Novice question

[KC9GUZ]

There is a local that just got his NCT license a month or so ago when I upgraded to General. He told me he was a Novice bakc in the early to mid 1970s. From what i gather if he held a Novice he wont need to take the code again and just have to take the General written IF he has proof he was a Novice.
But the problem is he cant find his old Novice ticket. So how would he be able to find his old Novice call? Would the ARRL have any old callbooks that would have his old calls listed to use as proof he once held a Novice call???
A few of us are trying to help him out because he wants to get his General.

[ac3p]

What was his call? Maybe someone with an old callbook can look it up.

I have a 1972 or 73 callbook.

[K3UD]

An entry from a callbook showing his information would be what he needs. I have a few callbooks from the 70s. If you can get me his Novice call I will see if I can find it. I think that the Novice license was for 1 year in the early 70s and then went, I think, to two years sometime in the mid to late 70s which means that he would only be in a somewhat limited number of callbooks.

73
George
K3UD

[ky5u]

Bet you a dollar he's telling a "story". Be fun to see...

[ac3p]

Of course it wouldn't hurt just to take the code test again.

[kc7jty]

Quote[/b] (ac3p @ Sep. 27 2006,11:12)]Of course it wouldn't hurt just to take the code test again.
how do you know it wouldn't hurt?

[N2RJ]

Quote[/b] (kc7jty @ Sep. 28 2006,12:21)]Quote[/b] (ac3p @ Sep. 27 2006,11:12)]Of course it wouldn't hurt just to take the code test again.
how do you know it wouldn't hurt?
Because it won't hurt. Period.

The code sticks with you if you took the effort to learn it.

[ac3p]

I know it wouldn't because I took 7 code tests and didn't feel any pain. #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Well maybe some discomfort on the third and 6th tests that I failed.

[w8znx]

Quote[/b] (AG4YO @ Sep. 28 2006,09:48)]Bet you a dollar he's telling a "story". #Be fun to see...
must be
a dozen or so NCT ops around here
that for years slung the bs
about how they once
had old style novice licenses

funny how when asked
they never could remember
their novice call

yours truly
Mac ex wn8pzc

[wb7dmx]

Quote[/b] (w8znx @ Sep. 28 2006,11:15)]Quote[/b] (AG4YO @ Sep. 28 2006,09:48)]Bet you a dollar he's telling a "story". #Be fun to see...
must be
a dozen or so NCT ops around here
that for years slung the bs
about how they once
had old style novice licenses

funny how when asked
they never could remember
their novice call

yours truly
Mac ex wn8pzc
mine was

WN7WJO

belive me, its something one never forgets.
if it was ever used at all.

[WA7KKP]

Quote[/b] (K3UD @ Sep. 28 2006,05:12)]I think that the Novice license was for 1 year in the early 70s and then went, I think, to two years sometime in the mid to late 70s ........
I was a Novice in 1968, and it was 2 years then, non-renewable. #Not to mention you got ONE shot at Novice. #If you had a Novice ticket and let it lapse, then you couldn't get it again.

It was much later when they went to 5/10 year renewable, and then (of course) they dropped the exams.

There is a grace period, after which you must re-test -- which seems to be the situation here.

And what's the big deal? #I don't think 5 wpm will break anyone's cranium, as I remember occasional articles in older QST's featuring kids from 5-12 years old mastering Morse and getting licenced . . .

Amazing how some kids can learn something that "older people" don't seem to think they can learn.

Gary WA7KKP

[WB2WIK]

I had a Novice ticket.

It was WN2WIK.

Don't know how I can still remember that, 41 years later.

WB2WIK/6

[WA2ZDY]

Quote[/b] (WA7KKP @ Sep. 28 2006,15:45)]. . . I remember occasional articles in older QST's featuring kids from 5-12 years old mastering Morse and getting licenced . . .

Amazing how some kids can learn something that "older people" don't seem to think they can learn.
You've got me feeling old. I was 13 when I got my Novice. And I spent 11 months working CW getting ready for the 13wpm General test. My mother wouldn't let me go to New York until I went with some seniors in the HS I had just entered. Otherwise I doubt I'd have been a Novice for 11 months.

Mac sez: Quote[/b] ]
funny how when asked
they never could remember
their novice call

I get a funny feeling each time I read a post here saying "I need help finding my old call. It was issued around 1968 or 1969 . . ."

Maybe I've just got a better memory than others, but I can tell you my Novice call was WN2ZDY issued 31 January 1975 and it arrived in the mailbox 12 February. I don't remember the exact date I took my General but it was issued 14 December 1975 and arrived 24 December. I took and passed my Extra on 16 November 1977 and (I'm cheating here as I still have my original Extra ticket) was issued 23 May 1978.

And believe me, I subjected my brain to plenty of silliness as a teenager. I still remember this stuff. Guys who can't remember their calls and even the year they were licensed . . . I dunno.

[W5HTW]

Quote[/b] (WB2WIK @ Sep. 28 2006,14:56)]I had a Novice ticket.

It was WN2WIK.

Don't know how I can still remember that, 41 years later.

WB2WIK/6
The don't go away, Steve. Not if you use them.

Mine was KN4JSG, in 1956. No problem remembering it. That same year I also got the Technician ticket, K4JSG, so ordered like 1,000 QSL cards, maybe 500, that I don't remember, with the "new" call without the 'N"! And a few months later we moved to Denver, and I threw all those cards out when I became K0KPM. A lesson learned. Military brats should never order QSL cards! Ha! That K4JSG has been re-issued at least twice, and I just noticed the last holder has dropped it for a vanity call. That call has indeed been around! I almost wish it was mine again!

I know a lady who says she used to use her Dad's radio when she was a teen. She swears it was ham radio, and she used it more than he did (illegally, as he was not present to be control op.) Of course, I suspect she means CB, but she says no. Ah, but she remembers no call signs at all. I guess I should ask her what handle she used!!

I even knew a guy who had a ham ticket back in the late 40s, and had never actually spoken it on the air. He used it for radio control. But he remembered his call sign, when I spoke to him about it in the mid 1990s! I think he's SK now.

Ed

[wb7de]

I vividly remember the day my Novice license arrived in 1974 (WN7ZKW). When I got back into ham radio this summer, I didn't even consider the possibility of finding my old license and getting credit for the code. I figured it was only fair to pass it again. It only took a couple of days of "brushing up" to get my speed back up to over 5 wpm. It seems to me that the code is something that once learned never completely goes away, even after thirty years.

[ai4ep]

yep...he may not remember all the " harder " letters , numbers, etc ...but you do not forget the easy letters ( e , t , i , a , n , s, o , p, r , k , and so on )..... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

maybe that is one reason some folks can not learn morse code, they can not even get the SIMPLE stuff, like their own call sign.

(hint, hint ) http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

As as example, go back through list of all the call signs just in this thread ---which would be hard / easy for YOU to copy ? I know mine would be among the easiest. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

hee hee hee

[KC9GUZ]

For those of you that dought that he was a Novice ill assure you he was. I know an old timer down the road that MIGHT know his call. I called the ARRL and they sent me some info to pass to him that is if we can find his old call.

[kb3mng]

Quote[/b] (WA2ZDY @ Sep. 28 2006,15:41)]I get a funny feeling each time I read a post here saying "I need help finding my old call. It was issued around 1968 or 1969 . . ."
It seems to me that the usual case is somebody who wants help finding documentation to PROVE that they were licensed previously, and that they need that documentation to get out of taking some test. In this example, it is to avoid the morse code test.

Quote[/b] ]...if he held a Novice he wont need to take the code again...

The morse code test only takes 10 minutes. It makes sense to find a way to avoid it if you do not know the code and do not intend to learn it, but I can't think of any other reason. Am I missing something?

[K7JEM]

The test only takes ten minutes, if you know the code. Learning the code, or relearning it, can take weeks or months, depending on your effort.

The FCC has said that if you EVER held a novice license, and can prove it, (via callbook info, etc) then you don't have to take the 5wpm test again. For many people it is a much easier matter to find someone with an old callbook than to re-learn the code, especially if they never intend to use the code.

Joe

[KI4RDB]

Quote[/b] (ai4ep @ Sep. 28 2006,20:34)]As as example, go back through list of all the call signs just in this thread ---which would be hard / easy for YOU to copy ? I know mine would be among the easiest. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

hee hee hee
I should be getting my new vanity call sign assigned next Tuesday (W4ETE (http://www.ae7q.com/show/FrnHistory.php?FRN=0015454226))... I hope I can figure that one out... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

73,
Matt KI4RDB

[N2RJ]

Quote[/b] (KI4RDB @ Sep. 29 2006,13:56)]Quote[/b] (ai4ep @ Sep. 28 2006,20:34)]As as example, go back through list of all the call signs just in this thread ---which would be hard / easy for YOU to copy ? I know mine would be among the easiest. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

hee hee hee
I should be getting my new vanity call sign assigned next Tuesday (W4ETE (http://www.ae7q.com/show/FrnHistory.php?FRN=0015454226))... I hope I can figure that one out... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

73,
Matt KI4RDB
Just be careful, some people may mistake you for a special event call W4R.

One guy in Trinidad I know got the callsign "9Y4T" and another got "9Y4E." One guy who was an avid contester got "9Y4H" but he didn't do most of the operation there. It was his friend Glen, K6NA who would come down and use the station for contests.