What to Do About Morse? Code Requirement Remains on the Books in US, Canada

Photo by: Jean Collier, N1MJC

NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 22, 2003--World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03) made optional the requirement to prove the ability to send and receive Morse signals to operate below 30 MHz. While a Morse code exam element remains on the books in the US, Canada and elsewhere, some countries already have moved to drop their Morse requirements. In the US, however, Morse will not go away that easily, since the FCC appears unlikely to act on its own motion to make that happen.

"There isn't an exception in the Administrative Procedures Act that I am aware of that would permit the Commission to issue an administrative fiat changing the license structure or exam-requirement rules," said an FCC staffer who's closely involved with Amateur Service rules. Other countries can do this because they have different laws and procedures, the FCC staff member observed, adding that even if it could be done here, "that still leaves unanswered the fundamental question: What do you want the new rules to be?"

As for where the FCC stands, the Commission itself may have tipped its hand slightly in its December 1999 Report and Order restructuring the Amateur Radio licensing system. "We believe that an individual's ability to demonstrate increased Morse code proficiency is not necessarily indicative of that individual's ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art," the FCC said in dropping the 20 and 13-WPM Morse code elements from the testing regime.

While the FCC in 1999 minimized radiotelegraphy as "just one of numerous diverse modes of radiocommunication," it stopped short of revising the Amateur Service rules to sunset the Morse examination requirement automatically if WRC-03 deleted Morse proficiency from the international Radio Regulations. At the same time, the FCC acknowledged "a clear dichotomy of viewpoints" on the Morse code issue within the amateur community.

Switzerland apparently has become the first country to delete its Morse requirement for HF operation. Effective July 15, the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) granted all Swiss "no-code" licensees access--albeit provisional--to the HF bands using their current call signs. Citing the recent WRC-03 decision, OFCOM said the temporary permission to use the HF bands would suffice until the rule could be changed. USKA--the Swiss International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) member-society--wished "good DX" to present no-code licensees on HF.

Photo by: Jean Collier, N1MJC

The First Step in a Potentially Long Journey

The first move on the Morse code question in the US would be for someone in the amateur community to file a Petition for Rule Making with the FCC seeking the change. That apparently has not happened yet. No Code International (NCI) has long spearheaded the battle to eliminate the Morse requirement and is the most likely organization to file such a petition. As of late last week, NCI was still studying the matter.

"NCI has not yet made a final decision on a plan of action, though we are discussing it amongst the Board of Directors and have sought the advice of acquaintances at several well-regarded Washington communications law firms on how to best approach the matter," said NCI Executive Director Carl Stevenson, WK3C.

Stevenson--an ARRL member--says it's his personal hope that the League would join NCI in actively encouraging the FCC to eliminate the Morse test element as soon as possible. "I think the League will do itself a great disservice if it continues to seek to impose Morse testing in the US rules as other countries around the world drop Morse testing en masse," he said. Stevenson said the League "does many, many things that are very valuable to the US amateur community," and he believes the ARRL's stance on the Morse issue has diluted or even negated some of the goodwill it's established.

NCI's and Stevenson's hopes for a quick resolution to the Morse question could be wishful thinking, however. Once a petition to drop Morse is filed, the FCC will put it on "public notice" by assigning an RM number and soliciting comments. If more than one such petition is filed, the FCC is obliged to put each on public notice and invite comments. When that process is completed, the FCC may determine that a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) is in order. The Commission at that point could incorporate all Morse-related rule making petitions into a single proceeding. The NPRM would get a docket number, and the comment process would begin anew.

Further complicating and extending the process, the FCC most likely would incorporate other pending Amateur Radio-related issues into the same NPRM. That's how it's tended to handle amateur regulatory matters in recent years.

At the end of the comment and reply comment periods, the FCC would issue a Report and Order (R&O) that includes its decision on the Morse code requirement and the other issues it may have incorporated into the proceeding. The whole process could take a couple of years, perhaps longer.

US Senate Ratification?

Some believe that because the Morse code requirement was, in effect, a treaty obligation, its deletion requires ratification by the US Senate before the FCC can act. This is not the case.

According to a footnote in a Government Accounting Office (GAO) report, "Telecommunications: Better Coordination and Enhanced Accountability Needed to Improve Spectrum Management," released last September, the US Department of State has yet to submit the Final Acts of the World Radiocommunication Conferences of 1992, 1995, 1997 or 2000 to the US Senate for ratification.

"Department of State officials said that the agency is preparing to send all of these Final Acts to the Senate as one package," the GAO report said, "and that ratification is not necessary for the United States to implement the agreements."

Ahead of the Curve

Following WRC-03, the United Kingdom's Radiocommunications Agency (RA) quickly proposed dropping the 5 WPM Morse requirement for access to amateur bands below 30 MHz and merging the Class A and B license classes. This week, the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) announced that, effective July 26, Class B amateurs in the UK will gain HF privileges without having to pass a Morse code test.

"All Full and Intermediate Class B licensees are therefore automatically granted their respective Class A operating privileges and may operate on the HF bands using their existing call signs," the RSGB told its members. "Class B licensees need not take any action to obtain these additional operating privileges." The action does not affect Foundation licensees in Great Britain.

The RSGB thanked the RA for "moving quickly" to introduce the change. An official Gazette Notice--the RA's equivalent of a Report and Order--will be published July 25. The RSGB will post a Frequently Asked Questions on its Web site.

The RSGB has been ahead of the curve in the effort to oust Morse as a requirement. Last year, the society convinced the RA to adopt the Foundation license to further the RSGB's campaign--begun in 1998--to have the IARU reconsider its support at that time for mandatory Morse code testing for HF access. The Foundation ticket requires a simplified Morse code "assessment" instead of an exam. In 2001, the IARU announced that it was setting aside "any previous relevant decisions" and henceforth would "support the removal of Morse code testing as an ITU requirement for an amateur license to operate on frequencies below 30 MHz."

That same year, the ARRL Board of Directors reiterated the League's policy that Morse "should be retained as a testing element in the US." That policy continues. Following its January 2001 Board meeting, the League said Morse code was "deserving of continued support as an important operating mode including providing for the protection and maintenance of sufficient spectrum in band planning." At its July 19-20 meeting in Connecticut, the Board affirmed its interest in reviewing input from members on this and other possible revisions to Part 97 that arose from WRC-03.

Morse North of the Border

The Industry Canada Amateur Radio Service Centre and Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) have received numerous inquiries about the status of Morse examinations north of the border and the qualifications required for HF operation.

"Canadian radio amateurs are advised that Basic and Morse Qualifications are still required for operation below 30 MHz," the RAC said, "and that this requirement will remain pending a review by Industry Canada of the impact of the WRC-2003 regulatory changes on the Canadian radio regulations, policies and procedures."

RAC said it would work with Industry Canada to review the impact of the WRC-03 decisions. It advised Canadian amateurs to send comments on the topic of Morse code as a licensing requirement to their RAC regional directors.

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