I have been told that the Morse Code requirement for a Ham license is
required by international treaty. Others have said the requirement
will soon go by the wayside. I find the written and theory parts of
the Ham exam easy but code is an insurmountable obsticle for me. Any
chance that code will be dropped soon as a requirement for anything
more than a Novice license.

It is true that the code requirement is part of international treaty.
There is no such thing as a Novice license anymore. That was
done when the reorganization took place a few years back.
Licenses a Technician (no code), General (5WPM code) and
Extra (5 WPM code). Most folks can get past the 5WPM code
test with some effort. Last I heard, the issues of eliminating the
code is on the agenda for the next ITU meeting, but not sure
when that is. They only meet every ten years or something like
that. SOmebody else was asking me about this recently. They
thought they had heard that the code was now eliminated. I'll
check it out.


Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Stan Winikoff" wrote in message
om...
I have been told that the Morse Code requirement for a Ham license is
required by international treaty. Others have said the requirement
will soon go by the wayside. I find the written and theory parts of
the Ham exam easy but code is an insurmountable obsticle for me. Any
chance that code will be dropped soon as a requirement for anything
more than a Novice license.

"Doug Dotson" wrote in message ...
It is true that the code requirement is part of international treaty.
There is no such thing as a Novice license anymore. That was
done when the reorganization took place a few years back.
Licenses a Technician (no code), General (5WPM code) and
Extra (5 WPM code).

General and Extra only have a 5wpm code requirement now? jeez.
It used to be 13wpm and 20 wpm I think for those licenses.

Incidentally, there are still people who have the novice license,
so there still is one, but the FCC doesn't issue them anymore.
The Tech(no code) is the entry license now. But if you were
a Novice and you upgrade to the Tech, then you become a
Tech(code), which is basically Tech voice frequencies + the
novice code frequencies. right?

So if you already have your code from Novice at 5wpm, do you
have to re-take the code test to upgrade to General or do you
just take a written test?

-mike

Most folks can get past the 5WPM code
test with some effort. Last I heard, the issues of eliminating the
code is on the agenda for the next ITU meeting, but not sure
when that is. They only meet every ten years or something like
that. SOmebody else was asking me about this recently. They
thought they had heard that the code was now eliminated. I'll
check it out.


Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Stan Winikoff" wrote in message
om...
I have been told that the Morse Code requirement for a Ham license is
required by international treaty. Others have said the requirement
will soon go by the wayside. I find the written and theory parts of
the Ham exam easy but code is an insurmountable obsticle for me. Any
chance that code will be dropped soon as a requirement for anything
more than a Novice license.

"Michael Sutton" wrote
"Doug Dotson" wrote
It is true that the code requirement is part of international treaty.

Not since the last (ITU?) convention just last year. It was dropped and
several countries (Japan & Canada?) quit code testing. The US FCC still
requires 5 wpm for General and Extra (ie, to use HF) but ARRL has petitioned
FCC to drop it. Don't hold your breath - FCC is OK but is still an American
bureaucracy so I'm sure anyone here can learn 5 wpm faster than it'll act on
the petition.

So if you already have your code from Novice at 5wpm, .....

Volunteer Examiners will give you credit if you have proof you passed it -
eg if you have a Novice or a Tech license dated before the advent of no-code
tech. In fact those who did code + novice written to become Novices, then
took the General written exam to become Techs can apply to get grandfathered
to General.

BTW, my child bride heads a W5YI VE team that admin's tests every other
month in Fredricksburg VA. If some of you want to take an exam in VA's
No.Neck or Middle Peninsula area she could prolly help.

K3DWW

" I find the written and theory parts of
the Ham exam easy but code is an insurmountable obsticle for me.

There's no need for the code to be an insurmountable obstacle. Get a copy of
a PC-based Morse code tutor program (such as Morse Tutor Gold, or search the
web for Morse code tutoring software), and spend just thirty minutes a day
at it. In no time at all, you'll find that you can read the code at five
words per minute. Just give it a try and you'll be surprised.

Good luck,
Tom Dacon
AD7AE

"Vito" wrote in
:

Not since the last (ITU?) convention just last year. It was dropped
and several countries (Japan & Canada?) quit code testing. The US FCC
still requires 5 wpm for General and Extra (ie, to use HF) but ARRL
has petitioned FCC to drop it. Don't hold your breath - FCC is OK but
is still an American bureaucracy so I'm sure anyone here can learn 5
wpm faster than it'll act on the petition.

ARRL wants code dropped? My, my that IS a switch. ARRL has always wanted
to take ham radio back to 1935 any time I've seen them. They opposed us
having RTTY, every digital mode, AM, SSB, continuously. ARRL is the reason
the damned phone bands end at a higher frequency than the DX uses, damn
them.

I believe US and UK are the only CW hangers on because of their ARRL and
RGSB old fogies wanting to turn the clock back to "the good ol' days".

73, Larry W4CSC

An angry ARRL bureaucrat, dressed up like someone important, once
threatened to have my ham radio license revoked because he wanted to shut
me up asking embarrassing questions at an open forum. I told him the day
the damned ARRL could have my license revoked would be the day I
voluntarily would send it in. I'm still on the air.....(c;

I guess I'm a little behind as well. If I recall correctly, when the
last rule change happened that made 5WPM the speed for
General and Advanced, it was stated that the ITU requirement
was the reason that it could not be dropped entirely. Once the
ITU dropped the requirement, the FCC would iniate action
to follow suit. Personally, I think the code should stay.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Vito" wrote in message
...
"Michael Sutton" wrote
"Doug Dotson" wrote
It is true that the code requirement is part of international treaty.

Not since the last (ITU?) convention just last year. It was dropped and
several countries (Japan & Canada?) quit code testing. The US FCC still
requires 5 wpm for General and Extra (ie, to use HF) but ARRL has
petitioned
FCC to drop it. Don't hold your breath - FCC is OK but is still an
American
bureaucracy so I'm sure anyone here can learn 5 wpm faster than it'll act
on
the petition.

So if you already have your code from Novice at 5wpm, .....

Volunteer Examiners will give you credit if you have proof you passed it -
eg if you have a Novice or a Tech license dated before the advent of
no-code
tech. In fact those who did code + novice written to become Novices, then
took the General written exam to become Techs can apply to get
grandfathered
to General.

BTW, my child bride heads a W5YI VE team that admin's tests every other
month in Fredricksburg VA. If some of you want to take an exam in VA's
No.Neck or Middle Peninsula area she could prolly help.

K3DWW

Actually, there have been some studies done that do indicate
that morse code is an insurmountable obstacle for some.
Maybe a left brain vs right brain thing or something.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Tom Dacon" wrote in message
...

" I find the written and theory parts of
the Ham exam easy but code is an insurmountable obsticle for me.

There's no need for the code to be an insurmountable obstacle. Get a copy
of
a PC-based Morse code tutor program (such as Morse Tutor Gold, or search
the
web for Morse code tutoring software), and spend just thirty minutes a day
at it. In no time at all, you'll find that you can read the code at five
words per minute. Just give it a try and you'll be surprised.

Good luck,
Tom Dacon
AD7AE

Doug Dotson wrote:

I guess I'm a little behind as well. If I recall correctly, when the
last rule change happened that made 5WPM the speed for
General and Advanced, it was stated that the ITU requirement
was the reason that it could not be dropped entirely. Once the
ITU dropped the requirement, the FCC would iniate action
to follow suit. Personally, I think the code should stay.

I am a bit worried about the bands going the way of CB if it gets to
easy but the code requirement really needs to go. I would like to see
the writtens get a lot tougher or at least not publish the actual
questions and answers in study books. Anybody with half a brain can
memorize a book from Radio Shack and pass it now.

--
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

I have agree with that. But I found that learning the stuff was
alot easier than memorizing all the questions in the test
bank.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:Fqdoc.12635$Lm3.9028@lakeread04...


Doug Dotson wrote:

I guess I'm a little behind as well. If I recall correctly, when the
last rule change happened that made 5WPM the speed for
General and Advanced, it was stated that the ITU requirement
was the reason that it could not be dropped entirely. Once the
ITU dropped the requirement, the FCC would iniate action
to follow suit. Personally, I think the code should stay.

I am a bit worried about the bands going the way of CB if it gets to
easy but the code requirement really needs to go. I would like to see
the writtens get a lot tougher or at least not publish the actual
questions and answers in study books. Anybody with half a brain can
memorize a book from Radio Shack and pass it now.

--
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