[CQ-Contest] If you do NOT understand why I am angry, read this!

[Jim White, K4OJ]

.....from the man who makes EVEN MORE money every time the license
standards are lowered comes the following...read it and mebbe you will get
where I am coming from!




No Code International's Comments on the ARRL's Restructuring
Proposal

The board of No-Code International (NCI) would like to comment on
the ARRL's latest license restructuring proposal.

1.  The ARRL has proposed a 5 WPM "General Class" license, which
they call "Class C".  NCI applauds the ARRL board for making this
brave decision.  We'd like to encourage the ARRL's directors and
membership to do more thinking in this direction.

2.  No-Code International stands for the elimination of the Morse
code examination as a criterion for amateur licensing.  We note
that the ARRL has proposed a 12 WPM exam for the proposed "Class
B" and "Class A" licenses.  We feel that these licenses should
also require only a 5 WPM exam, and we urge the ARRL to make that
change to their proposal.  This is not to say that we are opposed
to the use of high-speed CW on the air.  We simply think it is
something that amateurs should do voluntarily, and it should not
stand in the way of their becoming HF operators.

3.  The sole remaining reason for Morse code examinations stems
from a 50-year-old regulation now called "S25.5" in the
International Telecommunications Union treaty which requires
manual Morse proficiency to be demonstrated before a license can
be issued for operation in amateur spectrum below 30 MHz.  S25.5
should be struck from the treaty at the next ITU meeting.  We
urge the ARRL, the IARU and its member societies, and all ITU
member nations and observers to work toward the elimination of
S25.5 as soon as is practicable.

4.  Once S25.5 is struck, Morse code examination should be
eliminated entirely as a criterion for amateur licensing.  We
urge FCC to adopt a "sunset clause" that will immediately drop
all Morse requirements for amateur licensing once S25.5 is
struck.  We urge ARRL and American radio amateurs to join us in
this proposal. 

5.  Given that CW speeds over 5 WPM should be irrelevant for
amateur licensing, the ARRL proposal includes one more license
class than is necessary.  NCI proposes a modification to the ARRL
plan which would combine the ARRL's proposed "A" and "B" classes
into a single Class "A" license with the combined privileges of
the ARRL's proposed "A" and "B" classes, a combined written test,
and a 5 WPM Morse requirement.  The ARRL's proposed "C" class
(entry level HF) would therefore be called Class "B" and the
ARRL's proposed Class "D" (equivalent to the current Technician
Class) would become Class "C".

6.  We don't yet know what the FCC Notice of Proposed Rule-Making
will contain.  Obviously, once it's released, we will present the
no-code case to FCC, and we may choose to write them while they
are still composing the NPRM, as the ARRL already has.  You can
expect us to comment on the obsolescence of all code-testing, on
the number of license classes, and on many other relevant issues.

As authorized by the			No Code International
Board of Directors

     						Fred Maia, W5YI
     						Executive Director







Surely the majority of hams do not feel this way, please tell me I am not
wrong on this. 


73,

Jim, K4OJ



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