Well, in 1952 (this may be out of date) the Tech and General exams
were the same except Tech didn't have any code or privileges, and
there was a nifty Novice test with 5wpm code nonrenewable that
lasted a year, for you to get your code speed up to the General's
13wpm. If you didn't go on the air over that time in code, you
had a tough time meeting the code requirement. If you did, it
was easy. Anyway judging from the experience of a typical child
and his father following these two paths.

Then it all started going downhill and God only knows what it is
today. I don't even know what the power limits or bands are.
We used to have a nifty KW into a backyard antenna, after years
of sultry upgrades, and sending code would dim the lights and
shrink TV pictures.

You could pass any written test by memorizing the ARRL's License
Manual but code was apparently the killer for grownups.
--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Ron Hardin wrote:
You could pass any written test by memorizing the ARRL's License
Manual but code was apparently the killer for grownups.

Not the ARRL manual; it was that guy whose name I can't remember, who
published guides made up by paying testees to remember questions and
multiple-guess answers just after leaving the testing sessions.

--
"The Democrats are all over this. Democratic strategists feel John Kerry's
war record means he can beat Bush. They say when it comes down to it, voters
will always vote for a war hero over someone who tried to get out of the war.
I'll be sure to mention that to Bob Dole when I see him." -- Jay Leno

clifto wrote:

Ron Hardin wrote:
You could pass any written test by memorizing the ARRL's License
Manual but code was apparently the killer for grownups.

Not the ARRL manual; it was that guy whose name I can't remember, who
published guides made up by paying testees to remember questions and
multiple-guess answers just after leaving the testing sessions.

That may have been Dick Bash KL7IHP... as I recall.

dxAce



--
"The Democrats are all over this. Democratic strategists feel John Kerry's
war record means he can beat Bush. They say when it comes down to it, voters
will always vote for a war hero over someone who tried to get out of the war.
I'll be sure to mention that to Bob Dole when I see him." -- Jay Leno

clifto wrote:

Ron Hardin wrote:
You could pass any written test by memorizing the ARRL's License
Manual but code was apparently the killer for grownups.

Not the ARRL manual; it was that guy whose name I can't remember, who
published guides made up by paying testees to remember questions and
multiple-guess answers just after leaving the testing sessions.

No, the License Manual I think was from the ARRL. It's what
everybody used, and the questions matched, anyway I don't remember
any surprises.
--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Ron Hardin wrote:
clifto wrote:
Ron Hardin wrote:
You could pass any written test by memorizing the ARRL's License
Manual but code was apparently the killer for grownups.

Not the ARRL manual; it was that guy whose name I can't remember, who
published guides made up by paying testees to remember questions and
multiple-guess answers just after leaving the testing sessions.

No, the License Manual I think was from the ARRL. It's what
everybody used, and the questions matched, anyway I don't remember
any surprises.

dxAce correctly recalled Dick Bash. It was the Bash guides that actually
matched the real test questions on the exams. The ARRL manuals made up
their own questions that were very similar and gave a person adequate
practice to handle the test; the difference was that you could memorize
the answers to the Bash questions and pass the test without understanding
the material. That is, if the answer to the Bash question about resonant
frequency was "(c) 1.4 MHz", then the answer to the actual test question
would also be (c), 1.4 MHz.

It was said at that time that the reason the FCC dumbed the test down
by orders of magnitude was directly and mostly related to the Bash
guides. That, and the fact that amateur radio was acquiring General
Class licensees who couldn't explain how a flashlight worked or tune
a transmitter, made the Bash guides a source of a lot of resentment
among amateurs.

--
"The Democrats are all over this. Democratic strategists feel John Kerry's
war record means he can beat Bush. They say when it comes down to it, voters
will always vote for a war hero over someone who tried to get out of the war.
I'll be sure to mention that to Bob Dole when I see him." -- Jay Leno