Before the
               Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, DC 20554
In the Matter of                   )
                              )         WT Docket 98-143
1998 Biennial Regulatory Review --      )         RM-9148
Amendment of Part 97 of the Commission's     )         RM-9150
Amateur Service rules                   )         RM-9196
                              )
To:  Magalie Roman Salas, Office of the Secretary
     Federal Communications Commission
     The Portals
     445 Twelfth St., S.W.
     Washington, D.C. 20554
                                
              COMMENTS OF QCWA MARCONI CHAPTER 138

I.   Introduction

     We the members of QCWA Marconi Chapter 138 file these comments in the FCC's Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking WT Docket No. 98-143.  In general, we agree with most of the proposals put forth by the Commission
and agree that there is considerable overlap between the Novice and the Technician Plus license classes.  However,
rather than eliminating these two classes as the Commission proposes, we recommend that the two classes be
combined into a single class intermediate between the no code Technician Class and the General Class.
     We, the undersigned, are all members of the National Quarter Century Wireless Association and also
members of the local Marconi Chapter #138.  We were all first licensed as radio amateurs more than 25 years ago
and currently hold an amateur license of General, Advanced, or Extra class.  Many of us entered amateur radio
through the Novice Class license and have upgraded to our present license.  Our comments are based on three basic
premises that we feel are important to amateur radio licensing:
  1.   The entry-level license should be relatively easy to obtain.  We feel that the current Technician license meets
  that need.

  2.   Incentive licensing has encouraged amateurs to advance their technical knowledge in order to obtain the higher
  classes of license with the enhanced operating privileges and call letter assignments.  The current steps between
  the different license classes appear to be about the right size to be challenging but not overwhelming.
  3.   Radio Amateurs express a sense of pride in achieving the current operating privileges associated with their
  current class of license.  The popularity of operating awards attests to the importance that many amateurs place
  on reaching for and achieving goals.

     II.  Number of Amateur License Classes
     We propose that there be five classes of amateur radio licenses:  Technician (no code), Basic (combined
Technician Plus and Novice), General, Advanced, and Extra.  Each higher class should have enhanced operating
privileges (and call letter assignments) compared to the lower class.  This many classes are needed if we maintain
easy entry, moderate step size between classes (to encourage upgrading), and a particularly challenging top class.

     III. Importance and Disposition of the Novice Class
     We agree with the Commission's proposal that there is considerable overlap between the Technician Plus
and the Novice Class licenses.  We feel that the Commission's proposal to eliminate these two classes is unrealistic
insofar as it leaves too large a step between the Technician and the General Class license.  The fact that the
Commission proposes that current Novice holders be allowed to renew their licenses and that Technicians be
allowed to pass the 5 WPM code test doesn't really eliminate these two classes.  We feel that a neater solution is to
combine these two classes into a single class with a new name (we suggest the name "Basic").  All current
Technician Plus and Novice holders would be grandfathered into this new Basic Class.  The Basic license holder
would have all of the VHF/UHF privileges of the Technician plus limited HF privileges with a 200 watt power limit. 
The simplest HF operating privileges could be the current Novice assignments.  However, we are not averse to
giving the Basic license holder additional HF privileges if it can be done without the General Class holders feeling
that their privileges are being "diluted".  For example, if the phone bands for General and higher are expanded,
perhaps the Basic sub-bands could be expanded and additional HF phone privileges given to Basic.  We ask the
Commission to proceed cautiously with any band reallocations.  We do not want a repeat of the incentive licensing
of the 1960's whereby many General Class holders felt that significant parts of "their" bands were taken away from
them and given to the higher class licensees.
     IV.  Enforcement in the Amateur Radio Service
     We feel that enforcement of the Amateur Radio rules in this country is the responsibility of the
Commission.  Although volunteers can and do point out apparent infractions of the rules, the authority to enforce
these rules rests directly with the Commission and we ask you to please meet this responsibility.

     V.   Telegraphy Examination Requirements
     While the importance of Morse telegraphy has decreased over the years, it still remains the second most
popular amateur communication mode in the high frequency bands because it is effective and many of us find it
enjoyable.  International regulations require a 5 WPM proficiency to operate on the HF bands and we recommend
that this remain the minimum speed required for the Basic Class license.
     As a practical matter, most operation on the amateur CW bands is at a higher speed than 5 WPM so we
recommend that the speed requirement for General Class privileges remain at around 13 WPM although any speed
between 10 and 13 WPM would be satisfactory.
     For the top license class (Extra), we recommend maintaining the top speed of 20 WPM.  This is a speed
that proficient operators usually acquire.  We wish to see that the top license grade recognize this proficiency in
receiving Morse code as well as a deep knowledge of amateur radio as reflected in the written examination.
     We recommend maintaining three levels of code proficiency testing at 5, 10 to 13, and 20 WPM. 
Furthermore, we recommend that the testing for such proficiency require one minute out of five of perfect copy.

     VI.  CONCLUSIONS
     We recommend that the present six classes of amateur license be reduced to five classes by combining the
Technician Plus and Novice license into a common class which we have called the Basic Class.  The resulting five
classes would then be:
     Technician     No Code and present exam and privileges
     Basic          5 WPM Code and added exam questions regarding HF operation, 200 watt limit
     General        10 to 13 WPM Code and current exam questions
     Advanced  Current additional exam questions
     Extra          20 WPM Code and current exam questions     This structure preserves the successful incentive licensing structure that has been built over the past years,
allows easy entry into amateur radio, and provides a challenging top class license.  It also has the advantage of not
offending the current amateur radio community.  We recommend that you only fix what is broken (overlap of
Technician Plus and Novice) and leave the rest of the license structure alone.

                              Respectfully submitted by

                              Joachim Dreifuss, W2KQ, President
                              QCWA Marconi Chapter 138
                              6 Fredric Dr.
                              Ocean, NJ 07712
                              November 03, 1998

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John W. Krieg, K2ZGF
32 Asbury Ave.
Atl. Highlands, NJ 07716
Nov. 3, 1998

Robert N. Boulle, W2OKM
13 Forest Drive
Middletown, NJ 07748
Nov. 3, 1998

Anthony J. Colaguori, W2GUM
709 Westwood Ave.
Long Branch, NJ 07740
3 November 1998

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Joseph Strockbine, W2KCO
447 Line Road
Aberdeen, NJ 07747
Nov. 3, 1998

Philip B. Petersen, W2DME
611 Kings Hwy. East
Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716
3 Nov. 1998

John J. Keating, WA2FVL
1147 Florence Ave.
Union Beach, NJ 07735
4 Nov. 1998

Bernard Ricciardi, WB2EJT
1204 Ivanhoe Path
Manasquan, NJ 08736
6 Nov. 1998

Edwin L. Roswell III, K2MGM
190 Parkview Terrace
Lincroft, NJ 07738
6 Nov. 1998

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David Ottenberg, WA2DJN
37 Fredric Drive
Ocean, NJ 07712
Nov. 6, 1998

Robert McKinley Jr., W2OMR
89 Stratford Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
November 6, 1998

Robert K. Ewing, WA4GWG
210 Harvey Ave.
Lincroft, NJ 07738
Nov. 6, 1998

Francis M. Gspann, WA2ABT
140 Valley Road
Neptune, NJ 07753
Nov. 6, 1998

Walter G. Kenney, W2IZC
33 Wolf Hill Dr.
Warren, NJ 07059
11/10/98

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A. Leslie Hill, W2QHS
11 Fairfield Drive
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
November 10, 1998

Ronald Parham, K2SST
112 Prospect Ave.
Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716
Nov. 10, 1998

Frank A. Segalla, W2FFH
228 12th Ave.
Seaside Park, NJ 08752
11/10/98

Paul Havala Jr., KF2KM
14 Villanova Dr.
Englishtown, NJ 07726
11-10-98

George W. Hasslinger, WB2CGI
61 Rues Lane
East Brunswick, NJ 08816
11/10/98