But that it were!
Pat, K9JAUAt 01:30 PM 4/2/2016, you wrote:
>BlankI received this yesterday from our local club.
>
>Steve, K8SP
>
>FCC to Reinstate Morse Code Test
>
>
>
>April 1, 2016
>
>Washington, D.C. - April 1, 2016 - Today, the Federal Communications
>Commission (Commission or FCC) approved Report and Order 14-987af which
>reinstates the Morse Code test for General Class and Amateur Extra Class
>licensees. "It was a big mistake eliminating the Morse Code test," admits
>Dot N. Dasher, the FCC's director of examinations. "We now realize that
>being able to send and receive Morse Code is an essential skill for radio
>amateurs. As they say, it really does get through when other modes can't."
>
>Not only will new applicants have to take the test, but General Class
>licensees who have never passed a code test will have one year to pass a
>5-wpm code test. Similarly, Amateur Extra class licensees that never passed
>a code test will have one year to pass a 13-wpm test. Those amateurs that
>fail to pass the test will face revocation of their operating privileges.
>Materials for administering the examinations will be distributed to
>Volunteer Examiner Coordinators by the end of April, so that they can begin
>the testing on May 1, 2016.
>
>"This isn't going to be one of those silly multiple-choice type tests,"
>noted Dasher. "We're going to be sending five-character random code groups,
>just like we did in the old days. And, applicants will have to prove that
>they can send, too, using a poorly adjusted straight key."
>
>Technician Class licensees will not be required to take a Morse Code test,
>nor will a test be required for new applicants. "We discussed it," said
>Dasher, "but decided that since most Techs can't even figure out how to
>program their HTs, requiring them to learn Morse Code seemed like cruel and
>unusual punishment."
>
>When asked what other actions we might see from the FCC, Dasher hinted that
>in the future applicants taking the written exam may be required to draw
>circuit diagrams, such as Colpitts oscillators and diode ring mixers, once
>again. "We're beginning to think that if an applicant passes an amateur
>radio license exam it  should mean that he or she actually knows something,"
>she said.
>
>For further information, contact James X. Shorts, Assistant Liaison to the
>Deputy Chief of Public Relations for the FCC
>
>
>"A person cannot survive as a true Spartan fan unless he is a bit of 
>a masochist
>and a very large optimist."
>
>Steve
>Lansing, MI