[Elecraft] 20 wpm OT

[N2EY at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/7/07 12:10:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time, wb8yqj at yahoo.com 
writes:

> I remind people that before the FCC became involved,
> there was no test. 

No, that's not true.

Mandatory testing for radio licenses in the USA began in 1912.
The FCC began about 1934. In between, radio licenses were 
issued by the Department of Commerce, the FRC, and IIRC 
the US Navy. 
> 
> I took my General test in the Federal Building in
> Cleveland Ohio, the pressure was on and the test was
> tough. 
> 
> I'm now studying the Q&A for the Extra exam, which is
> a far cry from even the General back in the day.
> 

I have ARRL License Manuals from 1948, 1951, 1954, 1962 and 1971. Comparing 
the study guides in them (which were reprints of the FCC-issued study guides) 
to the current license tests tells a somewhat different story.

The old exams covered a few subjects in detail, but avoided lots of stuff. 
For example, the old exams wanted you to know oscillator and filter circuits, 
frequency
tolerances of xtals and frequency meters, modulation percentages, harmonic, 
key-click and splatter reduction, and power supplies. But they all but ignored 
things like receivers, transceivers, RF exposure, satellites, repeaters, 
transmission lines, antennas, and much more. 

Looking at the old exams, it seems to me as if they were written to address 
particular problems they'd had with the amateur radio service in the past. 
Spurious signals? Toss in questions about pi-nets, lowpass filters,  and 
neutralization. T8 and worse notes? Add questions about DC power supply design. Etc.

By contrast, today's exams cover a much wider range of topics, but in less 
detail. 
Compare the two study guides side by side and see.

btw, FCC introduced all-multiple-choice exams in 1961. But they didn't just 
toss out the old exams. Each exam site first used up their existing supply of 
"bluebook" exams. So depending where you took the test in the early 1960s, you 
could have gotten the old or the new.

Now for my 20 wpm story.

Before about 1974, you needed two years' experience as a General or higher 
before FCC would even let you try the Extra. You had to pass both the code and 
theory at the same exam session. No retries, no CSCEs, fail and you had 30 days 
wait before retesting. For a kid in school, exam opportunities were limited 
to the summer and the rare school holiday that wasn't a federal holiday.

I upgraded from Novice/Tech to Advanced in the summer of 1968, age 14. I'd 
failed the 13 wpm on my first try because The FCC Examiner couldn't read my 
"Palmer-Method" longhand well enough, so I went home and taught myself to 
block-print at 30 wpm, came back later in the summer and passed. 

Two years later, on the first day I could legally try for the Extra, I was 
back at the FCC office in the old Custom House in Philadelphia - 2nd and 
Chestnut, 10th floor. August, 1970, the summer between 10th and 11th grades. There 
was quite a crowd there to take exams, both amateur and commercial. At 16 I was 
by far the youngest person there.

At exactly 8 AM The Examiner came out and asked if anyone was there for 20 
wpm. I was the only one.

"This way, kid."

Followed him into the big exam room with its code table, one-arm-bandit 
student desks, code test table, and locked file cabinets. 

The Examiner pointed to a chair at the Morse Code table for me. He then 
unlocked one of the file cabinets and brought out the code test machine, 'phones, 
and straight key, and set them up on the table. 

The code machine was a small unit that read holes in a specially punched 
paper tape. Speed was changed by swapping drive spindles of different diameters. 

He then unlocked a second cabinet and brought out a yellow legal pad and the 
punched paper tape for the code test machine. The Examiner got it all ready to 
go and then gave the same instructions I'd heard two years before:

"Copy exactly what you hear. You have 5 minutes of code, I need to find 1 
minute of correct, legible copy for you to pass. When the code stops put the 
pencil DOWN."

I nodded that I understood and put on the 'phones.

"Ready, kid?"

I nodded again and he started the machine. I started right off, copying in 
big block letters. It seemed easier than copying W1AW or 3RN traffic - the code 
was strong and clear in the cans, no QRM or QRN. This was easy - I was getting 
every letter with little effort!

The examiner watched me closely, but I ignored him. He came around the table 
and stared over my shoulder as I copied. Then he went over to the code machine 
and shut it off.

I looked up, startled and a bit scared. Less than two minutes had passed - 
had I done something wrong? 

"That was easy, huh, kid?" asked The Examiner.

"Uh, sort of" was all I could manage.

"It should be" came the reply. "That was only 13 words per minute. Here's 20"

And he quickly swapped drive spindles on the code machine and restarted it. 

Now the code came a lot faster and it was all I could do was copy it and hope 
for the best. I got the full 5 minute test and somewhere in there he found 
100 consecutive legible characters. The sending and written tests were an 
anticlimax after all that, and I went home to wait for the license to show up in the 
mail after six weeks or so.

I will never know if he simply forgot to change the drive speed or left it at 
13 wpm intentionally to rattle a kid trying for the Extra. I do know that in 
those days one did not question The Examiner or his actions.

I found out later that The Examiner was a ham named Joe Welsh, nicknamed Joe 
Squelch, who was a really nice guy outside the office, but who was All 
Business when it came to the exams. 

Doesn't seem like 37 years ago.

73 de Jim, N2EY






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