For the better part of a century, Morse proficiency was the hard gate into amateur (ham) radio. The requirement came from the ITU Radio Regulations: anyone operating below 30 MHz had to demonstrate the ability to send and receive Morse code. In the United States, license classes once demanded 5, 13, or 20 words per minute — and the 20 WPM Extra-class test stalled countless operators for years, making "should the code test go?" the hobby's most heated debate.
The turning point came at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03), which amended provision 25.5 of the Radio Regulations to leave Morse testing to the discretion of each national administration. With the international obligation gone, countries around the world began dropping their code exams, lowering the entry barrier to amateur radio globally.
In December 2006 the U.S. Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order (document FCC 06-178) eliminating the Morse code examination for all amateur license classes, effective February 23, 2007. Since then, all three U.S. licenses — Technician, General, and Amateur Extra — require only written multiple-choice exams covering rules, operating practice, and radio theory; the governing rules live in 47 CFR Part 97. Note what was repealed: the test, not the mode. CW privileges on the amateur bands remain fully intact.
Here is the irony: once the requirement disappeared, CW became something hams choose to learn — for thoroughly practical reasons:
If you are getting ready to join the CW world, start with The Fastest Way to Learn Morse Code, then use our Morse code translator to turn callsigns and common abbreviations (CQ, 73, QTH) into audio for ear training — once your ears are fluent, your key will follow.
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