Subject: [NEXTEL-1] International Morse Code to Gain a New Character

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 18:57:39 -0500

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From The ARRL Letter
Vol. 22, No. 49
December 12, 2003
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==>INTERNATIONAL MORSE CODE GETS NEW ITU HOME, NEW CHARACTER

...In Geneva on December 5, the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) 
Study Group 8 agreed on the wording of a Draft New Recommendation 
ITU-R M.[MORSE] that specifies the international Morse code character 
set and transmission procedures. It also includes a new Morse code 
character to cover the "@"; symbol used in e-mail addresses.

Once it's made available in English, French and Spanish, the draft new
recommendation will go out to ITU member-states using a new procedure for
simultaneous adoption and approval. On December 3, the draft new
recommendation won the approval of Working Party 8A, which is responsible
for the Land Mobile and Amateur services.

Within the ITU, the international Morse code has been defined by the
Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), which is responsible
for
the public telephone and telegraph network--mostly landline. A couple of
years ago, the ARRL pointed out to the US delegation to the ITU
Radiocommunication Advisory Group that Morse code's role more properly
resides in the radiocommunication realm, not wire, and should be the
responsibility of ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R).

The transfer was agreed to, and International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)
President Larry Price, W4RA, proposed the draft new recommendation at the
November-December Working Group 8A meeting. The draft new recommendation
is almost unchanged from its ITU-T text.

"No one wanted to disturb something with more than 150 years of history,"
said ARRL Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI.

To keep up with the times, however, the IARU proposed adding a new
character--the commercial "at" or @ symbol--to permit sending e-mail
addresses in Morse code. The draft new recommendation proposes using the
letters A and C run together (.--.-.) to represent the @ symbol.

While the draft new recommendation is still a working document, its
expected to become a Recommendation within six months or so, pending
approval by member-states.

===========================================================
The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American
Radio Relay League--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; 
tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259;
<http://www.arrl.org/>. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President.

Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole
or
in part in any form without additional permission. Credit must be given
to
The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.

==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, [email-masked]

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