Charlie Lofgren, Ph.D., W6JJZ
(ex-WN7UWO / W7UWO, 1953)

In the fall of 1953, my dad drove me from Salem, OR, to Portland to take the tests at the FCC office. After passing the 5 wpm code test (receiving and sending), I did the novice written and, once it was graded, then the general written.

The novice and tech licenses arrived in several weeks. About 11 months later, after operating on both 80 meter CW and 220 mc phone with homebrew equipment (a modulated oscillator on 220--with probably as much FM as AM modulation), it was back to the FCC office to do the 13 wpm test, which was all I still needed for the general license. The FCC examiner simply added a general class endorsement at the bottom of the paper tech license, and I was instantly a general class ham.

On the way home, we stopped by a radio store in Portland for a phone frequency crystal (3840 kc as I recall), and soon I was on 75 meters with a homebrew cathode modulator for the rig that I'd been using on CW. VFO operation came later.