karn (07/04/82)
July 1, 1982 To all radio amateurs -- At its July 1 open meeting FCC has instructed its staff to draft a notice of proposed rulemaking dealing with a codeless amateur radio license. This NPRM will propose to simply remove the code requirement from the present Technician class license, with access limited to frequencies above 50 Mhz. The present Technician class license requiring code and permitting access to the Novice bands would also remain in force. However, the NPRM will also explore the possibility of a codeless digital license, similar to Canada's Digital Radio Operator Certificate, which requires knowledge of digital theory. Such a digital license could either be the only codeless license or it could be concurrent with a codeless Technician license. The NPRM will be released sometime this fall, and is a proposal only. There will be a comment period during which all interested parties will have a chance to make their views known to FCC.