Morse Code is dead. Long live Morse Code.

The FCC announced last night that it will no longer require Ham radio operators to learn Morse Code in order to obtain a license. Use of Morse has been in steady decline for the last twenty years. The FCC dropped the Morse requirement for the entry-level Technician’s license years ago, and the US Coast Guard officially stopped listening for Morse on distress frequencies in 1993. Morse Code is the dead language of the modern digital era. Like Latin, it will live on in those who use it daily.