Before the
  Federal Communications Commission
  Washington, DC 20554
  
  In the Matter of  _________
                           WT Docket 98-143
  1998 Biennial Review               RM-9148
  --Amendment of Part 97             RM-9150
  Amateur Service rules              RM-9196
  
  To:  Federal Communications Commission
  
  COMENTS OF:
  
     I.     Introduction
       I Robert Eugene Lentz (K5BL) 3222 Almeta Lane McKinney, TX
  75069-1205 file these comments on October 28, 1998 in the FCC's Notice of
  Proposed Rulemaking, WT Docket No. 98-143.  I firmly believe that the current
  requirement for testing on the ability to send and receive Morse code is outdated,
  unneeded and should be eliminated as soon as allowed be international treaty.  In
  the mean time, I believe that the current testing methods that incorporate three
  speed levels should be reduced to one, five word per minute test that will satisfy
  the current international treaty requirement for a "working knowledge" of the
  Morse code.
       My name is Robert Eugene Lentz, amateur call sign K5BL, and I hold an
  Amateur Extra Class FCC license.  I am very concerned that the current Morse
  code testing requirement is having a seriously negative effect on this hobby.  In my
  view, the need for a test of ability to send and receive Morse code is outdated and
  has been for many years if not decades.  
     II.    Telegraphy Examination Requirements
  Amateur radio, in the license classes requiring this test, has been stagnant of
  growth for many decades.  Only the recently introduced No-Code Tech license, a
  license class that now makes up over one-half of the licensed amateur community,
  has shown any growth in membership.  Groups like the A.R.R.L. (which consist of
  over one-half of their membership in either the Advanced or Extra class amateurs)
  simply do not represent the ham community as it exists today and their stubborn
  refusal to budge on this Morse code issue is not only asinine but threatens the very
  long term survival of this hobby.  
  
  
  
  
  Page 2
  
  Robert Eugene Lentz, K5BL
  
  WT Docket 98-143
       RM-9148
       RM-9150
       RM-9196
  
       Amateur radio is an aging hobby in the classes allowed to use the HF
  spectrum, specifically the phone portion of the band plan.  When I attend DX
  related meetings, I am almost without fail the youngest person in the room,
  generally by many years.  I am 38 years old.  In order to continue our service to the
  nation and the world, it is imperative that we get some new blood into the hobby. 
  The only way to do this is to either drastically reduce or eliminate the Morse
  requirement.  Poll's and survey's continue to show that the Morse requirement is
  the primary barrier to entry into Amateur radio community, especially in the upper
  license classes that allow for more than line of sight communications.  
       It is time that we eliminate this barrier and move amateur radio beyond the
  1930's and into the twenty-first century.  From what I can tell from listening and
  reading, the supporters of the Morse code testing requirement are, almost without
  fail, using this as a way to limit membership into their own private boy's club. 
  The A.R.R.L. recently polled its membership with what I considered very
  interesting results.  These poll results indicated that fewer than twenty percent of
  A.R.R.L. members us Morse code at all, and this is coming from a group that
  should have the greatest support for the code, being made up by more than one-
  half its membership being in the top two license classes.  My conclusion then is
  that this stubborn support of this outdated mode of operation is coming not from
  the general membership but from the ruling elite at the league.  This must be
  changed and changed quickly.
  
       Respectfully submitted by:
       
       Robert Eugene Lentz, K5BL
       3222 Almeta Lane
       McKinney, TX 75069-1205
       October 28, 1998