[GreenKeys] Code, Hams, tty/rtty and stuff...

[Bob McConnell]

Randy or Sherry Guttery wrote:
> 
> Another interesting point was how many commercial licenses are "out 
> there" - many dating back to the mid 1960s; being converted 
> Radiotelephone First or Second Class licenses - and not a few with RADAR 
> endorsements.
> 
> So how about an informal survey for those with some manner of (radio 
> electronics) license  Whatcha got - when'd ya' get it?
> 
> I'll start:
> 
> FCC 1st   1966
> Let it expire while in Navy schools, etc. so then:
> FCC 2nd  1973
> FCC 1st w/ RADAR 1978
> converted to "General" w/ RADAR in 1984 by FCC
> 
> Sherry picked up her FCC 3rd class in 1973 and kept it current until it 
>  "went away" in 1984

Boy, you don't want much, do you? I'm not sure I can remember that far 
back. I got a Second Class Commercial Phone license in 1977, just a few 
months after I got out of the Navy. Missed passing the first class exam 
by six points. I think that expired ten years later, but I hadn't done 
anything with it, so I let it go. I couldn't even get a job after I got 
it. All my experience was shortwave and ship to ship VHF and UHF. I 
didn't even get to play with the microwave link at Lualualei all that 
much. The closest I got to a job was an interview with IBM field 
service. The interviewer complained that I removed too many parts from 
the counter assembly he asked me to repair.

I got my Ham Novice license in April of 1992 (KB2PHN), then passed the 
Tech exam at a hamfest in June that same year. I renewed that license 
(N2SPP) in '02, at the cost of the Plus designation, and it is still in 
effect. I have started collecting the study materials for General, but 
haven't gotten around to reading anything yet. I would like to take that 
test at the Winter hamfest in the next county in January.

Bob McConnell
N2SPP