On 40 and 30 you will have significant negative gain (relative to a dipole) and likely marginal performance.  You will finder stronger signals, broader tuning and less noticeability with a fine wire 20 meter (33 ft) dipole and a tuner at the xmitr for higher bands.  You will also save perhaps $450.

Passing the Amateur Extra exam was a great day in my life.  I had spent the entire summer--from May to September--diligently studying code and theory.  I considered it my first "major" exam; the CPA and bar examinations were still years away in my future.  I don't consider myself a "better" ham or more of a "real" ham than one who obtains the AE today.  However, I don't think that if I passed the exam now I would feel that it was much of an achievement as I did back then.  The diploma-form FCC Amateur Extra certificate on my shack wall is still a source of pride to me.  

I'm waiting for a "Law and Order" where a new Extra kills a ham with a 1x2 for his callsign.

Some double counting in '63 as you could hold both Novice and Technician (I did).

I think I studied for almost a whole weekend before taking the Advanced exam.

It's also fairly common in european landline telegraph keys.

Jim,

Quit jeopardizing my cushy job in DoD.

Neil N3DF

I find the idea of restricting a class of amateurs from building, modifying or servicing radio equipment both repulsive and antithetical to the nature of the Amateur Radio Service.

2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of amateur radio licensing in the U.S.  Wonder what the license structure will look like in another hundred years. 

Keith, you seem pretty knowledgeable.  I'll bet you could study and pass the Amateur Extra examination in a week, maybe less.

I was among NTIA's first employees in 1978.

No, NTIA did not exist in 1940.  However, the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Board(IRAC), which is now chaired by NTIA and is the oldest interdepartmental body in the Federal government, was formed in the 1920s.  It administers the Federal government's use of the radio spectrum.

The Dayton Hamvention offers a one-day course followed by administration of the Technician class test.  It's hard to imagine any lesser investment in time and effort that would be meaningful as far as licensing. 

The Technician and General class licenses are within the reach of motivated high school (and some younger) students. 

Today's $1,500 radio is 1970's $275 radio.  That would buy you a Heathkit HW-100 in 1970 that you had to build up from a kit and isn't in the same league with modern radios. 

Just like the FAA exams that airline pilots take!