On Jan 27, 10:04�pm, wrote:
On Jan 26, 6:44 pm, wrote:

On Jan 25, 7:52?pm, Cecil Moore wrote:

wrote:
Just getting to
the exam could be a major journey, depending on where you lived.
Come to think of it - my parents drove me to the Houston
FCC office for my Novice exam so at that time the distance
limit was still 125 miles. A year later, when my Novice
expired, I was eligible to take the Conditional by mail
because the distance limit had been reduced to 75 miles.
I have lost track of exactly when I got those licenses
but that knowledge should help to bracket the dates.

Here's an exact date, Cecil:

June 10, 1954

On that date, the "Conditional distance" was reduced from 125 miles to
75 miles "air-line" from a quarterly examining point.

Also on that date, FCC stopped giving routine Novice and Technician
exams at FCC exam sessions, and instead gave the job to volunteer
examiners. After that date, Novice and Technician exams wouyld be done
by mail regardless of distance from and FCC exam point.

That resolves an ongoing bit of confusion on my part. I haven't been
able to remember if I took my Novice exam in 1953 or 1954. What I do
remember is that I took the exam during a Thanksgiving break at the
FCC office in the Philly custom house and that there was no other way
for me to take the test. Based on your June 10 '54 date I must have
taken the test in the fall of '53 when I was a high school
sophomore.

Agreed.

In those days there were three FCC offices in Texas - Houston, *Dallas
and Beaumont. Houston and Dallas gave exams on a weekly schedule, while
Beaumont was a sub-office that.gave exams by appointment. Exams were
also given four times a year in San Antonio.

Of course, in Texas, it's not at all difficult to be more than 75 miles
from all four of those offices.

The reason cited for the changes was that the FCC exam sessions were
overloaded with amateurs taking the exams, and the FCC had almost
overrun its 1953 budget for giving exams. In those days there were no
license fees to defray the cost.

That's very strange. There were very few ham tests given on the days
when I took my Novice exam and again when I took my General exam a
year later, the exam room was overloaded with guys taking commercial
exams on both occasions. I was the *only * ham in the room when I took
my General vs. a couple dozen others. The examiner opened the office
with a question "is there anybody taking a ham radio license test
today?" and I raised my hand. "OK, let's get you outta here." Being
the only ham in a room full of grumbling commercial guys was a bit
unnerving . . sorta like "OK kid just do it and hit the road."

Those are just two data points, and if you went in the fall and
spring, you missed the big summer push.

In any event, work overload at FCC was the cited reason for the
change.

btw, when I was between sophomore and junior year of high school
(1970),
I went to that same office - to take the Extra exam. The place was
crowded but I was the only one there to take the Extra, so the
examiner took me first.

I've taken three ham tests and one commercial license test in '53, '54
nd '68. All the exams were given by FCC examiners at the Philly office
and none of them cost me a dime.

I took the Novice from a local ham in '67, the Tech and Advanced in
'68, the Extra in '70 and the commercial in '72. All the ham licenses
except Novice cost money - you musta just missed the fee thing in '68.
I think it was $9 back then.

I swapped my original callsign for my current callsign at the FCC
office in Gettysburg in '77. It's not a "vanity" callsign and it was
also a freebie. I have yet to be be involved with a volunteer examiner
or pay the FCC for anything. Cheap, cheap . . !

I swapped my old 2x3 3-land call for N2EY in '77 as well, when I moved
to the Empire State. Sequentially issued and free, not a vanity call.
Kept it when I moved back.

This overload happened even though the FCC had stopped giving the
Advanced exam 18 months earlier (end of 1952) and there were few
applicants for the Extra because that license did not convey any
additional operating privileges. Also, the "retest if you move closer"
rule had been dropped in 1952, yet the FCC exam sessions were brusting
at the seems..

Thanks again, Jim.

You're welcome, Cecil. Hope that helps pin down the date.

---

btw, in those days the FCC did not give credit for license exam
elements previously passed unless they were passed in front of an FCC
examiner. If a Novice who had gotten the license by mail went for the
Technician, s/he had to do the 5 wpm code again. If a by-mail
Technician went for the General or Conditional, s/he had to do the
written exam again even though, back then, all three of those license
classes used the same written test.

73 de Jim, N2EY

On Jan 28, 8:48 am, wrote:
On Jan 27, 10:04?pm, wrote: On Jan 26, 6:44 pm, wrote: On Jan 25, 7:52?pm, Cecil Moore wrote:


Being
the only ham in a room full of grumbling commercial guys was a bit
unnerving . . sorta like "OK kid just do it and hit the road."Those are just two data points, and if you went in the fall and
spring, you missed the big summer push.

Makes sense. I took both my Novice and General exams in the fall and
never even noticed any "big summer push".

Back then the shipping industry was advertising heavily for radio ops
and Philly was a big port. The guys taking the commercial tests tended
to be on the shaggy side like sailors rather than white-collar types
looking for jobs at broadcast stations. I've always thought that
somehow this is why I got swamped by 'em when I took my exams

In any event, work overload at FCC was the cited reason for the
change.

The reasons they cited and the reality of it were probably two
different critters. Even back then it was obvious that the FCC was
working on getting out of the ham testing biz.


All the ham licenses
except Novice cost money - you musta just missed the fee thing in '68.
I think it was $9 back then.

That was during the incentive licensing thrash when the regs changed
monthly. I guess I got lucky.

I swapped my old 2x3 3-land call for N2EY in '77 as well, when I moved
to the Empire State. Sequentially issued and free, not a vanity call.
Kept it when I moved back.

There's another example of rapid-fire changes in the regs. When I went
for my '77 casllsign swap you submitted a list of the specific calls
you would like to have, w3rv was not a sequentially issued callsign.
You had to comb thru the print version of the callbook to find open
1x2 callsigns before submitting your list. PIA. My first choice was
w3ru but somebody ahead of me in the line got w3ru so I got my second
choice and became w3rv.

I did the trip to Gettysburg with Nick k3nl. A couple years ago he e-
mailed me and told me w3ru had just become available and told me to go
for it.

Yeah, right. Not hardly!

73 de Jim, N2EY

w3rv

b.

On Jan 28, 4:25?pm, wrote:
On Jan 28, 8:48 am, wrote:

On Jan 27, 10:04?pm, wrote: On Jan 26, 6:44 pm, wrote: On Jan 25, 7:52?pm, Cecil Moore wrote:

Being
the only ham in a room full of grumbling commercial guys was a bit
unnerving . . sorta like "OK kid just do it and hit the road."

Those are just two data points, and if you went in the fall and
spring, you missed the big summer push.

Makes sense. I took both my Novice and General exams in the fall and
never even noticed any "big summer push".

It was when school was out and all us younguns could go downtown and
take the exams.
With good timing, three times in a summer.

When I went for the 13 wpm code (summer 1968), there were several
groups of four or five of us at the code table. When I went back in
1970 for the 20 wpm and the Extra written, I was the only one there
for that speed.

Back then the shipping industry was advertising heavily for radio ops
and Philly was a big port. The guys taking the commercial tests tended
to be on the shaggy side like sailors rather than white-collar types
looking for jobs at broadcast stations. I've always thought that
somehow this is why I got swamped by 'em when I took my exams

Sounds reasonable! Also, the office did code tests only two times a
week (Tuesday was
written-only day) and so you ran into them each time.

In any event, work overload at FCC was the cited reason for the
change.

The reasons they cited and the reality of it were probably two
different critters. Even back then it was obvious that the FCC was
working on getting out of the ham testing biz.

They went back and forth. In 1951 they restructured the licenses in a
way that would generate a lot more testing - then in 1953 they gave
all operating privileges to Generals and above. In '64 they virtually
eliminated the Conditional and did the incentive licensing thing,
almost guaranteeing a lot more work for themselves.

All the ham licenses
except Novice cost money - you musta just missed the fee thing in '68.
I think it was $9 back then.

That was during the incentive licensing thrash when the regs changed
monthly. I guess I got lucky.

Probably.

I swapped my old 2x3 3-land call for N2EY in '77 as well, when I moved
to the Empire State. Sequentially issued and free, not a vanity call.
Kept it when I moved back.T

There's another example of rapid-fire changes in the regs. When I went
for my '77 casllsign swap you submitted a list of the specific calls
you would like to have, w3rv was not a sequentially issued callsign.
You had to comb thru the print version of the callbook to find open
1x2 callsigns before submitting your list. PIA. My first choice was
w3ru but somebody ahead of me in the line got w3ru so I got my second
choice and became w3rv.

Yup. In 76 or 77 they opened up the N prefixes, and I got the 129th
one in 2 land. By 1979 they had announced that they would not reassign
1x2 calls - if I gave up N2EY, nobody else would get it. So I kept it.

I did the trip to Gettysburg with Nick k3nl. A couple years ago he e-
mailed me and told me w3ru had just become available and told me to go
for it.

Yeah, right. Not hardly!

Similar story here. N3EY was available for a long time but now
somebody has it.

73 de Jim, N2EY