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Forty Years Licensed
Forty years ago today, October 12, 1967, FCC issued a Novice license
to a 13-year-old kid in the 7th grade. The license arrived two days later, and the kid (me) went on the amateur bands for the first time October 14, 1967. Since then, I've has had three amateur radio callsigns, six "permanent" QTHs, a long list of rigs, antennas, parts and test equipment, awards earned, articles published, and tens of thousands of QSOs. Many things in amateur radio are different now than they were then, many things are the same. One thing that hasn't changed is that ham radio is sure a lot of fun. Doesn't seem like 40 years, though. What do others remember? 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Forty Years Licensed
wrote Doesn't seem like 40 years, though. What do others remember? :-) When a teen, my novice license arrived Friday the 13th, September 1963. My first QSO was that night on 80m on 3706 Kc with a fellow in Schoharie, NY. That was my only crystal. With crystals, we had to learn to listen all over our 50 Kc available band of 3700 - 3750. My friend Gary and I went down to the FCC office in Manhattan to take the General exam just a few days before they were going to impose a $4 fee. Ouch! We had a deadline to meet! We couldn't afford to pay $4! Well, we both passed, and Gary called his mom to tell her the good news. Once we arrived back to his house it was apparent that his mother told a neighbor the good news because, as we walked by the neighbor's house, she exclaimed to us, "So now you're Captains!?" Howard N7SO |
Forty Years Licensed
Howard Lester wrote:
wrote Doesn't seem like 40 years, though. What do others remember? :-) When a teen, my novice license arrived Friday the 13th, September 1963. My first QSO was that night on 80m on 3706 Kc with a fellow in Schoharie, NY. That was my only crystal. With crystals, we had to learn to listen all over our 50 Kc available band of 3700 - 3750. I was also first licensed in 1963 and I think I had three crystals, but one was 3706. That must have been a common frequency for a surplus xtal. I do remember listening the whole band for a call from a CQ. You picked the closest frequency you had a crystal for. I also remember that it was somewhat common for QRM to pop up because the station transmitting had a limited selection of crystals and didn't always listen on the frequency that they were about to transmit. But it sure was fun. I met a fellow novice on 80 meters and he traveled to Knoxville to take his General exam on the same day I did. We met there. He was so nervous that he literally could not fill out the FCC-610 form. But somehow he managed to calm himself enough to pass the CW test. Perhaps it was the CW that did it. By then we were routinely chatting at speeds more than the required 13 wpm. My friend Gary and I went down to the FCC office in Manhattan to take the General exam just a few days before they were going to impose a $4 fee. Ouch! We had a deadline to meet! We couldn't afford to pay $4! Well, we both passed, and Gary called his mom to tell her the good news. Once we arrived back to his house it was apparent that his mother told a neighbor the good news because, as we walked by the neighbor's house, she exclaimed to us, "So now you're Captains!?" I took the General with a friend, too. He was very good at theory. I was very good at code. Somehow he managed to squeak by the code test, but he failed the theory test. I think that he got one answer off on the answer sheet and was putting down his answers for the wrong number; there's no way he could have failed that theory test. I'm about to teach a Technician class beginning at the end of the month. Times have changed. No longer is the entry license the Novice and one must use the one-year term to build up code speed for the General. Instead I'll be trying to figure out how to teach both concepts and the question pool. It will be interesting. (I don't think I've taught a license class in the past two decades.) But the fun remains in the hobby. Some things change and some things remain the same. Thanks for the memories. |
Forty Years Licensed
Happy... emm... license day... Jim :o)
I was born in1967 so less history here. Didnt get my license until I was 26 years old in 1993. I recall my first contact like it was yesterday. Sitting at my desk with a my new license and an FT480 on the FM calling frequency wondering what I should do next. I'm on my fourth callsign, from two countries. Planning another move so number 5 on its way. Many things in amateur radio change. But the basics will always be the same. -- Jack VK2CJC / MM0AXL FISTS #9666 CW Ops QRP Club #753 Mid North Coast Amateur Radio Group www.mncarg.org |
Forty Years Licensed
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Forty Years Licensed
"Steve Bonine" wrote
I was also first licensed in 1963 and I think I had three crystals, but one was 3706. That must have been a common frequency for a surplus xtal. Gosh, Steve - I wonder if we worked each other. My antenna was so poor that, when I used an EICO VFO as a transmitter hooked up to a 100 ft random receiving antenna (with no matching system whatsoever) -- the EICO did better! With it, I worked 14 states including Oklahoma (from the NYC area). (Then I got an "OO" card in the mail, chastising me for using a VFO as a novice. I guess "OO" stands for "OH-OH!") The Johnson Challenger was, on 80m, hooked up to a 40m vertical dipole hanging from the roof ledge of an 8 story apartment roof. Yep, it was right up against the brick wall. I was on the 5th floor. What a moron... ;-) See, I couldn't find any 40m crystals, so I got one for 80, and.... But that Challenger could actually load a 40m antenna on 80. Thus the license class "novice." Howard |
Forty Years Licensed
Some stories from those days:
My first rig was a single 6V6GT in the grid-plate circuit, running maybe 10 W with one xtal on 3726 kHz. Dummy load was a Christmas tree bulb, the big 7-1/2 watt kind. Antenna was a wire out to the crabapple tree. Ground was the radiator pipe. J-37 key and knife-switch TR. Antenna-current indicator was a pilot lamp in series with the lead- in. But the power supply was from an old Philco TV. Big power transformer, 5U4, cap and chokes. Good for at least 400 mills and I wasn't drawing even 40. Only parts bought new were the knife switch, the xtal and the 6V6GT. Everything else was scavenged from the trash or acquired second hand. Still have the key and the 6V6GT. --- Another mentioned the cost of exams and nervousness at the FCC office. I was lucky in that the FCC office was just a subway ride away. But a school kid had to wait for summer or the rare school holiday that wasn't a Federal holiday, because FCC exams were only given Monday through Wednesday mornings. And the $9 cost was a big deal, too. The first time I went for the General, early summer 1968, I flunked the code because the examiner couldn't read my "Palmer Method" longhand well enough to find the required 65 consecutive correct characters. But he did find 25, so he let me take the written exam and I wound up with a simultaneous Novice/Tech, which was OK back then. WN3 call on HF and WA3 on VHF. So I went home and taught myself to block-print, and listened to W1AW until I could copy the 18 wpm bulletins solid from one end to the other. Also saved up every spare penny to get the $9 exam fee. Went back to FCC in midsummer and passed 13 wpm no problem. As I was about to leave, the FCC examiner said "why don't you try Advanced while you're here?" Though I hadn't prepared for it, there was no way a 14 year old kid would say no to The Man From FCC, so I tried it - and passed. Two years later I was back for the Extra. But that's another story.. Tomorrow it will be 40 years since the license arrived in the mail... 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Forty Years Licensed
wrote As I was about to leave, the FCC examiner said "why don't you try Advanced while you're here?" Though I hadn't prepared for it, there was no way a 14 year old kid would say no to The Man From FCC, so I tried it - and passed. That white shirt and tie was pretty intimidating, wasn't it? I think it was in 1968 that I went to the NYC office for my Advanced. I knew I failed... but the man in the white shirt went over my answer sheet and casually said, "You passed." "I DID!?" was my trembling response.... "Yeah." Oh. I walked out of the exam room, went down the hall, threw my pencil in the air over my back and kept going. Now exams are given in people's living rooms.... Tomorrow it will be 40 years since the license arrived in the mail... Congratulations, Jim. It's quite a "club" we belong to. Howard N7SO |
Forty Years Licensed
Howard Lester wrote:
That white shirt and tie was pretty intimidating, wasn't it? One of the most rewarding experiences of my ham radio career was serving as reader for a blind ham who was taking her Extra exam in Chicago, just before the FCC stopped administering them. She wanted to take the exam from the FCC. She passed. I felt a tiny part of her pride. I suppose that the VE system is a positive and reasonable step for the hobby. It sure is easier to convince class attendees to come to a VE session than to travel to the nearest FCC examination location, so it's obvious that we get more new hams with the VE system than having the FCC administer the tests. Not to mention all the tax dollars that we're saving. But the new hams are missing a memory that all of us old timers have of being intimidated by the FCC exam process, and that's just a tiny bit sad. Times change. 73, Steve KB9X |
Forty Years Licensed
On Oct 13, 9:29?pm, "Howard Lester" wrote:
That white shirt and tie was pretty intimidating, wasn't it? Not at all. Not to me, anyway. What was intimidating was the fact that the Examiner was The Man From FCC, who had sole power to say "You passed" or "You failed". And if you failed, it was a 30 day minimum wait until you could try again, plus another $9 fee. but the man in the white shirt went over my answer sheet and casually said, "You passed." "I DID!?" was my trembling response.... "Yeah." Oh. I walked out of the exam room, went down the hall, threw my pencil in the air over my back and kept going. I think I had a built-in advantage. As a kid in school, taking tests was something I was used to, at least weekly. One or two more tests was no big thing in itself. Once the two-year experience requirement was met, I went for Extra. Late summer 1970, same FCC office, same examiner. I was by far the youngest person in the crowded waiting room that day. When The Man opened the exam room door at 8 AM sharp and asked for anyone taking the Extra, I was the only one trying for it. He led me to the code test table and proceeded to open a locked filing cabinet and take out the little code machine and the paper tapes it used that contained The Actual Test. Plus 'phones, a legal pad and #2 pencil. That little code machine used different-sized drive rollers to change speeds, btw, and there was a stack of test tapes for it. I got the standard instructions: Test is five minutes of code, examiner must find 100 consecutive correct legible characters (which amounts to 1 minute at 20 wpm) to pass, when the code stops put the pencil down immediately or you fail. Examiner asks if I'm ready, I manage a "yes" and put on the cans. He says "Go!" and starts the machine. I started right off copying in block letters. The code is loud and clear and machine made, easier than copying off the air. After a bit I settle down and start to think that it's easy - I'm getting every letter! I see out of the corner of my eye that The Man is looking out the window, then over at me, Then he comes around and looks over my shoulder as I copy. Bends down to get a better look. Then he walks around the table and shuts off the machine, even though the code has only been going for less than two minutes. I look up, startled. I'd heard they always gave you the full five minutes.... "That was easy, huh kid?" asks The Man. "Uh, yeah..." is all I can manage. "It should be" says The Man. "That was only 13. Here's 20" And he swapped drive spindles on the code machine and started it again. Yes, I passed. Now exams are given in people's living rooms.... Nothing new about that. I took the Novice tests in K3NYT's dining room. Spring-summer 1967. Tomorrow it will be 40 years since the license arrived in the mail... Which makes it today.. Congratulations, Jim. It's quite a "club" we belong to. Yup. But consider how few we are. There were about 250,000 US hams back then. If we lost just 1% of those licensed then per year, only about 167,000 of us are left, out of over 655,000 US hams today. If we lost 2% per year, only about 111,000 of us are left. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Forty Years Licensed
"Steve Bonine" wrote
But the new hams are missing a memory that all of us old timers have of being intimidated by the FCC exam process, and that's just a tiny bit sad. Steve, I think you're right - very right - especially after reading Jim's posting that followed yours. It's an experience that few of us hams share any more. N7SO |
Forty Years Licensed
"Howard Lester" wrote in message ... "Steve Bonine" wrote But the new hams are missing a memory that all of us old timers have of being intimidated by the FCC exam process, and that's just a tiny bit sad. Steve, I think you're right - very right - especially after reading Jim's posting that followed yours. It's an experience that few of us hams share any more. N7SO Only licensed 30 years ago, but took the exam before the steely-eyed FCC examiner at BATTERY Street in San Francisco. Back then, it was a lot tougher to get a Ham License than it was to join the US Navy hi hi. A memorable life experience. And the several week wait for the ticket in the mail was unforgettable as well. Lamont Callsign withheld in the swampy waters of the news groups (;-) |
Forty Years Licensed
On Oct 14, 10:03?am, Steve Bonine wrote:
I suppose that the VE system is a positive and reasonable step for the hobby. It sure is easier to convince class attendees to come to a VE session than to travel to the nearest FCC examination location, so it's obvious that we get more new hams with the VE system than having the FCC administer the tests. I don't think it's obvious at all. Look at the growth in US amateur radio over the decades, and the VE system by itself didn't really make a noticeable difference in the number of new hams. Remember too that in the mid-to-late 1970s the FCC offered hams two test options: 1) Travel to an FCC exam point 2) Get a certain minimum number of people lined up for the test, and FCC would send an examiner Most hamfests above a certain size had FCC exam sessions in that time period. Clubs and classes would have periodic exams, too. All free. Not to mention all the tax dollars that we're saving. *That* is the only reason we have the VE system, IMHO. The FCC got unpaid volunteers to do almost all the work of test preparation and administration, instead of paying federal employees to do it. But the new hams are missing a memory that all of us old timers have of being intimidated by the FCC exam process, and that's just a tiny bit sad. Given the choice, I'd rather have the tests be really good ones that are readily accessible, with as little intimidation as possible. I think the main effect the old system had on me (and probably many others) was that, since it was somewhat difficult/expensive to get to an FCC exam session, and the results of failure could be rather dire, we tended to be way overprepared for the exams, and surprised that they weren't as tough as we'd feared once we actually got to them. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Forty Years Licensed
On Oct 12, 1:25?pm, wrote:
What do others remember? It's a cool late February weekday in the year 1956. I am 23 and a month out of active US Army duty, having spent the last three Army years in radio communications, I had decided to get a civilian commercial radio operator license two weeks prior. I've done the cram thing on over- drive, practically memorizing all of the looseleaf notebook FCC rules borrowed from a new friend at a broadcast station. I walk several blocks from the train station to the Federal Building in Chicago. I am alone, have never been walking in downtown Chicago before...but I am confident although a bit tired. The train ride was an hour and a half and the flat Illinois prarie boring as usual. The FCC Field Office is upstairs and I find it. Everything seems to be utilitarian-government. World War II ended 11 years prior and all federal offices look "war surplus" furnished. Three visible officials are brusque, bored, not effusive; i.e., it's like being back in the Army. Familiar. FCC guys are fussing with a paper-tape code machine and one of the three radiotelegraph testees has a problem with connecting his favorite speed key (allowed then). I am going for radiotelephone first class. I fill out a two-page form about myself, then do the first of four written tests, a short one required of everyone then about FCC organization and laws. Code beeps are heard in the background and a telegrapher seems to be mumbling while copying; he is advised to be quiet. Government-issue tables are too high, government-issue chairs too low. I pass the first test, then everyone is interrupted by loud bell claning outside.It is a fire drill in the Federal Building. FCC agents are not happy. I get a cup of bad coffee from a stand at the main entrance and do the break, waiting and waiting, my mind reviewing what I've memorized in rules and regs. The military had never required licensing and is not accountable to the FCC in radio operation. Back upstairs again to finish the parts. I have to draw a couple schematics and explain what the parts do on a supplied schematic. One of the tests is multiple- choice. Not a problem, it is something almost intuitive to me now. Regulations and special law considerations are not. I finish the last part and bring it to the remaining agent's desk...I wonder idly where the other two have gone. He pulls out a template and other test notes from under his desk blotter. Not much "security" there. I stand quietly to one side, sort of in civilian parade rest. After a long time of checking and making a few notes he finally notices another human in the office. The telegrapher testees have finished and are gone. He looks up and says "You passed" in a bored unenthusiastic tone. I say "Thank you" with as much enthusiasm and leave. I know the government drill. It is now after lunch and the return train won't leave for three hours. What to do? I have a hot dog from a street vendor, good franks in Illinois and Wisconsin, as I know. I idly look in shop windows, pass a movie house in its last week of first-run showing of the film "Oklahoma." It has a matinee. I buy a ticket and watch it from the balcony, the only one up there. At the train station I buy a copy of the Chicago Tribune and pass the return trip time reading of news that don't really affect my life. I have no real emotion about the day. I was confident in passing and did. My mind is at ease. The rest of my life awaits. Time Machine forward to February 2007 and FCC announcing the fateful decision of No Code Testing for US amateur licenses. I hadn't planned on getting a "ham ticket." I idly check for exam places near me in Los Angeles. ARRLweb lists one on 25 February, a Sunday, at an old firehouse across from a Ralphs supermarket that I've shopped in for over 40 years. I thought the one-engine firehouse had closed down years ago? I say to myself, "Why not?" and call the ARRL VEC team leader listed for other info. I will miss the Fontana, CA, NASCAR race carried on ESPN2 but we have a DVR in the cable company's set-top box. The old one-door firehouse had been replaced for years but is now one of the stations of the Los Angeles Emergency Communications Auxilliary. Nice folks in there, all pleasant and seeming enthusiastic. I wait and wait in a room full of strangers, all younger than myself. Actual testing doesn't begin until an hour and a half after scheduled time. Must be 30 to 35 folks in there by then, most doing just routine administrative things they could have done themselves. Why didn't they, I wonder? No real problem but it delays license testing. The ARRL VEC team leader knows I am going for Extra but I get the impression he doesn't think I can do it. These tests are not even close to the formal testing I've had in college classrooms. I am retired and my "job" doesn't depend on passing this test. I will not cease to exist if I don't pass it. I have prepared for it and have confidence that I can pass. But...let's GET ON with it there, people! It's at least a half hour wait between each test element. I chat idly during breaks with others. Most seem amazed at what I am doing. Why, I wonder? I don't look THAT old. Do they really stand in awe of tests? How did they get California drivers licenses which also require multiple-choice testing? Did some fail to graduate high school? There are four in this ARRL VEC team. I casually study them as much as they seem to study me. Interesting situation. I smile inwardly. The team leader practices lots of testing security, even to using a small padlocked test-material box. Every examiner checks everyone's answers. That's good. That also slows down the process. I was surprised to see an African-American on the VEC team. That's a rarity in US amateur radio. I finish the last test. The VEC leader seems really surprised. He shakes my hand in congratulations. So do the other three. Am I the first applicant who got "Extra out of the box" with this VEC team? I guess so. One of them mumbled something to that extent. Okay, another test completed, another in many tests taken during my life. I leave, walk across the street to get to my car and drive a mile back to my house. My name and new callsign (for amateur radio purposes) shows up on FCC databases for 7 March 2007. I am 74. Did I get all sorts of emotional goosebumps over that ham test? No. I had planned to do it, prepared myself, and felt confident in passing...much the same as I'd done 51 years prior for my commercial license. Planning, preparedness, confidence works every time. 73, Len AF6AY |
Forty Years Licensed
Steve Bonine wrote:
Howard Lester wrote: That white shirt and tie was pretty intimidating, wasn't it? One of the most rewarding experiences of my ham radio career was serving as reader for a blind ham who was taking her Extra exam in Chicago, just before the FCC stopped administering them. She wanted to take the exam from the FCC. She passed. I felt a tiny part of her pride. I suppose that the VE system is a positive and reasonable step for the hobby. It sure is easier to convince class attendees to come to a VE session than to travel to the nearest FCC examination location, so it's obvious that we get more new hams with the VE system than having the FCC administer the tests. Not to mention all the tax dollars that we're saving. But the new hams are missing a memory that all of us old timers have of being intimidated by the FCC exam process, and that's just a tiny bit sad. As a little counterpoint to the issue, I was licensed first in 1999 (rank newbie - HA!) and took my first Element one test in 2000. Well, I flunked it. What I remembered though was the examiner who labored over trying to find the different ways that I might have squeezed through and actually passed the thing. But it just wasn't to be. Poor guy was so apologetic and felt so badly that I ended up feeling badly for him. So much depends on our outlook, but I would trade that guy's kindness and eagerness to get me into the fold, over being intimidated by the steely eyed examiner. It made me look forward to passing my test and getting into that fraternity. Which I did a few months later. And passed. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - |
Forty Years Licensed
Michael Coslo wrote:
So much depends on our outlook, but I would trade that guy's kindness and eagerness to get me into the fold, over being intimidated by the steely eyed examiner. It made me look forward to passing my test and getting into that fraternity. Which I did a few months later. And passed. Ah . . . back then, the 5 wpm code test was not administered by the FCC, at least not for the Novice ticket. It was administered by your fellow operator, as part of the examination for Novice. I gave a number of Novice exams back then, and it was always a pleasure to do so. I also taught a number of Novice classes, most of which was code, and enjoyed doing it. Mostly I think my students enjoyed it, too. So we got both experiences . . . an Elmer's kindness, plus the steely eyed examiner grin (Although my memory of the examiners in Chicago is a pretty positive one.) 73, Steve KB9X |
Forty Years Licensed
On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:59:54 EDT, "Howard Lester"
wrote: Steve, I think you're right - very right - especially after reading Jim's posting that followed yours. It's an experience that few of us hams share any more. So very true. For most hams that was the first one-on-one contact that they had with the FCC and being told that one passed the exam made it a positive contact. Some hams also went up to the FCC office to look up information in the public data bases or to ask for an interpretation of the Rules. Now one deals with the FCC via the very impersonal internet or through a third party (privatization at its worst) , and it's a good bet that most hams do not know the location of the closest FCC District Office or the name and face of the District Director or any of the field agents unless and until one receives an inspection or Notice of Inquiry or Violation because of some problem. At one time the staff was encouraged to visit each ham club on a regular basis. Everyone knew who Phil Kane was and how he could be reached. Those days are gone. What a loss. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon e-mail: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net |
Forty Years Licensed
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Forty Years Licensed
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Forty Years Licensed
On Oct 17, 2:51?am, Phil Kane wrote:
On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:14:05 EDT, wrote: What was intimidating was the fact that the Examiner was The Man From FCC, who had sole power to say "You passed" or "You failed". It was the applicant who determined if the result was passing or failing. The examiner merely reported the results. Bwaahaaahaaa! I walked right into that one, Phil! However, didn't the examiner have to use at least some judgement as to whether an applicant's Morse Code copy was 'legible', and whether his/ her sending was OK? Going back before my time, when the exams involved writing essays, drawing diagrams and showing how an answer was derived, didn't the examiner have some judgement as to whether the applicant had properly answered a question? -- The way I recall it, the examiner I met wasn't so much trying to intimidate as to simply let you know that this licensing stuff was serious business. -- One more story: In those days (1967-1970) the written exam questions came in a booklet and there was a separate answer sheet for your answers. They made a big deal about having two #2 pencils, filling in the little box completely, erasing completely, not making stray marks on the paper, do not bend, fold, spindle or mutilate, etc. I'd had similar standardized tests several times in school, and there was always an air of mystery about how the tests were graded. It was implied that they were fed into a computer that had a no tolerance for those who didn't follow instructions. Being a curious sort, I asked how the machine worked, but got no information. Top secret? It seemed to me there were two possibilities: either there was some form of photoelectric system that shone a light through the paper, or there was a grid of contacts (gold plated?) that detected the answers by the conductivity of the graphite pencil marks. The photoelectric system seemed more workable, but the grid-of- contacts system explained the insistence on #2 pencils. When I went to take the test at the FCC office, I thought I might get a glimpse of the grading machine. But there was nothing that looked like such a device in the exam room. When I handed in my completed written test, the examiner's assistant pulled out what looked to me like a manila file folder. She opened it up and slid the answer sheet inside - behind a piece of paper with holes punched in it. She counted up the holes with marked boxes behind them, then pulled out the answer sheet and looked for any questions with more than one box filled in. Whole operation took very little time. She said "You passed" and that was it. What a letdown! No fancy machine, no photocells or gold-plated contacts, no computer, just some pieces of paper with holes in the right spots. I got the distinct impression that I'd seen something I wasn't supposed to reveal to others. The phrase "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" took on a whole new meaning that day. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Forty Years Licensed
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Forty Years Licensed
"Phil Kane" wrote Steve, I think you're right - very right - especially after reading Jim's posting that followed yours. It's an experience that few of us hams share any more. So very true. For most hams that was the first one-on-one contact that they had with the FCC and being told that one passed the exam made it a positive contact. Oh, it was a positive contact, all right. (I got to have two of them, both in the NYC office.) I remember more the FCC men who set my friend and I up with the headphones to listen to the 13 wpm tape. They were very nice to us teenagers. It's not to say that others, who got their tickets from VE's, don't have fond memories of *their* experiences. It's just that this was, well, the official place, #2 pencils and all that... ;-) And it was in a time (1963) when authority was respected a lot more than it is now. Seriously, I attended a W5YI VE session here in Tucson about 14 years ago to take my Extra exams. It was in someone's house, and it was so noisy, they were having what amounted to a party while the exams were being given! I did pass the 20wpm (it was given in a separate room), but I failed the written.... in the party room. I was appalled at the "QRM" atmosphere. Give me the quiet, sterile FCC exam room anytime. Howard N7SO |
Forty Years Licensed
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Forty Years Licensed
On Oct 12, 6:25 pm, wrote:
Forty years ago today, October 12, 1967, FCC issued a Novice license to a 13-year-old kid in the 7th grade. The license arrived two days later, and the kid (me) went on the amateur bands for the first time October 14, 1967. Jim, October 14th is special for me, too. That's the date I entered active duty. Since then, I've has had three amateur radio callsigns, six "permanent" QTHs, a long list of rigs, antennas, parts and test equipment, awards earned, articles published, and tens of thousands of QSOs. Many things in amateur radio are different now than they were then, many things are the same. While serving, I had seven ranks, 10 PCS moves, including two unaccompanied short tours (12 months in 1979 and another 12 months in 1988), one long tour (1989), several deployments, lots of awards, and got to play radio, too. One thing that hasn't changed is that ham radio is sure a lot of fun. Doesn't seem like 40 years, though. In ham years, you're just getting dried behind your ears... Enjoy anther 20 or 30 or so... What do others remember? 73 de Jim, N2EY I remember passing my novice test 20 years ago last November. In ham years, I'm a rank beginner.. 73, bb |
Forty Years Licensed
On Oct 19, 10:56?pm, Mike Coslo wrote:
wrote in news:1192669855.352467.256260 @z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com: Going back before my time, when the exams involved writing essays, drawing diagrams and showing how an answer was derived, didn't the examiner have some judgement as to whether the applicant had properly answered a question? This kind of got me to thinking. Perhaps the judgement part is one of the reasons that essays went away. I agree. Your story about the driving test shows how arbitrary that judgement could be. Things like handwriting legibility and how good someone is at English composition could make the difference. Another issue is the need for examiners who knew the material well enough to grade the tests. Anybody with the right answer key can grade a multiple-choice test but essays require a grader that knows the stuff - and has the time. Historically: - Novice was always all multiple-choice. - the pre-1953 Advanced had essays, diagrams, show-your-work problems and multiple choice. When it was revived in 1967, it was all multiple choice. (No Advanceds were issued from 1953 to 1967). - Technician/General/Conditional and Extra had essays, diagrams, show- your-work problems and multiple choice until about 1961, when the old blue-book tests were replaced with all-multiple-choice tests. There was not a single changeover date from blue-book to multiple choice exams, because the examiners were instructed to use up their existing stock of old exams before starting to use the new ones. So depending on where you went for the exam, you could get one or the other. I suspect that busy exam points like NYC used up their stock of old exams very quickly, while a less-busy place might have used them for quite a while after the new ones came out. - For the first two years of their existence (1951-1953), Novice and Technician were tested at FCC offices unless the examinee could meet the "Conditional criteria" of distance or physical disability. After that time, those exams were issued by mail using a single volunteer examiner, regardless of distance. From what older amateurs have told me, the reason FCC made the switch was that the exam points were being inundated with people, particularly teenagers, coming to take the exams without adequate preparation. The tests were free in those days, and a kid on summer vacation could show up at the FCC office three times in a summer with the 30 day wait. IMHO the FCC wanted to both reduce their workload of failed exams and reduce the number who passed simply because they'd gone back so many times that they'd seen all the exam versions. The by-mail exam process slowed things down a lot because there was a 6-8 week processing delay at every step, plus all the work was at FCC Hq. All the amateur radio written exams I took were multiple choice. None of them were difficult at all, IMHO. They did require knowing some radio theory and regulations governing the ARS, though. I am a big supporter of the tests the way they are now. Two things I would change in the exam *process* (not *content*, but *process*): 1) I would go back to the way things were in the late 1970s, when FCC conducted the exams, both in their offices and by request at hamfests, club meetings and almost anywhere that a certain minimum number of examinees could be guaranteed. 2) I would make the exams themselves 'secret', that is, no more open question pools. Of course 2) would depend on 1). The chances of either actually happening are probably 'slim to none'. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Forty Years Licensed
"Howard Lester" wrote in message ... "Phil Kane" wrote Steve, I think you're right - very right - especially after reading Jim's posting that followed yours. It's an experience that few of us hams share any more. In the mid 70's I took the first class phone exam in front of a FCC examiner in Cincinnati. Since there wasn't an FCC office in town they held the exam at a suburban hotel in one of those meeting rooms where they pull out a divider to subdivide the room. Unfortunately there was a Mary Kay Cosmetics meeting being held on the other side of the ballroom, and every five minutes or so Mary Kay ladies would start clapping and singing, just like camp meeting. No "quiet, sterile FCC exam room " that day. |
Forty Years Licensed
Dan Yemiola AI8O wrote:
Unfortunately there was a Mary Kay Cosmetics meeting being held on the other side of the ballroom, and every five minutes or so Mary Kay ladies would start clapping and singing, just like camp meeting. No "quiet, sterile FCC exam room " that day. At least they tried, sort of. My General class exam was held in the Federal Building in Knoxville, TN. I've seen other articles here that described using headphones for code exams; we did not have them. The room was one of those sterile 1960s government classroom/conference rooms, and the echo was horrendous. It was kind of like copying cw through QRN on 80 meters, which is just what I had been doing for the past few months, so I did pass the test. But I do wonder why headphones were provided for some exam locations, but not for others. 73, Steve KB9X |
Forty Years Licensed
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Forty Years Licensed
In article ,
Steve Bonine wrote: Dan Yemiola AI8O wrote: Unfortunately there was a Mary Kay Cosmetics meeting being held on the other side of the ballroom, and every five minutes or so Mary Kay ladies would start clapping and singing, just like camp meeting. No "quiet, sterile FCC exam room " that day. At least they tried, sort of. My General class exam was held in the Federal Building in Knoxville, TN. I've seen other articles here that described using headphones for code exams; we did not have them. The room was one of those sterile 1960s government classroom/conference rooms, and the echo was horrendous. It was kind of like copying cw through QRN on 80 meters, which is just what I had been doing for the past few months, so I did pass the test. But I do wonder why headphones were provided for some exam locations, but not for others. 73, Steve KB9X I took my General Test at the FCC Office in the OLD Federal Office Building in Seattle, Washington, from the Steelie Eyed, Old Crone named Gertrude Johnson, who was the Office Secratary. She did a REAL Good impression of "Librarian from Hell". NO talking, no noise of any kind, if your eyes even left your desk, you FAILED. She was Code Proficent, clear up to 35WPM, and the EIC, Bob Deitch, was even Better. I took my First Class Radiotelephone Exam in the same place the next year, and Ms. Johnson was still there. Years later, when I took the Advanced Exam, in the NEW Federal Office Building, Bob Zinns was the examiner, and they just made you erase all the memory in your calculator. I had it a lot easier then, as I had been doing Marine Ship Inspections, with Inspectors from the Seattle Office for a couple of years, and had a good relationship whith all of them. A few years after that, I was approched by the FCC Region X Director, Bill Johnson, and was offered a position with the Commission as a Resident Field Agent for Southeastern Alaska, attached to the Anchorage Office. I spent 5 years working for them, untill the ALGORE BloodLetting, that destroyed Field Operations as we knew it. Bruce in alaska AL7AQ -- add path before @ |
Forty Years Licensed
Steve Bonine wrote: Dan Yemiola AI8O wrote: Unfortunately there was a Mary Kay Cosmetics meeting being held on the other side of the ballroom, and every five minutes or so Mary Kay ladies would start clapping and singing, just like camp meeting. No "quiet, sterile FCC exam room " that day. At least they tried, sort of. My General class exam was held in the Federal Building in Knoxville, TN. I've seen other articles here that described using headphones for code exams; we did not have them. The room was one of those sterile 1960s government classroom/conference rooms, and the echo was horrendous. It was kind of like copying cw through QRN on 80 meters, which is just what I had been doing for the past few months, so I did pass the test. But I do wonder why headphones were provided for some exam locations, but not for others. 73, Steve KB9X I took my exam in Philly in the same era. Fortunately the headphones did help with the jack hammers going outside. John |
Forty Years Licensed
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Forty Years Licensed
On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 12:38:48 EDT, Steve Bonine wrote:
But I do wonder why headphones were provided for some exam locations, but not for others. It all depended on what resources the local office could scrounge up, because the nickel-nursers at HQ were not of a mind to buy such things in an era when we had to scrounge surplus equipment from Federal disposal sites. Other agencies were "retiring" or discarding stuff that was newer and better than what we had in service. For many years our non-technical vehicles were the Fords and Chevys seized by the DEA from low-level drug dealers. The BMWs and Mercedes of the high-level dealers they kept for themselves. The FCC was, and to some extent still is, a "pauper agency". They don't get to keep any of the license fees or spectrum auction proceeds collected, over and above the actual cost of processing the license or running the auction. -- "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please" Phil Kane - Beaverton, OR PNW Milepost 755 - Tillamook District |
Forty Years Licensed
On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 17:39:10 EDT, Bruce in Alaska
wrote: I spent 5 years working for them, untill the ALGORE BloodLetting, that destroyed Field Operations as we knew it. That was the first time that I heard Internet Al blamed for it. I had always thought that it was Der Hundt, when The Congress laid the task of rewriting the Cable TV rules on the agency but refused to approve any more slots (money) for the reg-writers. and he looked around to see who was expendable. He had no understanding of what the field did, no matter how hard we tried, and so the blood-letting of the field started. The then-Bureau chief (Beverly Baker, one of my law school mentors) resigned rather than go through with it. She was replaced by a former Chief Recruiting Sergeant for the Marine Corps.... (no further comment) I took early-out 10 seconds after it was offered. That's how good morale was under that cloud 12 years ago. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon e-mail: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net |
Forty Years Licensed
On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 17:39:28 EDT, John Siegel
wrote: I took my exam in Philly in the same era. Fortunately the headphones did help with the jack hammers going outside. During most of the 1980s they were tearing up the streets outside the San Francisco office, and we actually had to find an inside conference room to give the code tests. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon e-mail: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net |
Forty Years Licensed
Phil Kane wrote:
wrote: 2) I would make the exams themselves 'secret', that is, no more open question pools. The success of (2) depends on the willingness to prosecute any and all persons who reveal or possess the contents of any examination without authorization. Does the name "Dick Bash" ring any bells? It's still a sore point with me. The chances of either actually happening range from "none" to "what world are you on". You could get the same result, effectively, by increasing the size of the question pool. Just go from the present 8 or 10 to 1 ratio (pool size to test size) to something larger. It could be easily accomplished with the issuance of the next set of pools. -- Klystron |
Forty Years Licensed
Klystron wrote in
: You could get the same result, effectively, by increasing the size of the question pool. Just go from the present 8 or 10 to 1 ratio (pool size to test size) to something larger. It could be easily accomplished with the issuance of the next set of pools. And yet, it begs the question of *should* the tests be harder? And were they harder back in the day? This is an oft contentious issue that I think it is possible that memory might be playing a sort of trick on people. I have done a little research on the subject, imcluding "study guides" from the 1950's. I found the major difference was that the 1950s tests apparently contained more tube oriented material. I was also struck by the fact that some of the questions are verbatim what they are now! Some of the electronic basics have not changed, and there are apparently only so many ways to ask the same question. My references are for Novice and General, and I can say that the Novice written was very, very, easy. The General was of similar difficulty to today's General test. When I can get materials for the Advanced, and more importantly the Extra, I think I'll find a similar pattern. My conclusions: At least since the late 1950's, the testing was no more difficult than it is now. Many of the questions have changed, but in the context of the times it was quite similar. Study guides were a substitute for question pools. Judging by the verbatim content of some of the questions to what is in the question pools, there must have been some relationship. Perhaps one of the reasons that many people believe that the old time tests were so much more difficult is that at the time, they were for the test taker! Some yougster taking a General test back in 1957 would indeed find the test hard. After a few decades of college, practical learning, work, and experience, and a look at the new tests, one can be excused in thinking that they are "easy", because after all the knowledge accumulation, they are easy. But not for everyone, and certainly the testing regimen should not be tailored to the highest denominator, so to speak. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - |
Forty Years Licensed
Mike Coslo wrote:
And yet, it begs the question of *should* the tests be harder? And were they harder back in the day? A frequently heard position is that the elimination of the code test should be counterbalanced by an increase in the difficulty and/or size of the written test. I suggested that back when there still was a code test, as a means of getting rid of the code test. At this point, I am ambivalent on the topic. Considering the shrinking population of hams, I'd like to keep the Technician test easy and advertise it as a foot in the door, especially to persons who are interested in ham radio mainly as a tool that is intended to serve other areas (emergency and disaster relief, for example). This is an oft contentious issue that I think it is possible that memory might be playing a sort of trick on people. I have done a little research on the subject, imcluding "study guides" from the 1950's. I found the major difference was that the 1950s tests apparently contained more tube oriented material. I was also struck by the fact that some of the questions are verbatim what they are now! Some of the electronic basics have not changed, and there are apparently only so many ways to ask the same question. My references are for Novice and General, and I can say that the Novice written was very, very, easy. The General was of similar difficulty to today's General test. When I can get materials for the Advanced, and more importantly the Extra, I think I'll find a similar pattern. I don't doubt that, but the elimination of essays and diagram drawing questions has made the tests easier for some. Persons who can memorize the material can get grades that are out of all proportion to their knowledge of radio and electronics. Larger pools would change that. My conclusions: At least since the late 1950's, the testing was no more difficult than it is now. Many of the questions have changed, but in the context of the times it was quite similar. Study guides were a substitute for question pools. Judging by the verbatim content of some of the questions to what is in the question pools, there must have been some relationship. Perhaps one of the reasons that many people believe that the old time tests were so much more difficult is that at the time, they were for the test taker! Some yougster taking a General test back in 1957 would indeed find the test hard. After a few decades of college, practical learning, work, and experience, and a look at the new tests, one can be excused in thinking that they are "easy", because after all the knowledge accumulation, they are easy. But not for everyone, and certainly the testing regimen should not be tailored to the highest denominator, so to speak. I found that to be true. In the late 1970's, I bought a copy of the Ameco study guide for the phone-one test (the thick book with an orange cover). I was unable to read it; I made absolutely no progress with it. Earlier this year, I used it to study for the GROL and found it quite easy. I wondered, at the time, whether that meant that I had become smarter. On the other hand, some of those old study guides were clearly inadequate for the task. I have a copy of the "General Class Amateur License Handbook" by Howard S. Pyle, W7OE, Sams Publications [1961,1964,1968], 136 pages. You could MEMORIZE the entire book and still not come close to passing the test. It just glossed over the material. -- Klystron |
Forty Years Licensed
On Oct 21, 10:54?pm, Mike Coslo wrote:
Klystron wrote : And yet, it begs the question of *should* the tests be harder? And were they harder back in the day? Depends on what you mean by "harder". This is an oft contentious issue that I think it is possible that memory might be playing a sort of trick on people. I have done a little research on the subject, imcluding "study guides" from the 1950's. I found the major difference was that the 1950s tests apparently contained more tube oriented material. I have License Manuals from 1948, 1951, 1954, 1962 and 1971. There are more differences than just the tube emphasis. For example, the old study guides focused on a few subjects in-depth, and left other subjects completely alone. Lots of stuff on power supplies, including rectifiers and filters, but almost nothing on receivers, for example. Lots of calculations of how to know you're in the band with a frequency meter or crystal with a certain percentage error and a certain temperature characteristics, but nothing on RF exposure. Etc. I was also struck by the fact that some of the questions are verbatim what they are now! Some of the electronic basics have not changed, and there are apparently only so many ways to ask the same question. Sure - there's only so many ways to ask for the unit of resistance. The big thing is that the old study guides simply indicated the areas that would be covered on the exams, not the exact Q&A nor the exact method of the test. So some mental processing was essential. My references are for Novice and General, and I can say that the Novice written was very, very, easy. I would say it was *basic*. It covered the regulations, some theory, and that's about it. Novice (back then) was also a one-year, nonrenewable, one-time license with extremely limited privileges. So its test could be very basic and still cover the needed material. The General was of similar difficulty to today's General test. IMHO, it's not about difficulty but about covering the relevant material, and being sure the person being tested knows that material. At least since the late 1950's, the testing was no more difficult than it is now. Many of the questions have changed, but in the context of the times it was quite similar. Study guides were a substitute for question pools. Judging by the verbatim content of some of the questions to what is in the question pools, there must have been some relationship. Perhaps one of the reasons that many people believe that the old time tests were so much more difficult is that at the time, they were for the test taker! Some yougster taking a General test back in 1957 would indeed find the test hard. After a few decades of college, practical learning, work, and experience, and a look at the new tests, one can be excused in thinking that they are "easy", because after all the knowledge accumulation, they are easy. That's certainly true. In fact, the person to worry about is the experienced amateur who thinks the exams are "hard" even after gaining experience. However, note that we cannot look at the actual exams of those days, because they aren't available. We can only extrapolate from the study guides. Today's tests are wide open. Big difference there! The test-taker of those old days had no clear idea how the questions would be worded, nor how many would be on a given subject, so the usual response was to assume the worst and overprepare. Then the actual test seemed relatively simple. At least that was my experience. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Forty Years Licensed
In article ,
Phil Kane wrote: On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 12:38:48 EDT, Steve Bonine wrote: But I do wonder why headphones were provided for some exam locations, but not for others. It all depended on what resources the local office could scrounge up, because the nickel-nursers at HQ were not of a mind to buy such things in an era when we had to scrounge surplus equipment from Federal disposal sites. Other agencies were "retiring" or discarding stuff that was newer and better than what we had in service. For many years our non-technical vehicles were the Fords and Chevys seized by the DEA from low-level drug dealers. The BMWs and Mercedes of the high-level dealers they kept for themselves. The FCC was, and to some extent still is, a "pauper agency". They don't get to keep any of the license fees or spectrum auction proceeds collected, over and above the actual cost of processing the license or running the auction. -- "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please" Phil Kane - Beaverton, OR PNW Milepost 755 - Tillamook District Some 20 years ago I had a job interview with the Regional Engineer, she was crowing about the $100K budget plus-up he just got, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had a $100K pin money budget (as a minor project lead for the DoD) -- -------------------------------------------------------- Personal e-mail is the n7bsn but at amsat.org This posting address is a spam-trap and seldom read RV and Camping FAQ can be found at http://www.ralphandellen.us/rv |
Forty Years Licensed
In article ,
Bruce in Alaska wrote: In article , Steve Bonine wrote: Dan Yemiola AI8O wrote: Unfortunately there was a Mary Kay Cosmetics meeting being held on the other side of the ballroom, and every five minutes or so Mary Kay ladies would start clapping and singing, just like camp meeting. No "quiet, sterile FCC exam room " that day. At least they tried, sort of. My General class exam was held in the Federal Building in Knoxville, TN. I've seen other articles here that described using headphones for code exams; we did not have them. The room was one of those sterile 1960s government classroom/conference rooms, and the echo was horrendous. It was kind of like copying cw through QRN on 80 meters, which is just what I had been doing for the past few months, so I did pass the test. But I do wonder why headphones were provided for some exam locations, but not for others. 73, Steve KB9X I took my General Test at the FCC Office in the OLD Federal Office Building in Seattle, Washington, from the Steelie Eyed, Old Crone named Gertrude Johnson, who was the Office Secratary. She did a REAL Good impression of "Librarian from Hell". NO talking, no noise of any kind, if your eyes even left your desk, you FAILED. She was Code Proficent, clear up to 35WPM, Wasn't she just scary? -- -------------------------------------------------------- Personal e-mail is the n7bsn but at amsat.org This posting address is a spam-trap and seldom read RV and Camping FAQ can be found at http://www.ralphandellen.us/rv |
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