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Survey Question

Question

How old were you when you were first licensed?

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Novice in 1960

Was 13 when I got my Novice in 1960 as KN8WHB in Grand Rapids, MI.
Posted by K4EQ on 2021-11-12

right place & right time

I was 16 years old, when a math/computer science teacher at my high school gave a class on amateur radio. Although I had been involved in SWL for several years, I had never really thought much about amateur radio.

I took the class given by WB2SPE, and a couple of months later I took the novice test, passed it, and was issued KA1BII about a month later.

Pretty quickly upgraded to Technician and then General. Took a bit before I upgraded to Advanced, and even longer before I moved up to Extra.

Little did that 16 year old realize that taking that class and getting a license, would lead him towards a very interesting career.

Thank you, WB2SPE, for helping that to happen.
Posted by N1IG on 2021-11-12

When first licensed

Novice at 14 years old, general at 15. At 18 had my 25wpm ARRL Certificate. Still learning, having fun and studying for Extra Class.
Posted by K4BXK on 2021-11-12

Well...? WERE You...?! :o)

Were any of you good Hams reading this brief passage to-day possibly the very same Novices who, around 1972-onward, would call "CQ" in the 40-meter Novice sub-band of 7100 - 7150-KHz with just absolutely BOOMING "599-plus" signals --- but when you were answered by the rare & different "...non-WN" callsign prefix of "VE3", you suddenly hit the ol' proverbial "...silent key" button, afraid of any possible consequences for working such an "...unusual" & "...illegal" station...?!

That happened to me more often than not as I recall, & it would continually frustrate me to no end...!

Still, those halcyon days remain VERY near & dear to me. What an absolute THRILL it was, indeed, for THIS "...Canadian novice" to call "CQ" on my 7125-KHz rock-bound frequency on a Saturday morning, to be DELUGED by a veritable FLOOD of "WN" callers, eager to log a "DX" station into their log books...! What great fun that all was...

I've often wondered whatever may have become of my many new-found Ham radio buddies at the time. The bands sure sounded differently back in the day, too --- just PACKED with signals, seemingly wall-to-wall. Although how much of THAT may been the result of the "...broad-as-a-barn-door" selective 3rd-hand Hallicrafters S-77A AC-DC receiver that I had at the time --- even WITH the later addition of a "...high-tech" Heathkit QF-1 Q-multiplier --- is very much open to debate...! Hi Hi
Posted by VE3CUI on 2021-11-12

First Licensed - 1956

Passed Novice on Sept. 23 and received ticket on October 31, 1956 as KN1AFA in Newton Centre, MA.
Posted by W2FKN on 2021-11-10

1967 Novice

In 1967 as a high school sophomore, two friends and I decided to get our ham licenses together. At that time you had to find a ham willing to administer the test which we did. First we took the 5 WPM code test and then it took a month to get the written exam back from the FCC. After taking that, it then had to be sent to the FCC for grading. Happily we all passed, but it took well over a month to receive our licenses. The Novice license was for 1 year and was not renewable so you either upgraded or you had to start all over again. Times have certainly changed for the better.




















Posted by KK9H on 2021-11-10

License

License??? Didn't know there was a License!!! hehehe. LOL


Posted by KB5ZSM on 2021-11-09

Novice in High School Technician and General at 69ys.

Couldn't pass the cw code after Novice so I lost interest. Many years latter after retiring I got my General. Still trying to learn CW.
Posted by KC1NBN on 2021-11-09

Thank A Techer

Shop Teacher W7PQK took a kid from a broken home and gave him a love long hobby that tranfered to a wonderful career, eternally greatful
Thank you Silent Key Robert C Anderson
Posted by KG2RS on 2021-11-08

started as a kid. love it as a geezer

I got my Novice license on St. Patrick's Day 1961 as a high school sophomore. Got my General in Jan 1962. Have been licensed and had an HF station every day since including some minimalist times in college and as family situations cut into ham radio. Had HF and VHF/UHF mobiles along the way. Even golf cart mobile. Done dozens of Field Days, AREC, SkyWarn, and Elmered a lot along the way. Now retired in a HOA restricted community I still have a nice HF station in my home (creative antenna work around), operate QRP portable, and enjoy ham radio several hours every week. Met a LOT of great people along the way. The hobby has enriched my life and partly defines me -- who I am and what I do.
Posted by W4FID on 2021-11-07

Started as a teenager

I was 17, and a senior in high school when I earned my Novice license. That was almost 44 years ago. 3 months later I upgraded to Tech, 3 months later I upgraded to General, a year after that I made Advanced, and did my final upgrade to Extra 15 years later with the 20 WPM code. Before earning my first ticket, I was an active SWL. Still love ham radio, and still love CW.


Posted by N8AUC on 2021-11-07

16 Year old junior in high school

I had started the process at age 9, but didn't have a way to learn CW until I bought the Radio Shack/Gordon West "Enhanced Novice Class" package. It was 2 cassette tapes with the 5WPM code, and the Novice theory. The code was easy, and my friend, Jennifer, helped me study the theory. Good times.
Posted by KUS335983 on 2021-11-07

CW held me back

When I was a teenager in the 60's I had a neighbor who was a Ham and gave me a tour of his shack. Told me he would help me get my license if I was interested. Stupid me--I did not want to become a Ham because I was not interested in CW and thought CB radio was more interesting. Finally became a ham with my son when I was in my 30's and even made Extra when CW was still required! You know what they say about hindsight...
Posted by KG0LH on 2021-11-06

1967 Novice

I took my Novice test from a local ham in the fall of 1967. It took two months for the FCC to mail me my license to me. Everything was done by “snail mail” back then. I was 15 and the license arrived on the day after Christmas with the call WN9WNQ. Everything was CW for Novices and my first contact was on 40M with a ham near St. Louis. I lived near Chicago and I remember that even that was great DX for me at the time. I still have the QSL card too.
Posted by KK9H on 2021-11-06

1974 Newbie as a Novice

I was 17 in 1974 as a novice class and 2 years later at 19 upgraded to General class after I had some experience and knowledge. I operated a lot of cw in that 2 years mostly on 40m or 80m and built my foundation for moving forward to installing and fixing radio gear. I started in the Tube era and loved it driving my parents crazy with the TVI from my cw ops.
Posted by N2AYM on 2021-11-04

Start Early

Prior to getting licensed I was an SWL for several years. I "felt the magic" from the very beginning. I started with a transistor radio I purchased with money I earned from my paper route. Built and used a Heathkit HR-10 which I modified based on an article in Ham Radio magazine. Joined the local radio club and started taking classes. Prior to that starting around age 15 I purchased my first ARRL Handbook and studied that. This is the hard way! For several years I only used CW with a straight key. I have many wonderful memories of those years.
Posted by K9RJ on 2021-11-02

Dropping of Morse Code ws the impetus

I sincerely tried to learn code but was unsuccessful. Let the sniping begin.
Posted by KG4RUL on 2021-11-02

took 2 attempts

My first attempt was at age 15, but I failed the 10 WPM entry code test. Life got in the way, but my second attempt was 22 years later and it got me on the air with CW on 80 and 40. I almost had WAS (missed 1 state) on 80 CW in my first year. After that I soon got the Advanced theory and 12 WPM endorsements.

73, Ed
Posted by VE3WGO on 2021-11-01

frequently switch hobbies

I tend to stay with an interest for about 10 years before it fades. I've been into photography, music, running, biking and probably some others. I've always had an interest in radio but never followed up on it, now after being licensed for 8 years I'm studying for my Extra. Probably stick with ham radio until the end.
Posted by KD2HCU on 2021-11-01

Novice license

At the time (1968) the Lincoln (NE) ARC sponsored an Explore Post. The four of us original Explores all got our Novice license at the same time and received consecutive call signs.
Posted by WU0F on 2021-11-01

Interesting

I had my first Radiotelephone operators license at age 17. Novice ham at 44. Extra at 46. Now 78. But a SWL since about 13.
Posted by N6XJP on 2021-11-01

Nothing's Really Changed, Has It...?

I do 99.99% of my operating using CW, & I've noticed that for the past several years now, guys all seem to like to interject their age, & the number of years that they've been Hams, into the QSO. This info seems to have become almost as important as sharing your name, & the details of your QTH anymore...!

Anyway, the vast majority of my QSO's are invariably with others near my age --- which is 69, BTW --- having been licensed for roughly the same length of time, i.e. 50 years here. That always gets me to thinking about how we (well THEN, anyway) kids in our developing teen years all managed to successfully embrace the nuances that "...advanced technology" --- amateur radio back then --- & that's when it strikes me, each & every time.

We oldsters of to-day are not one bit different from the kids who now routinely have mastered all things digital in 2021 --- & I won't even attempt to begin to even LIST everything in that particular shopping basket! We were-are innately curious by the technology of "...new things," & back in the day Ham radio WAS the technological "...new thing" of our generation. And kids to-day are just as fearless in their determination to embrace it, just exactly as we were back in our time.

So, the old saying of, "...The more things change, the more they remain the same" holds true. One can only sit back & ponder, slack-jawed at the possibilities, of what FUTURE coming technological developments might bring with them, & how they will surely make members of to-day's "millennial" generation --- their personal hand-held addictions glued firmly to their faces --- look as "...passe" to others, as we old-time Hams do now, CW keys in hand, & headphones wrapped about our heads...!

:o)
Posted by VE3CUI on 2021-10-31

Better late than never !

With a career in the military, and then the railroad, I never had the time. Now retired, I have the time and thoroughly enjoying it.
Posted by K4GTE on 2021-10-31