What changed
A history of US licensing — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
This is the first recorded version, so every line is shown as added. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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Every argument the amateur service has ever had about who should be allowed on which frequencies is
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written into the history of the license classes.
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## 1912: licensing begins
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Before 1912 nobody needed permission to transmit. The **Radio Act of 1912**, passed after the
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*Titanic* disaster exposed how chaotic the spectrum was, created federal licensing of stations and
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operators and pushed private stations to wavelengths of 200 meters and shorter — then considered
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useless. Amateurs promptly discovered those wavelengths propagate worldwide.
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## 1927–1934: the regulators we know
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The **Radio Act of 1927** created the Federal Radio Commission; the **Communications Act of 1934**
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replaced it with the **Federal Communications Commission**, which regulates the amateur service
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today under [Part 97](/wiki/rules/part-97-basics).
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## 1951: the classes take their familiar shape
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The FCC's postwar restructuring produced the class ladder most operators would recognize for the rest
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of the century:
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- **Novice** — a one-year, non-renewable beginner license with a 5 wpm code test and limited,
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crystal-controlled, low-power privileges. It was designed to be outgrown.
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- **Technician** — created for VHF and above, and for the experimenters working on those frequencies.
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- **General** — the main operating license.
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- **Conditional** — a General earned by mail where a trip to an FCC office was impractical.
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- **Advanced** and **Amateur Extra** — higher classes with additional exams.
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## 1968–69: incentive licensing
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The FCC reserved slices of the most desirable HF phone and CW bands for Advanced and Extra holders,
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explicitly to push operators to keep studying. It remains one of the most divisive decisions in
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American amateur radio history: supporters credit it with raising technical standards, opponents
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blame it for years of resentment and for shrinking the General-class portions of the bands.
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## Volunteer examiners
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For decades the FCC administered exams itself. Legislation in the early 1980s let the Commission
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delegate testing to the amateur community, and the **Volunteer Examiner** system — accredited
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Volunteer Examiner Coordinators, three-VE sessions, and question pools published in advance — has run
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US amateur testing ever since. It is why you can test at a club meeting on a Saturday morning instead
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of traveling to a federal office. See [volunteer examiners](/wiki/licensing/volunteer-examiners) and
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[exam day](/wiki/licensing/exam-day).
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## The long retreat of the code test
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- Morse proficiency was long an international requirement for HF operation, at speeds up to 20 wpm
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for the highest US class.
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- **1991** — the FCC created a **no-code Technician**, opening VHF/UHF to newcomers without a code
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test. Technician licensees who also passed the 5 wpm exam became "Technician Plus" and could work
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parts of HF.
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- **2000 restructuring** — the FCC stopped issuing new **Novice** and **Advanced** licenses, leaving
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three classes for new applicants (Technician, General, Extra) and reducing every remaining code
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requirement to **5 wpm**. Existing Novice and Advanced licensees kept their licenses and privileges.
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- **2003** — the World Radiocommunication Conference removed the international treaty requirement for
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Morse testing, leaving it to each country.
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- **23 February 2007** — the FCC eliminated the Morse code examination entirely. Nothing about the
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mode changed; only the test went away. Morse is now used purely by choice, and it is thriving — see
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[CW and Morse code](/wiki/operating/cw-and-morse).
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## Where that leaves us
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Three classes today: **Technician**, **General** and **Amateur Extra**, each a written multiple-choice
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exam from a published question pool, administered by volunteers. Licenses run **ten years** and are
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renewable, with a two-year grace period to renew after expiration during which you may not transmit.
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Grandfathered **Novice** and **Advanced** licensees still exist and may renew, which is why you will
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occasionally hear a class the FCC has not issued since 2000.
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See [license classes](/wiki/licensing/license-classes) for what each one can do today, and
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[a short history of amateur radio](/wiki/getting-started/history-of-amateur-radio) for the wider story.