Saturday, July 30, 2005
Canada Drops Morse Requirement as Sole Additional Requirement for HF Access
From the ARRL Newsletter Vol 24, No 29
Industry Canada (IC) has adopted elements of the Radio Amateurs of Canada
(RAC) "Proposal on Morse Code and Related Matters" and has essentially
removed the requirement for Amateur Radio applicants in that country to
obtain a "Morse Qualification" for access to bands below 30 MHz.
"Morse code will no longer be the sole additional requirement by which
Canadian radio amateurs will gain access to the HF bands, but it will remain
as one valid criterion," Industry Canada said in its Notice announcing the
regulatory change. Industry Canada said it will continue to include Morse
code as a consideration in granting access to the HF bands. "However, this
is only one criterion and the measure of HF operator abilities should not be
limited to this one facet of operator skills," IC added.
Effective immediately, amateurs certified with the Basic Qualification prior
to April 2, 2002, and amateurs certified with both Basic and Advanced
Qualifications may operate on the HF amateur bands. Licensees holding only
the Basic Qualification who were certified after April 1, 2002, and who
achieved a passing grade of at least 80 percent also are allowed to operate
on HF.
Amateurs certified with the Basic Qualification after April 1, 2002, who did
not achieve a score of at least an 80 on the examination will either have to
attain the Morse Qualification, write the Advanced test or rewrite the Basic
examination and obtain at least an 80 percent grade to obtain HF privileges.
This last requirement is related to a decision to increase the passing grade
for the Basic examination to ensure that candidates have been tested in all
areas of the syllabus. Details of the Industry Canada decision are in the
Canada Gazette Notice and on the Latest News page of the RAC Web site.
FCC Amateur Service rules in §97.107(b) grant Canadian control operators
"the operating terms and conditions of the amateur service license issued by
the Government of Canada" but, in any case, not to exceed the control
operator privileges of an FCC-licensed Amateur Extra class operator. §97.107
does not apply to US citizens who may hold Canadian amateur licenses,
however.
Industry Canada (IC) has adopted elements of the Radio Amateurs of Canada
(RAC) "Proposal on Morse Code and Related Matters" and has essentially
removed the requirement for Amateur Radio applicants in that country to
obtain a "Morse Qualification" for access to bands below 30 MHz.
"Morse code will no longer be the sole additional requirement by which
Canadian radio amateurs will gain access to the HF bands, but it will remain
as one valid criterion," Industry Canada said in its Notice announcing the
regulatory change. Industry Canada said it will continue to include Morse
code as a consideration in granting access to the HF bands. "However, this
is only one criterion and the measure of HF operator abilities should not be
limited to this one facet of operator skills," IC added.
Effective immediately, amateurs certified with the Basic Qualification prior
to April 2, 2002, and amateurs certified with both Basic and Advanced
Qualifications may operate on the HF amateur bands. Licensees holding only
the Basic Qualification who were certified after April 1, 2002, and who
achieved a passing grade of at least 80 percent also are allowed to operate
on HF.
Amateurs certified with the Basic Qualification after April 1, 2002, who did
not achieve a score of at least an 80 on the examination will either have to
attain the Morse Qualification, write the Advanced test or rewrite the Basic
examination and obtain at least an 80 percent grade to obtain HF privileges.
This last requirement is related to a decision to increase the passing grade
for the Basic examination to ensure that candidates have been tested in all
areas of the syllabus. Details of the Industry Canada decision are in the
Canada Gazette Notice and on the Latest News page of the RAC Web site.
FCC Amateur Service rules in §97.107(b) grant Canadian control operators
"the operating terms and conditions of the amateur service license issued by
the Government of Canada" but, in any case, not to exceed the control
operator privileges of an FCC-licensed Amateur Extra class operator. §97.107
does not apply to US citizens who may hold Canadian amateur licenses,
however.
Comments:
Post a Comment
