[TenTec] Extra Class Licensing

[JAMES HANLON]

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