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Newington, CT December 18, 2006 -- Morse code will no longer be a requirement for earning any Amateur Radio (often called "ham" radio) license in the US. In a statement last week, the FCC joined an international trend by announcing the elimination of testing for proficiency in Morse code for all Amateur Radio license classes.

While many Amateur Radio operators continue to learn and use Morse code, now it is for their own enjoyment of the skill. The hams have been using newer digital, image, satellite, voice and other modern wireless technologies for years. Nonetheless, the FCC move to eliminate code testing (Report & Order in WT Docket 05-235) signaled the end of an era.

Since 1991 it has been possible to earn a "Technician" class Amateur Radio license without passing a Morse examination. The higher class licenses, "General" and "Amateur Extra," required at least 5 words per minute code proficiency. Within 72 hours of the announcement that the Morse requirement was being dropped, the ARRL staff reported a doubling of the requests for study materials for new or upgrading licensees.

The elimination of a Morse code requirement for all license classes ends a longstanding national and international regulatory tradition in the requirements for Amateur Radio licenses. 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. The FCC action follows revisions to the international Radio Regulations resulting from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference in 2003. At that gathering, delegates agreed to authorize each individual country to determine whether or not to require that applicants demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an Amateur Radio license. The ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, had requested that the code requirement be retained for the highest license classification (Amateur Extra class), but the FCC, as expected, chose to drop it entirely.

For more information see www.arrl.org