Tech / Special Interest → Ham Radio > Testing the newbies

Re: Testing the newbies

The person that processed my Technician Class License - was from the ARRL and he was in Florida at that time.
He called me on the telephone to inform me of my call sign - because they felt bad that they lost my application.

I also had a conversation that day with a guy from the FCC - Gettysburg that also informed me of the good news.

If I would have been smart - I would have told that person that my call sign sucked and the least they could have done was give me a better one. But that would be against the rules - since it is a sequential call sign system.

Even after the telephone call - it was at least another two days before my call sign appeared in the FCC data base.
But they told me that it was legal to use my new call sign and not to worry about it not being in the system yet.

I would guess that it is a two part system - where the ARRL or other VEC controls the entered data and the FCC prints the license. So there is more then one point of contact between them.

The FCC would like to get rid of the license requirement all together - isn't worth their time or the puny amount of money that they generate from the sale of a amateur radio license.

Compared to a television or radio station license which might be worth thousands of dollars.

Yes - amateur radio licenses renewals are free, but the initial license costs something, other then if the test was given by the LARC - Laurel Amateur Radio club. Not sure if the FCC gets a cut of the take or not....

The story I was told, was of a millionaire that left a bunch of money to amateur radio, to be used to process the applications for new hams and upgrades for the LARC.

The way the LARC works - the administrator of the exams keeps the exams in a locked box.
They can administer a exam any time they please, as long as it is advertised ahead of time, and can give emergency examinations occassionally without any advertisement.

With the ARRL - you have to order the exams and pay for the material to be sent to you, and you have to administer them immediately - as soon as you open the envelope and you have to send everything back as soon as the test session is over and you have to pay for every exam you give - other then a person that passed one class of license and decided to try for the next.

The FCC did the same thing 40 years ago, even for a Radio Telephone license, AND you had to pay the FCC to administer the exam.....

The vanity license program, the program is funded by the sale of vanity call signs. Depending upon how many license fees they collect / divided by the cost of running the program, equals the amount each license costs.

If a bunch of people does it, the cost goes down, and the fee goes down. If only a couple of people does it, the cost goes up and the fee goes up. I can't remember the exact statistic's - but the highest fee was somewhere around $50 for a newly issues or renewal and the lowest was around $14.00 for a 10 year issue /renewal.

It's coming up on a month now since I faxed my application to ARRL. Dang these people take their time.

My VE badge arrived yesterday. All it took was me deciding it must be lost.

When was the last time I helped a new ham out? - Everyday!

My shack is open to everyone with a license.

You have not been a ham for very long - have you.

Go back and do some research before replying to a topic for which you do not know anything...

The synopsis is -

There was a man from Texas that wanted his origional call sign back. There was no vanity call sign program. He hired a lawyer and got the FCC to allow vanity call signs.
One of the very first call signs issued was his - and he did not get his origional call sign back - but got a 1 x 2....
This opened the door to what we know as the vanity call sign program.

His gripe was that he could not get his Novice call sign back and he was willing to pay any amount of money - even $50.00
The FCC basically said - OK, give us your money!

The cost of a vanity license is determined by the number of people that participates in the program and how much it costs them to run the program. More people = less money.
Anytime the number drops, the cost of issue / renewal of your vanity call sign goes up. When the number increases, the cost of the issue / renewal goes down.

Moonpuppy - you are confused, I am talking about a VANITY call sign - not a renewal.

Renewals can be done for free by visiting the FCC web site - only a moron pays someone to go on the computer for 2 minutes to renew a license.

The W5YI does not determine the cost of a vanity call sign.

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Yes - amateur radio licenses renewals are free, but the initial license costs something, other then if the test was given by the LARC - Laurel Amateur Radio club. Not sure if the FCC gets a cut of the take or not....

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