for all Amateur Radio license classes

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/12/15/104/?nc=1

All Technician licensees now have the privileges of Tech Plus, which means some access to HF bands, as noted in that ARRL article.

Indeed... this would be a good opportunity for those who haven't gotten their amateur radio licence because they're worried about the morse code portion

*perks* whoohoo!
now i don't have an excuse not to get mine ..
I don't hear the morse code quite right so that's why didn't get mine

Maybe now we are heading in the right direction for a backcountry digital text messager device.

For those of you who would like to learn Morse Code anyway, there's some good software called Just Learn Morse Code which I have been messing with for the past couple months.

This is, perhaps, the last gasps of the dying hobby of ham radio. I know that I, like many others, had neither the desire nor the time to bother with morse code, and that left me parked at a level of "no-code tech" for about the last 10 years. Over the years, I have pondered why this morse code was deemed necessary - it seemed a bit like requiring our military to demonstrate competency with a muzzle-loading firearm before being allowed to use an M-16. I know that in this area- Bucks County PA. - the ham bands are mostly silent and I also know that there's hardly a "thrill" for me to "make contact" with some staticy station in Bora-Bora when I can (and do) video chat with people all over the world via the Internet. I know that there's new various digital models that are of interest to some, but when I wake up tomorrow and my wife asks me what I want for christmas, I don't think that now that I can work HF that I'll be asking for an HF rig. It's a shame, because in many ways, the whole ham radio thing was a great place for geeks to play with hardware. I think that today, it's more about buiding computers and stuff like you see in makezine.com not spending $30,000 on radio gear to send "di-dah's" around the globe.

Well, first of all, like Mark Twain's comment "Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated" probably applies here. While the code aspect of amateur radio is now gone, there are millions of folks around the world who still like and use ham radio daily--and its a good thing they do. Hams will ALWAYS be the ones communicating long after all other forms of communication are down. Be it hurricane, winter storm or any other disaster, amatuers offer valuable communication service. And Martin, I dont know where you shop, but paying $30k for a radio is simply absurd. Excellent NEW HF radios can be bought for $1000 or less. Good used gear can be far less than half of that 1k, that will talk around the world.
Anyway, I am not trying to be contentious, but just bringing a little balance. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
KG7IW

You know I had a ham license when I was 16 and let it drop. yes, the code portion was the toughest. But ya'll seem to forget, morse code gets through when voice doesn't!!! Those dot dashes work when voice doesn't. So, if you're wanting to communicate over long distances, it's stll the best option. Just my opinion.

Morse Code: The original digital…