After World War II, amateur radio operators in the US started to receive obsolete but usable Teletype Model 26 equipment from commercial operators with the understanding that this equipment would not be used for or returned to commercial service. "The Amateur Radioteletype and VHF Society" was founded in 1946 in Woodside, NY. This organization soon changed its name to "The VHF Teletype Society" and started US Amateur Radio operations on 2 meters using audio frequency shift keying (AFSK). The first two-way amateur radioteletype Q code of record took place in May 1946 between Dave Winters, W2AUF, Brooklyn, NY and W2BFD, John Evans Williams, Woodside Long Island, NY. On the west coast, amateur RTTY also started on 2 meters. Operation on 80 meters, 40 meters and the other High Frequency (HF) amateur radio bands was initially accomplished using make and break keying since frequency shift keying (FSK) was not yet authorized. In early 1949, the first American transcontinental two-way RTTY QSO was accomplished on 11 meters using AFSK between Tom McMullen (W1QVF) operating at W1AW and Johnny Agalsoff, W6PSW. The stations effected partial contact on January 30, 1949, and repeated more successfully on January 31. On February 1, 1949, the stations exchanged solid print congratulatory message traffic and rag-chewed. Earlier, on January 23, 1949, William T. Knott, W2QGH, Larchmont, NY, had been able to make rough copy of W6PSWs test transmissions. While QSOs could be accomplished, it was quickly realized that FSK was technically superior to make and break keying. Due to the efforts of Merrill Swan, W6AEE, of "The RTTY Society of Southern California" publisher of RTTY and Wayne Green, W2NSD, of CQ Magazine, Amateur Radio operators successfully petitioned the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to amend Part 12 of the Regulations, which was effective on February 20, 1953. The amended Regulations permitted FSK in the non-voice parts of the 80, 40 and 20 meter bands and also specified the use of single channel 60 words-per-minute five unit code corresponding to ITA2. A shift of 850 hertz plus or minus 50 hertz was specified. Amateur Radio operators also had to identify their station callsign at the beginning and the end of each transmission and at ten-minute intervals using International Morse code. Use of this wide shift proved to be a problem for Amateur Radio operations. Commercial operators had already discovered that narrow shift worked best on the HF bands. After investigation and a petition to the FCC, Part 12 was amended, in March 1956, to allow Amateur Radio Operators to use any shift that was less than 900 hertz.
How many times was Part 12 of the Regulations amended?
2