The FCC recently dismissed two petitions from amateur radio operators for changes to the licensing system (see the ARRL bulletin below). One of them asked the FCC to make all Novices Technician Class licensees, all Advanceds Extra Class licensees, and then eliminate the Novice and Advanced license classes. The second asked the FCC to allow Advanced Class licensees to operate CW in the portions of the HF bands that are currently restricted to Extra Class licensees.
Personally, I wouldn’t be against making all Novices Techs. While I have worked some Novices, my guess is that 99.9% of them are inactive and giving them Tech privileges isn’t going to make much of a difference. Many current Extra Class licensees, especially those that actually passed the 20 wpm code test, would probably oppose the second petition, but again, I don’t think that had it been approved it would have made much of a difference.
Jeff, KE9V, opined on Twitter:
Jeff Davis Anyone recall the last time the FCC sided with a petition from a radio ham? http://www.arrl.org/News/view/6185 via
SB QST @ ARL $ARLB002
ARLB002 FCC Dismisses Two Petitions from Radio Amateurs
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QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 2 ARLB002
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT January 6, 2017
To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARL ARLB002
ARLB002 FCC Dismisses Two Petitions from Radio Amateurs
The FCC has turned down two petitions filed in 2016, each seeking similar changes in the Part 97 Amateur Service rules. James Edwin Whedbee, N0ECN, of Gladstone, Missouri, had asked the Commission to amend the rules to reduce the number of Amateur Radio operator classes to Technician, General, and Amateur Extra by merging remaining Novice class licensees into the Technician class and all Advanced class licensees into the Amateur Extra class. In a somewhat related petition, Jeffrey H. Siegell, WB2YRL, of Burke, Virginia, had requested that the FCC grant Advanced class license holders Morse code operating privileges equivalent to those enjoyed by Amateur Extra class licensees.
“Thus, Mr. Siegell’s proposed rule change is subsumed within the changes Mr. Whedbee requests, so our analysis is the same for both proposals,” the FCC said in dismissing the two petitions on January 5.
The FCC streamlined the Amateur Radio licensing system into three classes – Technician, General, and Amateur Extra – in 1999. While it no longer issues new Novice or Advanced class licenses, existing licenses can be renewed, and Novice and Advanced licensees retained their operating privileges.
“The Commission concluded that the three-class structure would streamline the licensing process, while still providing an incentive for licensees to advance their communication and technical skills,” the FCC recounted in its dismissal letter to Whedbee and Siegell. It specifically rejected suggestions that Novice and Advanced class licensees be automatically upgraded to a higher class, concluding that it would be inappropriate for these licensees to “receive additional privileges without passing the required examination elements.” The FCC cited the same reason in 2005, when it denied requests to automatically upgrade Technician licensees to General class and Advanced licensees to Amateur Extra class, as part of a wide-ranging proceeding.
The FCC said the two petitions “do not demonstrate, or even suggest, that any relevant circumstances have changed that would merit reconsideration of those decisions.”
Whedbee had argued that automatically upgrading current Novice and Advanced classes would simplify the rules and reduce the Commission’s costs and administrative burden, but the FCC said Whedbee provided no evidence that an administrative problem exists. “Moreover, such benefits would not outweigh the public interest in ensuring that amateur operators have the requisite incentive to advance their skill and technical knowledge in order to contribute to the advancement of the radio art and improvement of the Amateur Radio Service,” the FCC said.
“The Commission has already concluded that it will not automatically grant additional privileges to the discontinued license classes,” the FCC said. “Consequently, we conclude that the above-referenced petitions for rulemaking do not warrant further consideration at this time.”
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Dan
you wrote:
“Many current Extra Class licensees, especially those that actually passed the 20 wpm code test, would probably oppose the second petition, ”
Agreed. But, looking at the growth of the Extra Class since restructuring, it seems that those that passed a 20 wpm test are in the minority.
I think that the salient point here is that the second petition was only asking for CW privileges — not full Extra privileges.
In the Big Picture, it doesn’t matter to the FCC what Extras oppose. But it seems petty to me that a “no-code” Extra would oppose granting CW privileges to an Advanced licensee that had to actually pass a code test.
I agree with you, Todd. I’m just noting what might be the reasons for the FCC denying the petition. Having said that, I don’t think that it’s unreasonable to ask folks to pass the Extra Class test. It’s not like we’re asking them to get a degree in electrical engineering.
No, it’s not unreasonable and it seems as if that’s what the FCC expected would happen after restructuring.
To me, it points to an inherent weakness in the concept of “incentive licensing”. I know at least five Extras, and none of them upgraded for enhanced privileges. They seldom operate on HF at all, in fact. Either they upgraded for the “challenge”, or they did it because their role as a VE demanded it.
I think if the FCC created a higher class than Extra without any additional privileges, at least 50k hams would upgrade within two years.
Oh, for sure. Lots of people just like to get the paper. In fact, we probably could make some money doing this. Come up with an Extra Extra test, charge people to take it, and then charge them different amounts for things like certificates, plaques, etc.
I did pass the More Code Test but never use it. More Code is out of date and most ham operator I meat never use it, Leave it a long.
James
KI4HTC
You’re just not meeting the right hams, then, James. Why don’t you use it?
KI4HTC
I have try to pass the Extra Class but never pass it because it was to hard for me I have General class license it was much easy for me, I might try to take the Extra Class test this Year if I don’t pass it I may just give it up trying for it. Our World is change every day and the and ever thing we learned is out of date.