How many original FCC 1st Class license holders out there?

[Oldglide]

I was wondering how many forum members still have there original 1st Class FCC Radiotelephone license. I remember all the studying, memorizing formulas, especially the one for antenna current required for commercial radio and television. Taking the 3rd class test, then the 2nd class test, the hardest and then the 1st class test. What a thrill it was when I got that blue license and gladly payed $5.00 every year for my renewal. But what a bummer it was when the FCC changed the license to a General Radiotelephone license with no renewal and good forever. Having that license didn't seem to mean that much anymore. I still have my original blue one that indicates 1st Class and is proudly displayed above my bench.

 

[jackj]

I know you asked for 1st class but I still have my 2nd class as well as the 'good forever' General Class. Got my 2nd in 1964 while the test was still free, renewals were free also back then. A 1st or 2nd class was a guaranteed job, it really a shame the 'Powers That Be' destroyed that too.

 

[EasyRadio]

Yep, still have the last renewal of my "First Phone" ticket, in a frame, in the shack. The lifetime GROL license card looks pretty cheesy by comparison. I, also, had to study pretty hard to get that first phone - then they decided to combine the first and second class licenses into a GROL. Oh well, I probably couldn't even pass the exam for a GROL today!

 

[rfradioconsult]

After 40 years my First is just a memory. I remember well reporting to the Federal Building at the appointed hour and being handed the exam and answer sheet; along with that huge knot in your gut. The steely eyed FCC examiner seated at the front; as others finished and very gently handed their test sheet in with shaking hands the examiner would lay the answer sheet over their's and count the wrong answers, once he reached the failing number he would wordlessly simply shake his head with not a single word spoken, The dejected soul would lower his head and quitely close the door on his way out; another Philo Farnsworth hopes dashed.

 

[Squad10]

Got my 1st Class in 1973. I needed to have at least a 2nd Class to (lawfully) adjust commercial NBFM radio modulation deviation and carrier frequency for a job. Lost the paper license sometime in many moves, the same for my CB license from the sixties.

My dad bought me the Washington DC based NRI (National Radio Institute) RSL study guides for $170.00. After studying the first book I received, I would mail my answers to the book's test questions to NRI, if I passed, I would receive the next book, and on and on. I think there were about 30 to 40 books to the set. One of the best investments ever. Passed the 1st Class test on my first attempt, got radar and broadcast endorsements too. Funny now that I think back. 99% of the NRI material referenced tubes. Semiconductors were just touched upon, the wave of the future.

 

[mkh]

Never took it that far.

I got my 3rd class and a broadcast endorsement back in the mid '70s. I still have the license put a way but it has expired long ago. Only license now is my General class ham license.

I took the test with 3 friends and I was the only one to pass both tests. I really felt good about that.

 

[zz0468]

Never having had a need for the 1st phone, I tested for the 2nd. I did, however, need a ship radar endorsement, so I took that test instead of going on with the 1st. Back in the mid 80's is when they all got converted to a General Radiotelephone license, so I went through that process. Still have it, still use it when needed. I still have all the originals from when renewals were necessary, and the current one hangs on the "I Love Me" wall.

 

[jimvm]

FCC 1st Phone

Took all three elements at once in San Francisco, 1968, and passed!
Got the Radar Endorsement in 1969. Worked for AM station for 1 1/2 years,
KXOA in Sacramento, got drafted into US Army, never needed the license
since. Now have a GROL good for life. No license verification card any more.
Can not seem to be able to find it.

jim vm

 

[iamhere300]

Never took it that far.

I got my 3rd class and a broadcast endorsement back in the mid '70s. I still have the license put a way but it has expired long ago. Only license now is my General class ham license.

I took the test with 3 friends and I was the only one to pass both tests. I really felt good about that.

I was trying to remember my first license, was the third elements 1, 2, and 9 for the broadcast endorsement?

Unlike these other guys, my memory fails me

 

[Don_Burke]

Got my first in 1974 at the FCC building in DC.

1919 M Street. It has been a while.

 

[w8vqt]

I seem to remember getting mine in the 70's. I had to go to Detroit, MI to sit for it. Got the First with Ship Radar. Shame it really doesn't mean too much anymore but as you all know it certainly was difficult to get, "back in the day"...ha ha

 

[northzone]

Got my 1st class phone at the FCC in San Francisco in 1980. Like everything else (also have an amateur extra) these days they either dumb it down or get rid of it. God help us if we had to work for something.

 

[K4IHS]

Third, second and then first over the course of about 5 months. Later I got the radar endorsement. All in Detroit around 1965-66. You could take all 3 in a row provided you kept passing! I failed the first class test the first time I took it. I think I had to wait 30 days before I could retake it again. Sure killed off a few brain cells studying. The third class was basically a give away but the rest were some of the hardest tests I ever took... and under very strict conditions. My stomach did flip flops just reading this post!

 

[gmclam]

I was an intern at the Sacramento PBS station when a co-volunteer and I drove down to San Francisco to take the test. He passed, I missed 3 too many (18 total), that was in 1975. I took the test a couple of years later and passed. That friend passed away a few years ago.

I happened to see a notice at the station that I could convert my 1st into a lifetime general class, and did so. I found that the questions on the test were not too relevant; lots of questions on tube circuits, virtually none on NTSC or solid state circuits.

Worked for AM station for 1 1/2 years,
KXOA in Sacramento

Absolutely my favorite station back then. I used to have some reel to reel air checks, but I sadly recorded over them in the late 1970s.

 

[jimvm]

For gmclam

KXOA was the first time I needed a FCC 1st phone license.
Used my license for a 6 month job in 2-way radio also.
Do you remember Buffalo John Birch? How about Don Imus?
They both were on KXOA. I once got a call from Imus in the
morning asking if the transmitter was on the air.

jim vm

 

[gmclam]

KXOA Sacramento

Do you remember Buffalo John Birch?

No.

How about Don Imus?

Yes, but I don't remember hearing him on KXOA.

My first memory of KXOA 107.9 was when they were automated. I don't remember what they called the format, but it was hits of the late 1960s. This was circa 1971.

 

[DougME]

1st Phone

Got my 1st phone with radar early 70's and used it for a while in land mobile and marine. It got me in the door as a tech at a semiconductor manufacturer later on and now am a staff engineer there. Guess what?
It made a difference. Too bad it's been deprecated. Wonder if I could get a GROL based on having held it or would have to take the exam after all this time.

 

[davidgcet]

i only hold a GROL, but my stepdad has a 1st phone with RADAR endorsement. neither one means what it used to, but at least it shows you care enough to apply yourself.

 

[b7spectra]

I had one back in the mid 70's when I worked High Seas radio WOM. Man, that was a LONG time ago!

 

[WA1ATA]

I still have the old blue 1st Radiotelephone certificate from 1966. I babysat a UHF TV transmitters on Saturday mornings my senior year in High School. Then I put it to good use again in 70-71 while at college. Running a VHF TV transmitter from 4PM to 1AM four nights a week was technically a full time job, but didn't clash with my sked as a full time college student. And being stuck in a boring job with nothing to do for 10 hours is a great motivation to study!

Both transmitter have long ago been automated with remote control from the studios.

Then I graduated in 1971, got a job offer from the government that I couldn't refuse (draft lottery #30 in a year that went past 180), and have never used it again.

Charlie