RadioBanter - View Single Post - You'll probably never have to use CW to save a life.

an old friend · September 5th 06, 06:38 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.policy

wrote:
wrote:
wrote:
From: on Sun, Sep 3 2006 1:49 pm

(whole bunch of Len's errors and insults snipped in the interest of
time and space)

The fact is that the "incentive licensing" changes were an attempt to
*return* to a system something like that which existed before February
1953. The complexity of the final result was due in large part to it
being pieced together from the numerous non-ARRL proposals mentioned
earlier.

If that is true (and it is not) then there were FIVE classes
of amateur radio licenses prior to "incentive licensing." :-)

Actually, there were six classes of amateur radio licenses in the USA
from 1951 until the mid-1970s. They were Novice, Technician, General,
Conditional, Advanced and Extra.

Was the Conditional actually a class of license or a method of taking
the exam? What priveleges did it convey? Why do some OF's state that
they had a General when, in fact, they held the Conditional license?
Was there shame associated with the Conditional license?
well I'll "conseed that one if he likes jst makes thing more Byzantine

In the mid-1970s the Conditional was phased out. When a Conditional was
renewed or modified, the FCC changed the license class to General.

Hmmmm? Almost interesting.

The number of amateur radio license classes in the USA remained at 5
until the Technician Plus lucense was created in the early 1990s.

False. The Technician with 5wpm code ran concurrently with the
Technician license without code. That lasted for about two years, then
we got the "Plus" as a marker for the code accomplished.

But then the strangest thing happened. It went back to "Technician"
and you have to keep track of your code "accomplishment" yourself.
Doesn't sound like the FCC values the code "accomplishment" all that
much.
indeed

Neither does the text of NPRM last year