[clug] Packet radio

[steve jenkin]

Jim Croft wrote on 16/01/10 4:18 PM:
> just curious - is morse code proficiency still a requirement for an
> Amateur License?
> 
> or do we accept computers can do it better these days?
> 
> jim

1999 marked the end of commercial morse in North America
<http://www.radiomarine.org/lastmorse.html>

The Maritime distress frequency of 500MHz is mentioned at:
<http://www.save500khz.org/>

From:
<http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_1286>
"Knowledge of Morse Code signals is not a requirement for candidates
contesting an examination for
the Amateur Operator's Certificate of Proficiency (Advanced),
the Amateur Operator's Certificate of Proficiency (Standard), or
the Amateur Operator's Certificate of Proficiency (Foundation)."

"Amateur licence information paper" [haven't read]
<HTTP://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_1255>

Britannica says:
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/393067/Morse-Code>

"In the early 2000s most countries had dropped the ability to decipher
Morse Code from the requirements for obtaining an amateur radio license."

I couldn't find an item I remembered hearing when the last (commercial
or maritime?) morse code message was sent in Oz around 2000 [IIRC].

HTH
s