Alan--

Interesting narrative.  That Washington Street FCC Field Office was in a very creepy building.  Lots of empty corridors and cobweb-covered World War II era shuttered offices.

When I took the sending tests, the examiner didn't bother putting on the headphones--he said he could judge my sending just by watching me.  Told me to speed up at one point on the 20 wpm exam.

Neil N3DF

Pat,

I think you are correct.  However, I think that the term "plain text" meant as opposed to random code groups, which constituted (and I believe still constitute) part of the code exam for some commercial radiotelegraph operator licenses.  By that standard, ship position reports would be plain text.  

Neil N3DF

When I took the Amateur Extra exam at the FCC New York field office in 1971, the content of the cw test (played on paper tape on a 1930's style code machine) consisted of ship position reports (latitude and longitude coordinates).  Evidently, the FCC used the same tape for amateur and commercial examinations.  Does anyone else remember the content of their FCC cw examinations?  --Neil N3DF

Jim,

I can't argue with anthing you have said above.  One of the biggest surprises I ever had was when my parents allowed me to take a day off from high school--something they never allowed for any other purpose--to take the train into New York City to take the General exam at the FCC office.  

However, I do know that the FCC ended the ham-administered Technician program because they found that a large percentage of the exams were "irregular."  Don't you think this carried over into the Conditional program?

Neil N3DF

Jim,

A very nice job!  

I am always stunned to be reminded that, from the early 50's to the late 60's, three classes of licensees had the same exam (Technician, Conditional and General) and four classes of licensees had the same operating privileges (Conditional, General, Advanced and Amateur Extra).  

You are observant to note that the upgrade path for Conditionals required taking both the General and Amateur Extra exams (and, after 1967, the Advanced exam) at an FCC office.  I believe that this was a major source (but not the only source) of antagonism toward the incentive licensing proposal.  From anecdotal evidence, I believe that many (but obviously not all) Conditional licenses were, to some degree, fraudulently obtained.  One friend would "help" another get his or her license by "loosely" administering the code and written exams.  These licensees had no realistic hope of upgrading before the FCC (some didn't know any code) and thus fiercely opposed incentive licensing in the late 60's.  

73 de Neil N3DF

For those interested, my short article and chart describing the history of U.S. amateur radio operator licensing from the beginning in 1912 to 2004 may be found at:  www.arrl.org/tis/info/history.html by clicking the first bullet, "Postscript--90 Years of Licensing:  the evolution of amateur radio licensing in the United States."  I regret that it is available to ARRL members only.  --Neil D. Friedman, N3DF, Miami, FL

I recommend a Buddipole with mast and tripod.  Works great.  All tote easily in a small bag.  Very high quality parts.  Disadvantages:  Not inexpensive (but will last for many years).  Band changing is far from instantaneous.  

Neil N3DF
Miami

In the 1960s, when I came up through the licensing ranks, Novice through Amateur Extra, the W1AW code proficiency program was perhaps ARRL's best known service.

Nearly every would-be Novice, General and Amateur Extra that I knew upgraded his or her code speed by listening to W1AW code practice.  When you passed the appropriate qualifying run, you were ready for the test.  

Some supplemented their code study with a tape or record, but these were often quickly memorized.

Neil N3DF

Well, five more mail deliveries before I leave for Dayton (an extensive and expensive trip from South Florida) and still no sign of admission tickets or flea market spaces.  For decades, I used to receive them by February.  The Dayton crew this year is certainly keeping it exciting.

Neil N3DF

I am concerned about this year's Hamvention.  I ordered flea market and admission tickets in January and have received nothing.  My emails and phone messages have resulted in one short anonymous email asking me to keep waiting.

Consider yourself fortunate.  The four or five Isotrons I have seen over the decades did not come close to matching a dipole.

While it's easy to spend the entire Hamvention in the flea market and with the inside vendors, I make it a practice to attend at least one forum a day.  I almost always learn something, the speakers are usually interesting, and it generally serves to renew and increase my enthusiasm for amateur radio.  

Neil N3DF

AF6IM,

I would like to see more hams, but I am less interested in the tally of licensees than in the number of active hams who are active on the air, participate in a club and read at least one of the monthly ham magazines.  They don't have to be CW ops, just active in some facets of the spectrum of ham activities and modes.

Yes, I think joining ARRL is better than only carping about it.  When in the Northeast, I recommend a tour of ARRL headquarters.  I took the tour one morning last fall and was impressed by the people, their work and their dedication to amateur radio.  I bought a brick for the "Diamond Terrace" and dedicated it to my late father, who was a ham and long-time ARRL member.  In the afternoon, I was a guest operator at W1AW.

I think the League, by and large, does a good job and that QST is now better than it has ever been before.

Neil N3DF

When I was a 5 wpm Novice, I was pretty sure that I was incapable of reaching the 13 wpm required for General.  However, after about 500 QSOs--2 or 3 a night for about seven months--I breezed through the code test without any additional study.  After a thousand or so additional QSOs over the next two years, the 20 wpm exam was not a major problem.  I just had to learn to write down what I had been copying in my head.  

By the way, which functions would you like to see the "bloated" ARRL jettison?

The CW requirement for the Technician license was dropped seventeen years ago.  You could have been well on your way to QCWA membership by now.