Newington, CT January 24, 2007 -- Morse code will no longer be a requirement for earning an Amateur Radio (often called “ham” radio) license. In a ruling published in the January 24 Federal Register, the FCC announced the elimination of testing for Morse code proficiency for all Amateur Radio licenses. The change will take effect February 23. The FCC will also allow new Amateurs to use more frequencies --including those which can talk all over the world.

The FCC also announced that the holders of the entry level, Technician Class, license will gain new privileges previously reserved for Amateurs who had passed a Morse code exam. The new privileges will allow worldwide communication under certain conditions, but the major change is that the other two classes of Amateur licenses - General and Amateur-Extra – no longer require Morse code proficiency. The General license provides full operating privileges except in some frequency bands that are reserved for the Extra class operators. The change means that more Amateur Radio operators will be available to assist during communications emergencies such as Katrina in 2005 when hundreds of Amateurs helped plug a communications gap.

For more information see www.arrl.org