Jim,
You wrote:
> BTW, the Novice and "Conditional" class licenses began later on in
> 1951, and in my opinion, things seem to have gone down hill since,
> at least since the time that your new Novice/Conditional license
> could last for more than 1 year, after which you were originally
> required to upgrade to General IF you wanted to continue in the
> hobby and contribute to the art of radio and communications
> using same.
>
Please don't be too hard on those of us who started as Novices. I began in
1952 when I was in the 8th grade as WN4VIV and W4VIV - got my Novice and
Technician tickets at the same, in-person FCC exam. I copied the 13 wpm
test solid 9 months later, and then upgraded to Extra in 1967, the same
month I was also taking my Electrical Engineering PhD general exams. It was
either upgrade or get a 25 kc calibrator for my HRO-50 so I could stay out
of the new, Extra Class bands. I also acquired a First Phone in 1956 so
that I could work as a TV station engineer during my college summers.
Amateur radio was the introduction to an extremely interesting and
fulfilling career for me, and I'll always be grateful for that. Gee, if it
wasn't for ham radio I might have turned out to be a lawyer! Now that I'm
newly retired I'm having loads of fun getting a bunch of "boatanchors" back
on the air.
73,
Jim Hanlon, W8KGI
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