Mike Coslo wrote:
But they did, didn't they?

Yes, they did. But their old clunker had thrown a rod the
last trip we made to Houston and they thought it might
happen again. My Mother (God rest her soul) harped at me
about breaking down for the entire six hour round trip. She
wasn't proud that I passed - she just asked if I scored 100.
I wonder how many hams rode to the FCC office in a vehicle
that was manufactured before they were born? :-)

I had a rough time talking my parents into getting me my first
radios. I had to convince them I was serious. Perhaps the same
situation existed for you?

My parents made me pay for my ham rig out of my grocery
store earnings before they would take me to get my license.
That was my test of seriousness. I already had an S-53, a
Globetrotter, and a 40m dipole before I took my Novice exam.
After I received my license, I couldn't get the Globetrotter
to load so I traded it in on a Globe Scout. All the Globetrotter
had for an output was a link coupling wound on the final tank
coil. Thank goodness, the Globe Scout had an adjustable pi-net
output. :-)

I bought my ham gear on time payments and was making 50 cents
an hour at the time working on Saturdays. Can you imagine an
out-of-state company trusting a 14 year old teenager on a time
payment contract nowadays with no co-signer?
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com