DCARC FORUM!

[n0vek]

Code-free upgrades to General or Amateur Extra will not be available at volunteer examination sessions until the 5 WPM Morse code requirement disappears from the FCC's Amateur Radio Service rules on February 23. ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, says that, judging from the questions he's been getting, many in the amateur community -- including some Volunteer Examiners (VEs)
-- don't fully understand the new rules that resulted from the FCC's Report and Order (R&O) in the ''Morse code proceeding,'' WT Docket 05-235. He stresses that VE teams may not accept upgrade applications in advance of February 23, then hold the paperwork.

''There will be no instant midnight upgrades February 23 for applicants advancing to General or Amateur Extra,'' Henderson explains. ''You must make application.'' He further advises that a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) valid for Element 3 (General) or Element 4 (Amateur Extra) credit does not confer any operating privileges and, lacking Morse code credit, is no good for an upgrade until the new rules become effective.

''Anyone holding or earning a valid CSCE for element credit must wait until February 23 to redeem it at a volunteer examination session,''
he says. ''You may not operate as /AG or /AE until you have upgraded and have been issued a CSCE marked for upgrade.'' A CSCE is good for
365 days from the date of issuance, no exceptions.

Henderson further emphasizes that those who qualified as Technician licensees under the examination regime in place from March 21, 1987, until April 15, 2000, do not get General class Element 3 credit on that basis. That's because the ''old'' Element 3 is not the same as the current Element 3.

Applicants upgrading at a test session on or after February 23 on the basis of a valid CSCE must present the certificate for element credit, fill out an application and pay any applicable exam session fee, which most VECs charge. Between now and then, Henderson points out, upgrade applicants still have the option of passing the 5 WPM Element 1 Morse code test in addition to the General or Amateur Extra written tests.

Technician licensees who have not passed a Morse code examination automatically gain new privileges on February 23 without having to apply at an exam session.

The ARRL has posted all relevant information on these important Part
97 rule revisions on its ''FCC's Morse Code Report and Order WT Docket 05-235'' Web page, www.arrl.org/fcc/morse/.
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