At 12:01 am EST, an important part of radio communications came to a close. The FCC decided earlier to eliminate the Morse Code requirement for higher levels of licensing. The test was already so low as to be ridiculous – 5WPM. In 2000, the FCC did away with the other Morse code tests which were 13wpm for General and 20wpm for Extra.
The prevailing argument was that the vast majority of people didn’t bother to further their license abilities because of the Morse code requirement. Technician class license, the first one, allows limited use of the HF bands. General and Extra class access could only be gained after passing the Morse code test. Now with the requirement no longer there, “they” expect a deluge of people taking the tests for General.
I believe that if there is an increase, it will be short lived. The increase will be more due to the publicity than to the actual hindrance being removed. And while there may be a lot of people upgrading to General, I doubt the rush to upgrade to Extra after that will not happen. The General test is difficult, much harder than the very simple Technician test. The Extra test is a LOT of math and a LOT of theory.
It is sad that Morse code is no longer a vital part of becoming a ham. It was an initiation rite, one that was such a part of history that the pain, what little there was, was worth it.
I hold a General ticket which means I took the Tech test and then the Morse code test. A month later, I took and passed the General test. I feel proud of the fact that I know Morse code (aka CW). When I get my HF rig some day, I hope to do a lot of CW communication.