In article .net, "KØHB"
writes:

"N2EY" wrote

Could the holder of your learners permit ham license operate a ham rig
alone?

Of course, just like the previous learners permit, aka "Novice".

Then it's a license.

not being banned for life as your plan would do.

They wouldn't be 'banned for life'. They could take the standard
qualification test at any time.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. They'd be "banned for life" from getting another
learner's permit...err, Class B license. FCC or somebody would have to keep a
database of everyone who had held one and let it expire without upgrading, to
insure that someone wouldn't retest and get a second one.

Are there any licenses or learner's permits of *any* kind currently issued
by the US Govt. that are one-time-only, upgrade-or-you're-out?

None that I'm aware are currently extant, but precedent exists.

Sure - a precedent that ended almost 30 years ago. Maybe FCC will go for that
idea but I doubt it.

btw, the old nonrenewable nonretakeable Novice had one more limitation back in
those days: it was for newbies only. Anyone who had *ever* held any class of
amateur license, even one that had long since expired, could not get a Novice.
It had to be a person's first ham license.

Of course back then FCC trusted that when someone checked the box on the Form
610 that said they' never had a ham license before, they weren't fibbing.

73 de Jim, N2EY