net frequency on Skype...(c; |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:31:44 -0500, Larry wrote:
Internet sure has ruined ham radio here. I haven't had an antenna up in years. Nobody complains I'm on their private net frequency on Skype...(c; My rig is on the boat. Pactor, Winlink, APRS and Airmail are the best things that ever happened to ham radio in my estimation, and serve a real purpose when you are cruising offshore or in any non-wifi/cellular area. |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Wayne.B wrote in
: My rig is on the boat. Pactor, Winlink, APRS and Airmail are the best things that ever happened to ham radio in my estimation, and serve a real purpose when you are cruising offshore or in any non-wifi/cellular area. I have a 3W 800/2W 1900 bidirectional cellular linear from cellantenna.com, the DA4000. It's really a nicely made piece of equipment. Alltel is on 800 Mhz, here, so I'm using an 11-element Decibel Products, gamma-matched 800 Mhz paging point-to-point antenna a friend who was in the paging business for years gave me. Haul the beam up the main on a lanyard and point it in the direction of shore with 24W ERP really makes a hot CDMA cellphone going down the coast. I also use it in my service truck out in the country fixing church organs for fun and profit. My old V60i still has AMPS and that helps, too...(c; I've never used the ham email services. Pactor was a mistake as it's way too expensive and proprietary, of course. But, if you want service, you have to bite the bullet and buy it. Too bad, I think. When Iridium went bankrupt, I stumbled upon an Iridium phone/charger/etc., for $25 as they thought it was going dark. I kept it for a museum piece, then suddenly Iridium was back, of course. It connects but I don't buy service as I don't need it. If I were going seriously to sea, I'd buy Iridium service. I've carried it to sea out 250 miles just to see how well it connected and it works great just anywhere in a plastic yacht. |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 21:40:06 -0500, Larry wrote:
Pactor was a mistake as it's way too expensive and proprietary, of course. But, if you want service, you have to bite the bullet and buy it. Too bad, I think. I don't think Pactor was a mistake at all. It is absolutely the fastest and most reliable mesage handling system that I have seen on HF/SSB. You get what you pay for, and the hardware is a one time expense. When Iridium went bankrupt, I stumbled upon an Iridium phone/charger/etc., for $25 as they thought it was going dark. I kept it for a museum piece, then suddenly Iridium was back, of course. It connects but I don't buy service as I don't need it. If I were going seriously to sea, I'd buy Iridium service. I've carried it to sea out 250 miles just to see how well it connected and it works great just anywhere in a plastic yacht. Iridium gets good reviews but costs about $1 per minute. That ends up being an easy $10 per day to download a few EMAILs and weather reports. Winlink/Pactor is $free, and as they say in NY, free is a very good price. When you get to civilization wifi is usually available for little or nothing. Then everything becomes $free or nearly so. |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Howdy:
Heliography (light or sun) still has a place on the ocean, and it would be a good idea to learn morse code for safety reasons I would think. (No, a flare does not count). -- SeeYaa:) Harbin Osteen KG6URO When American Citizens with dual citizenship pledges allegiance to the flag, to which flag do they pledge allegiance too? - |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Harbin Osteen wrote:
Howdy: Heliography (light or sun) still has a place on the ocean, and it would be a good idea to learn morse code for safety reasons I would think. (No, a flare does not count). After "...---...", what would you like me to knowG? Lew |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
If you want to know more, get close enough for me to yell at you, or
use the VHF. Hahahaha! For those code proponents on boats... do you carry a morse key to send with, mounted right in the cockpit or pilothouse? After "...---...", what would you like me to knowG? Lew |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
On Saturday, I read about the code requirement being dropped. I have
an SSB on the boat, but my marine license greatly restricts what I can do with it (no weather nets or email). So based on some advise I found on the internet, I downloaded the test and answers and studied only the answers ( it is a multi choice test) for 2 days. Tonight I'm excited to say, I passed both the technician and general tests. In Feburary I will need to submit my temporary general certificate and the FCC will upgrade it to full General status. I never would have done this if I had to learn code. I thank who ever had the idea to give it the heave ho. -Mark |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
"Mark R." wrote in news:1166597141.744688.9730@
73g2000cwn.googlegroups.com: In Feburary I will need to submit my temporary general certificate and the FCC will upgrade it to full General status. I never would have done this if I had to learn code. I thank who ever had the idea to give it the heave ho. -Mark Congratulations, Mark! Welcome to ham radio! I'm an old ham, but also hate code. They didn't make me ride a horse before giving me my drivers test...same idea. Ham radio has been dying of "old age" for a couple of decades, now. I'm hoping we can save it by stopping this "keep 'em off my bands by making them learn Morse" mentality the old fogies at ARRL have used from the 30's to keep ham radio for themselves. Ok, now, GET BACK TO WORK ON THE EXTRA TEST! When I see your call come out on www.qrz.com, I wanna see EXTRA, not General in that block! Don't disappoint me, ok? 73 DE W4CSC/MM2 Larry I was 11 when I got mine....er, ah, back in 1957.... It's been a helluva ride! Take a look at what 70,000 watts on 40 meters does to a big insulator. Put my ham call into the call search box at www.qrz.com. Every ham radio operator's real information is exposed for all to see....even your birthdate! How embarrassing...(c; Had breakfast with an old friend this morning. He got HIS license in 1934 from the "new" FCC! |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
In article m,
"Mark R." wrote: I never would have done this if I had to learn code. I thank who ever had the idea to give it the heave ho. I had the technical knowledge back in the late 60s, but didn't get the code up fast enough for the ticket I wanted, so got a CB back when they were licensed. Had fun building antennas and bouncing around the world on 5 watts, the only reason I wanted the ticket anyway. Someone posted a link to a test here a while back and I discovered that I still can pass the tests I want without cracking a book. Maybe will, though I already have too many hobbies to keep up with. -- Jere Lull Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD) Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-0805D7.20221020122006
@news.bellatlantic.net: Had fun building antennas and bouncing around the world on 5 watts, the only reason I wanted the ticket anyway. Come on, Jere....Fess up! NO CBer ever ran 5 watts! The ham who gave me the test for Amateur Extra used to be called the "Mud Duck" on AM CB. He had twin 5-element monsters up 100' and ran about 4KW of carrier at 100% modulation....(c; I can talk about him now, because he's gone...died of cancer. Any ham would have been proud to see his huge CB station.... Larry -- Why is it, in any city, all traffic lights act as if they have rotary timers in them, like they did in 1955, and are all set to create maximum inconvenience and block traffic movement, entirely? |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
In article ,
Larry wrote: Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-0805D7.20221020122006 @news.bellatlantic.net: Had fun building antennas and bouncing around the world on 5 watts, the only reason I wanted the ticket anyway. Come on, Jere....Fess up! NO CBer ever ran 5 watts! Well, you found one. License was in Dad's name, and I was more than a little "respectful" of him. This was when the FCC *did* investigate, at least in our area. Still have a SSB CB in the closet. That was sorta interesting. -- Jere Lull Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD) Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-17F4D3.01260926122006
@news.bellatlantic.net: Come on, Jere....Fess up! NO CBer ever ran 5 watts! Well, you found one. License was in Dad's name, and I was more than a little "respectful" of him. This was when the FCC *did* investigate, at least in our area. Still have a SSB CB in the closet. That was sorta interesting. In 1957, both when I got my ham license and at the start of 27 Mhz CB operations, I got 20W1956. I built the Knight Kit CB-1, which was nothing more than a bunch of parts and a Bud box when it came. You had to wind your own coils around the provided forms, even. CB was new. Noone had parts..(c; It was a regenerative receiver that hissed away madly all the time and a simple 1-tube transmitter with only 1 channel. I used to lay crystals out on a piece of paper with the channel numbers on it so I could rapidly swap crystals when one of the rich CBers said, "Go to Channel 8" on his fancy Gonset or Globe mobile that had from 3 to 9 channels. Oh, how I dreamed of owning one of those radios...(c; The sunspot cycle was the highest it had been in 50 years. With only a vertical dipole strung between two 2x4s nailed up a tree, you could easily work Florida to California from upstate NY on 4 watts, all anyone had. Heath came out with a little 4-transistor regen walkie talkie kit really cheap. It was a 3" x 3" box about 9" tall. The front of it had a big knob, only one, that was on-off-volume and a red pushbutton on the side for PTT. It was only one channel, too, Channel 11. Everyone was on Channel 11 because that's what most radios came with. Every kid in my school wanted one. Walkies were unlicensed under 100mw. Burgess sold a lot of large 9V transistor batteries because of me. I got so I could build one in an hour without opening the instructions....(c; I must have made 50 of them. The little Heath soon replaced our 1-wire Morse Code network we'd used for many years across the town...buzzers and batteries...car batteries. My dad finally came around, much later, and got one of those new fangled CB calls we all scoffed at...rookies. He was KLP-9928. Oh, the shame of having a rookie call in the house...(c; CB was great fun, but my life was ham radio. A bunch of old hams, who used to hang out in Jerry Hess' surplus electronic junk shop around an old coal- fired potbelly stove hooked us boys. Tiring of us hogging their HF stations almost every night, they decided the only way to get rid of the nuisances was to get them their own ham licenses and stations. Jerry had tons of parts from WW2 and Korea to donate. All the boys got 5Y3 and 6V6 Novice transmitters and loaner receivers. Mine was a Hallicrafters Sky Buddy. AM soon followed. I got a Heath DX-100 AM monster kit for Christmas and passed General. I was 13. The DX-100 also worked 100W of AM on CB....(c; Name withheld - 5th Amendment Invoked.... |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Tom Francis wrote in
: Frankly, I'm sorry to see Morse bite dust - high speed Morse sent by hand is my favorite mode of communication. Noone has said anything about ELIMINATING CW....only CW TESTING, which has kept some very nice, but dyslexic, people off ham radio to its detriment for decades, which was stupid. It was used as a punishment weapon and deterrent to prevent new hams from becoming licensed without this "trial by fire" nonsense. The old farts at ARRL who kept the candle burning at the FCC offices for so many years wanted the bands for themselves. That's why 20 wpm Extra Class was invented, to reserve the best DX bands for the select few...most of whom never took a CW test but were grandfathered in. They're dead now, so life can move on... As CW has been used as a phone jamming device for so many years, under the guise of "we didn't hear you with our narrow band filters", I do wish we'd move one step further up the food chain and confine CW operation to the bottom 50 Khz of each band, so it no longer poses a nuisance to phone and data operations. Enough is more than enough. 60 Meters Ham Channels - http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/reg....html#thirteen General Class licensed boating hams should install these new "channels" into their opened-up marine radios and go read the ARRL's comments about their operation. 5 Mhz is a great band to operate, especially at night at sea. Power limit also favors your boat because it was limited to 50 watts ERP (Effective Radiated Power). Any untuned boat antenna with the awful lossy tuner and a 150 watt transmitter is in NO danger of going over 50W ERP. ONLY USB voice is permitted...no CW, no data, no Pactor email, no 10KW rich guy with the 800' tower and massive antenna arrays and ham radio is SECONDARY to the government's use of these channels, which I doubt government will ever use again, except in emergencies when they'll want all those hams using them to help out...the reason they allowed us to use them. Being ham frequencies, you don't need a guilt trip chatting with the "Lazy B" about the last party on some controlled marine channel with someone bitching at you to shut up. Being channelized, marine radios are perfect for USB operation on these channels. 60 meters should really make a nice boat ham radio frequency....for a marine net or just a bunch of friends who want to talk.....(c; Larry -- http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/verichip.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip http://www.verichipcorp.com/ Tracked like a dog, every license/product/tax. Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name... |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 09:25:48 -0500, Larry wrote:
In 1957, both when I got my ham license and at the start of 27 Mhz CB operations, I got 20W1956. What year did the 11 meter ham band become CB? |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:27:40 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote: 1958 when it was moved from the 400 MHz band. I remember it well - my Dad was apoplectic when they did it. :) 10-4 good buddy :-) I was in the last year of my Novice ticket, first year of my Tech license. 6 meter DX was all the rage that year, a really hot sun spot cycle. |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Wayne.B wrote in
: What year did the 11 meter ham band become CB? 1956, I think. Everyone's call started with a number of the FCC district, then W then 4 digits...until they ran out of W's real quick and switched to Q's for some strange reason. WA2STR, Howard, got 20Q1802 in the second 10,000 CB batch. His QSL with both written in green magic marker on an aerial view of Moravia, NY, hangs proudly, still, over my desk.... -- http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/verichip.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip http://www.verichipcorp.com/ Tracked like a dog, every license/product/tax. Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name... |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Short Wave Sportfishing wrote in
: 1958 when it was moved from the 400 MHz band. I remember it well - my Dad was apoplectic when they did it. :) Hmm...I thought it was '56. I stand rejected. -- http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/verichip.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip http://www.verichipcorp.com/ Tracked like a dog, every license/product/tax. Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name... |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Wayne.B wrote in
: I was in the last year of my Novice ticket, first year of my Tech license. 6 meter DX was all the rage that year, a really hot sun spot cycle. Lunchbox or were you one of the rich Gonset 6M hams...(c; Ahh...the reassuring glow of a 4-65 Gonset 6M linear lighting up the room through the window in it.... I built a 4X150 6M linear, but moved to 2M in the 60's in high school. At the time, we built some KW plumbing linears with a pair of 4CX250B's in push-pull mounted inside a copper pipe H. Man, that thing would put out the watts into a pair of 11 element phased beams pointed at the moon. -- http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/verichip.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip http://www.verichipcorp.com/ Tracked like a dog, every license/product/tax. Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name... |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 23:15:26 -0500, Larry wrote:
Lunchbox or were you one of the rich Gonset 6M hams...(c; Ahh...the reassuring glow of a 4-65 Gonset 6M linear lighting up the room through the window in it.... No, I was strictly a homebrew guy in those days although we did have a doctor in town who had the fancy Gonset linear. He used to bring it out for the Field Day contest in June and it was definitely cool to watch that plate glowing through the window. My 6m rig was built on some sort of scrap/recycled chasis and had a 832A in the final if my memory is correct. |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
In article ,
Wayne.B wrote: On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:27:40 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote: 1958 when it was moved from the 400 MHz band. I remember it well - my Dad was apoplectic when they did it. :) 10-4 good buddy :-) I was in the last year of my Novice ticket, first year of my Tech license. 6 meter DX was all the rage that year, a really hot sun spot cycle. Hold it, a second here folks..... they didn't "MOVE" it from the 400Mhz Band, they "ADDED" a Class Structure to Citzens Band. Class A.... 420 Mhz Now GMRS CFR 47 Part 95 Subpart A Class B.... I don't recall.... No Longer available Class C.... 27 Mhz Radio Control Now RCRS 47 CFR Part 95 Subpart C Class D.... 27 Mhz Voice Now CBRS 47 CFR Part 95 Subpart D Bruce in alaska -- add a 2 before @ |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
In article ,
Larry wrote: 60 Meters Ham Channels - http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/reg....html#thirteen General Class licensed boating hams should install these new "channels" into their opened-up marine radios and go read the ARRL's comments about their operation. 5 Mhz is a great band to operate, especially at night at sea. Power limit also favors your boat because it was limited to 50 watts ERP (Effective Radiated Power). Any untuned boat antenna with the awful lossy tuner and a 150 watt transmitter is in NO danger of going over 50W ERP. ONLY USB voice is permitted...no CW, no data, no Pactor email, no 10KW rich guy with the 800' tower and massive antenna arrays and ham radio is SECONDARY to the government's use of these channels, which I doubt government will ever use again, except in emergencies when they'll want all those hams using them to help out...the reason they allowed us to use them. Being ham frequencies, you don't need a guilt trip chatting with the "Lazy B" about the last party on some controlled marine channel with someone bitching at you to shut up. Being channelized, marine radios are perfect for USB operation on these channels. 60 meters should really make a nice boat ham radio frequency....for a marine net or just a bunch of friends who want to talk.....(c; Larry Just a note here..... As Larry Has mentioned 60 Meters is a very effective frequency for Maritime Mobile Stations in the Ham Radio Community. We, up here in Alaska, are very familiar with this Band, as we have had a Statewide Emergency Calling, and Safety, Frequency (5167.5Khz USB) in this band for a number of Years. This was implimented from the Alaska Private Fixed Radio Service, that for years, was the way we alaskans communicated from the bush to the towns and cities. We still have a Working Frequency (5164.5 Khz USB) in this band as well as a pile of 2Mhz, 3Mhz, 8Mhz, and 10Mhz Frequencies, that are mostly abandoned in this day of CellPhones and SAT based Telco Links. The 60 Meter Band typically has good coverage in Daytime for around 200 - 300 miles, and at night we cover the whole State, Sunspots may be required..... Bruce in alaska -- add a 2 before @ |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Larry wrote:
Larry, email me. I have an electronics question that's not appropriate for this NG ! |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg-
: Class A.... 420 Mhz Now GMRS CFR 47 Part 95 Subpart A Class B.... I don't recall.... No Longer available Class C.... 27 Mhz Radio Control Now RCRS 47 CFR Part 95 Subpart C Class D.... 27 Mhz Voice Now CBRS 47 CFR Part 95 Subpart D CB had RULES?!......(C; -- http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/verichip.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip http://www.verichipcorp.com/ Tracked like a dog, every license/product/tax. Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name... |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Tom Francis wrote in
: I might add that you needed a Technicians license to operate in the Class C radio controlled portion of 11 meters. Are you talkin' about that little extra channel between 15 and 16? All these years I thought that was for 10KW SSB stations! -- http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/verichip.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip http://www.verichipcorp.com/ Tracked like a dog, every license/product/tax. Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name... |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
Steve Thrasher wrote in news:4595afe8$1
@news.acsalaska.net: Larry wrote: Larry, email me. I have an electronics question that's not appropriate for this NG ! Email bounces. Got a real one? -- http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/verichip.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip http://www.verichipcorp.com/ Tracked like a dog, every license/product/tax. Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name... |
FCC drops morse code requirement for all HAM licenses
In article ,
Larry wrote: Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg- : Class A.... 420 Mhz Now GMRS CFR 47 Part 95 Subpart A Class B.... I don't recall.... No Longer available Class C.... 27 Mhz Radio Control Now RCRS 47 CFR Part 95 Subpart C Class D.... 27 Mhz Voice Now CBRS 47 CFR Part 95 Subpart D CB had RULES?!......(C; Yep, but the FCC is a "Toothless Tiger" since they did away with the Field Operations folks back in the Clinton/Gore Regieme........ Bruce in alaska -- add a 2 before @ |
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