On Tue, 27 May 2014, philo* wrote:

Recently I've been seeing notices celebrating the 50th anniversary of BASIC.

I just realized than in July of this year I'll have had my license for 50
years.

Wow did that ever go fast.

1964 was a big year. The New York World's Fair (with the ham station at
the Pepsi pavillion, but I can't remember if that was the official station
that didn't get much attention or the second one that did). Ken Kesey and
the Pranksters driving the bus across the US to get to the Fair. Time
sharing came to Dartmouth university in 1964 as well as BASIC. Freedom
Summer. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in February that year.

The ARRL turns one hundred this year. I didn't read them until after the
fact, but they had quite a series covering the first fifty years in 1964,
still a good overview of the ARRL and the hobby. It's hard to believe
that as much time has passed since 1964 as the ARRL had been around at
that point. Or that for 42 of those fifty years I've had a ham license.

I've only been licensed since I was 12, in 1972. Forty-two years. The
Rolling Stones came to town soon after I actually got my station license,
and their equipment truck blew up, nobody has ever been charged with the
deed.

I saw a photo somewhere of a tube based car transceiver someone wants to
refurbish. It looks all rusty and beat up, and my thought was "why don't
they just pick another unit?" But maybe that's no longer the case, they
were so plentiful in the early seventies, and in great shape, but maybe
now that nobody wants to put something big like that in their car, they've
all been mistreated. I'm sure the RCA strips I have in the closet are
still in as perfect shape as when I got them in the seventies.

Michael VE2BVW