FCC Noncommittal on "Morse Code" Proceeding Action

NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 13, 2006--Just when the FCC will act on the "Morse code" proceeding, WT Docket 05-235, remains hazy. The Commission released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order (NPRM&O) last July proposing to eliminate the Element 1 (5 WPM) Morse code requirement for all license classes. The Amateur Radio community has filed more than 3800 comments on the proceeding, and additional comments continue to show up, even though the formal comment deadline was last October 31 (with reply comments by November 14). The next--and most-anticipated--step for the Commission is to formally adopt any revisions to its rules and conclude the proceeding with a Report and Order (R&O) that spells out the changes and specifies their effective date.

"There really is no news," an FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau staffer told ARRL on background. "We certainly hope to release WT Docket 05-235 sometime this year, but we're not making any predictions at this time. We certainly are not saving up any big announcements for Dayton Hamvention."

When the FCC does act on WT 05-235, no one's expecting any major surprises: The Commission appears poised to simply drop the Morse requirement as it proposed last summer. Beyond eliminating the Morse requirement, the FCC declined in its NPRM&O to go forward with any other suggested changes to Amateur Service licensing rules or operating privileges.

The proceeding began with 18 petitions for rule making--many just calling for the elimination of the Morse requirement but some asking for more far-reaching changes in the Amateur Service rules. The various petitions attracted a total of some 6200 comments. The FCC subsequently consolidated the petitions--including one from the ARRL asking the FCC to establish a new entry-level license class and to retain the Morse requirement for Amateur Extra class applicants--into a single proceeding designated WT 05-235.

Worth noting is that the FCC did not propose in WT 05-235 to extend HF privileges to current Technician licensees who have not passed a Morse code examination. In its NPRM&O the FCC suggested that in a no-Morse-requirement regime, such "codeless Techs" would be able to gain HF access by taking the Element 3 General class written examination.

Another Docket Ahead of Morse Code Proceeding

Before it releases an R&O on the Morse code proceeding, however, the WTB wants to wrap up action in another Amateur Radio-related docket--the "Phone Band Expansion" (or "Omnibus") NPRM in WT Docket 04-140, released April 15, 2004. A dozen petitions for rulemaking, some dating back to 2001, were consolidated in the Omnibus proceeding. In that NPRM, the Commission proposed to go along with the ARRL's Novice refarming plan aimed at reallocating the current Novice/Tech Plus subbands to expand portions of the 80, 40 and 15 meter phone bands. The FCC also agreed with an ARRL proposal to extend privileges in the current General CW-only HF subbands to present Novice and Tech Plus licensees (or Technicians with Element 1 credit).

At Dayton Hamvention 2005, the FCC's Bill Cross, W3TN, told the FCC Forum that commenters generally seemed to support the League's Novice refarming proposal, although he cited requests to establish even wider phone bands "particularly in the 75-meter band." The Amateur Radio community also was very favorably disposed toward the FCC's proposal in WT 04-140 to essentially do away with its rules prohibiting the manufacture and marketing to Amateur Radio operators of amplifiers capable of operation on 12 and 10 meters, Cross said.

CW Bands, Privileges Unaffected

Any FCC decision to eliminate the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for HF access would have no impact on either the current HF CW-only subbands or on the CW privileges of Amateur Radio licensees. The Morse code proceeding neither put forward nor recommended any changes in CW allocations or privileges.

Previous: "SuitSat-1" Keeps on Ticking; Low Power Output Eyed as Cause for Weak Signal

Next: 3Y0X and NA1SS Log Historic QSO