This is great!  I was so hoping it was real when I read it <g>.

Tom


Tom Brennan  KD5VIJ, CCC-A/SLP
web page http://titan.sfasu.edu/~g_brennantg/sonicpage.html

On Sat, 2 Apr 2016, Steve wrote:

> Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2016 14:30:15 -0400
> From: Steve <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: For blind ham radio operators <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: FCC to Re-Instate Code Test
>
> 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
>